[SOLVED] Looking for a good, reliable desktop backup drive- and it seems impossible

[mrmike16]

Hi everyone,
As the title says I've been looking for a reliable desktop backup drive. I don't need much, 3-4 TB. I tried the new Seagate Backup Hub once and it was failing from the start- Then I noticed the reviews. On all of them. This is a bit worrisome, since based on reviews there don't seem to be any reliable ones left. I am still using my IOmega from I think around 15 years ago and it still runs great. It's just too small. My computer is currently backed up on an unreliable Seagate that is showing bad sectors, and my father's is on the very same drive (which means I will be buying two drives if they are good), so any help is greatly appreciated.

We both use Windows 10 computers. The current drive is a Seagate Expansion and it also was a good one until recently.

I have about 1 TB of data on my PC, and I think 3-4 TB is also good futureproofing. My father uses about 350 GB on his PC.

 

[Eximo]

Enterprise SAS drives? Or did you want something consumer grade?

Never going to know what drives they put in those things, whatever comes off the line and meets the specs.

Western Digital has a pretty comprehensive list of drive types. Archival, NAS, etc.

Have you considered something like a 1TB SSD for your father, and a 2TB drive for yourself? QLC and TLC drives just under $200. No moving parts.

TLC
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/nF8j4D/crucial-mx500-2tb-25-solid-state-drive-ct2000mx500ssd1

QLC
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/R7FKHx/samsung-870-qvo-2-tb-25-solid-state-drive-mz-77q2t0bam

 

[USAFRet]

Don't rely on the 'backup drives'.
MyCloud, Backup Hub, junk like that. Including and especially their software.

Regular drives, and 3rd party software like Macrium Reflect.
Add in a external case, done.

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[geofelt]

You might look at HGST:

Look at this hard drive data: Sales are way down but reliability is way up

The latest stats from Backblaze, running over 140,000 drives in its data centers, point out some stars -- and some dogs -- among 4TB to 16TB drives.

www.zdnet.com

For the most reliable device look at a samsung ssd.
A usb connected ssd backup is going to be the most reliable.
If, for no other reason, it has no moving parts.

 

[goldensun87]

For data backup, you should just use a portal external HDD. The difference between "portable" drives and "desktop external" drives, is that the desktop externals require a power outlet + USB, but portable drives require only USB. The tradeoff is that, with desktop externals, you get larger storage options, up to 10TB iirc, but the portable drives currently max out at 5TB. Since you are not needing more than 4TB, portable should be a good route for you.

And if you ask me, do not ever use any cloud backup solutions. Especially not after the Western Digital My Book Live fiasco. You should always copy your files in specific batches, as opposed to using any software that makes an image of your entire operating system or whatever.

To prepare for the event that system failure occurs, keep a copy of your operating system installer on a bootable USB flash drive, and make a list of all third party programs that would need to be installed if you have to do a clean install. Also keep lists of all your relevant online account logins, because those cookies will not be there if you have to do a clean install.

 

[geofelt]

What perils are you worried about?
Fire?
Hardware failure?
Ransomware?
Virus?
Inadvertent user error?

For all of the above, you need to plan for EXTERNAL backup.
How extensive(and expensive) this is will be determined by the time you need to recover, as well as how important the data is.

 

[mrmike16]

Thank you all for your replies. Yes, I understand the difference between desktop and portable backup drives- I won't be moving around with the backup, so I figured desktop would be the best option.

I agree with USAFRet. I think that all of the options nowadays are so bad that either I should get another older one, or I should just get an enclosure.

Here's the thing- I think for an enclosure I'd get a Sabrent or AmazonBasics or something, but what is the recommended drive? I think I'd prefer 3.5 inch because of the storage capabilities.