[SOLVED] hard drive 2 tb partition 4 times

[tgiacomo]

New 2 tb WD Black I'm using for storing data, movies and games (not for the Operating system). I just partitioned it 4 times so basically 4- 500 gig drives for separate categories of information- data. Doing this will it decrease life expectancy significantly of the drive and how bad is it doing this?

Also I am going to purchase in the next few days 2 more, 2 tb drives WD gold 2 tb each. The purpose will be the same thing for storing data etc. To save a little on cost I am thinking to buy the 2 - 2tb drives and partition them so I have 4 -1tb drives.

Question is will they last just as long or is it wiser to purchase 4 separate 1 tb drives and does it really matter? I am only using them for backup and storing files. The cost difference is over 140.00 usd if I just purchase 2- 2tb drives it is about 220.00 compared to 360.00 for 4- 1 tb drives.

Thanks in advance

 

[SkyNetRising]

I just partitioned it 4 times so basically 4- 500 gig drives for separate categories of information- data. Doing this will it decrease life expectancy significantly of the drive and how bad is it doing this?

Doesn't matter. Partitioning doesn't impact drive life expectancy.

Question is will they last just as long or is it wiser to purchase 4 separate 1 tb drives and does it really matter?

Also doesn't matter. Any drive can fail.

 

[RARRAF]

partitioned drives have been around for donkeys years does it make a difference to life span not that I know of drives do fail in the end just like my 4tb just did not happy.

 

[Traditore]

You'll have a problem of juggling partitions and wasted space: cramped for space on one partition but have plenty of free space on another. And resizing partitions frequently is inconvenient. Partitioning also provides a false sense of security - if this drive fails, you'll lose everything anyway.

Four actual 1Tb drives are safer from the point that you might write to one drive more often than the other, and its wear won't affect other drives. So yes, in theory, four 1TB drives will last longer, and only one will fail at a time, meaning you'll still have 3TB of data intact.