Question Advice for Most Reliable / Longest-lasting External Hard Drives

[Ghidorah]

Anyone have recommendations for this? I used to swear by G-Drives, but lately I believe their quality has begun to decline. (I have three from ~2014. Two of them are still functioning well and even get good health ratings from my hard drive software. I bought 3 more four years ago, and since that time, two of them have died.)

I currently am thinking that before the end of the year, I'm going to have to replace my 12TB G-Drive Time Machine Backup. So, if anyone has recommendations for hard drives with long lives and high reliability, I'm all ears.

This is for a MacBook Pro, with 4 TB3 ports. I also have a dock attached to one of these ports, which has USB-C and USB-A ports. (Its TB3 ports are already being used.)

Thanks!

 

[USAFRet]

Regarding the actual drive inside the enclosure...there is no one special make/model.

All drives, of any make/model, are subject to die at any moment.
All of them.

Of my last several dead drives:
SanDisk SSD
Toshiba Enterprise HDD
WD HDD
There is a Seagate that is on the edge...


The vast majority do NOT suddenly die.
But if yours is the one that does....this is why you have a good backup routine.

 

[Ghidorah]

Regarding the actual drive inside the enclosure...there is no one special make/model.

All drives, of any make/model, are subject to die at any moment.
All of them.

Of my last several dead drives:
SanDisk SSD
Toshiba Enterprise HDD
WD HDD
There is a Seagate that is on the edge...


The vast majority do NOT suddenly die.
But if yours is the one that does....this is why you have a good backup routine.

The TMB is my back-up routine. It represents the second, if not third, copy of my files.

As for makes / brands, you're saying that it makes no difference what I pick up. Hmm... Anyone else concur?

If this is true, then all I can do is pick the best warranty and hope for the best.

 

[USAFRet]

The TMB is my back-up routine. It represents the second, if not third, copy of my files.

As for makes / brands, you're saying that it makes no difference what I pick up. Hmm... Anyone else concur?

If this is true, then all I can do is pick the best warranty and hope for the best.

Yes...warranty and a good backup routine is what counts.


People will say "I've never had a Seagate drive die. Get a Seagate!"
The next person will say the exact same thing for WD. Or Toshiba. Or whatever brand is on the label at the moment.

The singular device in your house...it may come from the #1 respected brand. But none of them are '100% never die'.
None.

Warranty and good backups.

 

[Ghidorah]

'k.... thanks!