[SOLVED] Most Reliable HDD After a Disaster

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Kirbyarm

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Nov 9, 2013
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Long story short, after a year or two one of my external HDDs (4TB) decided to stop working. It plugs in, it lights up, but windows doesn't see it anymore, nor do any recovery programs I try. This drive was probably only 2 years old and wasn't undergoing heavy usage by any means. It was by far my newest external as well. I have a 1TB and 2 TB external as well, and they're 4 and 6 years old respectively but are still purring like kittens. All three are Seagate.

Anywho, I had a lot of valuable data on the one that broke and I don't want a repeat of this incident anytime soon so I was hoping to ask the experts here what in their opinions is the most reliable high-capacity HDD I can get? (preferably 8 TB, but 4 TB is okay)

Looking to fully backup my other externals and take properly backing up to more than one location a lot more seriously from this point forward. Thanks for your time everyone. (Internal suggestions are also fine)

Thanks for your time everyone.
 
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J
" 2.) can't be opened or explored or anything, it is a 100% extraction to another drive or? "

I think some apps that make the clone might let you explore it etc.....but I never do. I just want to know it's there in case I need it.

"Regarding 1.), would this cloned drive be capable of booting on different systems in the exact same way if it were installed/plugged in? "

You can run into problems here because the different system probably has different hardware. I would advise to only use it on the same system.

"Regarding both methods, I assume these work interchangeably between internal and external hard drives without any issues, yes? What about interchangeability between HDDs and SSDs? "

As far as I know....this doesn't matter...
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I've probably had better luck with Seagates than any other manufacturer.

That being said....all drives will fail eventually.....which is why I would have some sort of backup routine.

What works for me may not work for you.

I clone my drives monthly.

That way I never lose more than a month.....and what I would actually "lose" isn't all that important to me.

.....but if it were.....I would change my backup routine to something else.
 
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This may sound a little silly, but would you mind elaborating a little on what cloning a drive is and what it involves to perform the operation?

A link to a video would be okay but I retain information much better by written explanations and taking my time soaking it in, if that makes any sense.

Thanks again, jay.
 
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Kirbyarm said:
This may sound a little silly, but would you mind elaborating a little on what cloning a drive is and what it involves to perform the operation?

A link to a video would be okay but I retain information much better by written explanations and taking my time soaking it in, if that makes any sense.

Thanks again, jay.
Click to expand...
Cloning is....basically one of two things.

1.) You can make an identical copy of a drive to another drive. This other drive will boot and will work exactly the same as the first drive. (this is not how I backup).

2.) You can clone to a file. (This is how I backup) Basically everything on your hard drive gets written to a (sometimes compressed) file on another hard drive.

So lets say you did this (#2)^^^.....and something bad happened to your original hard drive. If the original drive was still functional (nothing actually wrong with it....like in the case where you had a virus lets say)......you can get the entire original drive back from that file (hopefully you made the file before you got the virus).

If something was actually mechanically wrong with the original drive....you dont' reuse it....you get another working drive....and hook it up and you can make it just like the original drive with that file.
 
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Very interesting. So this file that is created from method 2.) can't be opened or explored or anything, it is a 100% extraction to another drive or?

Regarding 1.), would this cloned drive be capable of booting on different systems in the exact same way if it were installed/plugged in?

Regarding both methods, I assume these work interchangeably between internal and external hard drives without any issues, yes? What about interchangeability between HDDs and SSDs?

Definitely would prefer the same method as you as that's what I'm kinda looking for is just like a secondary backup of the backups of the externals that I can update a snapshot of them all monthly, like you do.

With those questions asked, just one last one. How does one perform method 2.)? What steps and software are you most comfortable with?
 
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" 2.) can't be opened or explored or anything, it is a 100% extraction to another drive or? "

I think some apps that make the clone might let you explore it etc.....but I never do. I just want to know it's there in case I need it.

"Regarding 1.), would this cloned drive be capable of booting on different systems in the exact same way if it were installed/plugged in? "

You can run into problems here because the different system probably has different hardware. I would advise to only use it on the same system.

"Regarding both methods, I assume these work interchangeably between internal and external hard drives without any issues, yes? What about interchangeability between HDDs and SSDs? "

As far as I know....this doesn't matter. I have cloned one drive to another. I've cloned a drive to a USB stick. SSD/HDD<<<<<it's blind to this.

" How does one perform method 2.)? What steps and software are you most comfortable with? "
I use Aomei Backupper. It's free. A popular one (that I've never used) is called Macrium Reflect....but I'm very happy with Aomei Backupper.

As far as using it.....it's very easy.
You will click on "clone drive" (or something like that) and you will select the source drive (the drive you want to clone)......and you will select a destination directory on the destination drive (I create the destination directory before run Aomei.....that way the clone file goes where I want it).
Then basically you click "go".

There are some options you can set up first....like if you want it to CHECK the clone file after it makes it. I usually do this.
 
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Solution
You really are great helping people like this you know. Just wanted you to know that and I'm very thankful.

I'm going to assume you use the freeware version of Aomei Backupper, since you mentioned it's free. I wonder what the pro version would offer that standard doesn't when your objective is just to clone the drive(s) in question.

By "CHECK" you mean checks the integrity of the file after for corruption and such?

Thanks again! You definitely earned your best answer and upvotes today, good sir.
 
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Thank you for the kind words.

I used the freeware version for a while.....but there came a time when I wanted to clone from a smaller drive to a larger drive (an actual clone....not to a file) and in this case I wanted to make the main partition larger.

I needed to buy the pro version to do this....but it was only around $40 from what I recall for two licenses. I imagine the pro version does other fancier things too.

....but for what we were talking about, the free version is fine.

I actually only used that "pro" feature once.

"By "CHECK" you mean checks the integrity of the file after for corruption and such? "

Yes.....but I've never had it come back and say the destination file was no good....but it's just being safe.

Thanks again.
 
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Kirbyarm said:
Thanks a lot!

Just one more thing if you don't mind. If you were in the market for a new reliable 8TB HDD, what would be your first choice?
Click to expand...
No problem.
I would go for a Seagate.
....and it's not like I have any specifics.....it's just that....

I have been responsible for lots of computers in a lab and a manufacturing plant for about 30 years.....and the Seagates tend to last IN MY OPINION. They just do. I don't have any numbers or anything like that. It just seems they are good drives and fail less than others I deal with. I also think Western Digital is good.....but I think Seagate is better based on 30 years of working with them.
 
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Sorry, I know you mentioned Seagate, I was kind of hoping for more specifics. But that information is just as useful, especially considering you have over 3 decades of experience working with them. Thanks!

Have you noticed any difference in lifespan/reliability between internal and external HDDs?
 
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Kirbyarm said:
Sorry, I know you mentioned Seagate, I was kind of hoping for more specifics. But that information is just as useful, especially considering you have over 3 decades of experience working with them. Thanks!

Have you noticed any difference in lifespan/reliability between internal and external HDDs?
Click to expand...
I haven't used that many external HDDs......but to me they seem less durable.
....and even if they are just as durable....I think it is more likely an external HDD will get dropped on the floor etc than an internal HDD. I always go internal instead of external unless there's a specific reason to use external.

I imagine you can google reviews on current Seagate models and get a better idea as far as what people like these days. I was pretty much talking "in general".
 
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Oh, I have been Googling them, worry not! I just highly value your opinion thus far, over strangers on the internet I've never spoken to before. I came to TH for up to date modern expertise for this situation after all~

Thanks fzabkar! Interesting information here.
 
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Does anyone have experience with NAS drives? It's the only 7200 RPM 8 TB drive I could find that is below the $300 mark by like 30 bucks too.

Seagate IronWolf NAS 8 TB Internal is the drive in question. I'm not even sure if NAS is compatible with my machine.
 
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Yeah, I ended up getting a Seagate Portable 4TB External to replace the one that faulted and then a big daddy Seagate BarraCuda 8TB Internal to be the true solution to all this that will hold monthly snapshots of my other 4 drives. Thanks a lot for your help.
 
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@jay32267 or any expert really, I've finally gotten the new drives installed and working.. and just got AOMEI Backupper Standard installed. I just don't want to make a big mistake here and choose the wrong cloning method in the software.

https://imgur.com/A981BBF
View: https://i.imgur.com/A981BBF.png


Is it Clone -> Disk Clone that clones a file of all your data as you mentioned earlier? Or would it be in the Backup section?

Thanks!
 
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Duplicate all my data onto this new 8 TB internal drives. Aka as jay suggested above, to clone my 3 externals and primary SSD (4 drives) as allegedly, 4 files onto this new drives that can be used to recover the data should any of those other four older drives fail.
 
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It seems I have two options. I'm not sure which option will allow me to clone 1 file for each harddrive as Jay mentioned, onto my new 8 TB internal. Option 1 is:

https://imgur.com/SMA8q7S
View: https://i.imgur.com/SMA8q7S.png


Clone -> Disk Clone

And option 2 is:

https://imgur.com/FhTvrDg
View: https://i.imgur.com/FhTvrDg.png


Backup -> Disk Backup

------------------

If anyone wouldn't mind catching up on the advice jay gave me above - and telling me which option is what I'm looking for, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks experts!
 
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Kirbyarm said:
Duplicate all my data onto this new 8 TB internal drives. Aka as jay suggested above, to clone my 3 externals and primary SSD (4 drives) as allegedly, 4 files onto this new drives that can be used to recover the data should any of those other four older drives fail.
Click to expand...
The clone function is used if you were to replace one drive with another, right now.



For secondary drives, you do not need to "clone" anything.
Simple copy/paste into relevant folders on the new 8TB.

Create top level folders for each of those drives.
DriveX
DriveY
DriveZ

Copy the contents of the externals.

Or, use the functionality in there to create Images. I'm not familiar with AOEMI, but that's what I do in Macrium.
Each physical drive gets its own folder, and the contents of that drive are backed up on a schedule, each to its own folder.


Your "primary drive, SSD".
Is this your OS drive?
Again, not clone, but rather backup Images.
 
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Yes, the primary OS and gaming drive is a 1TB Samsung 970 Evo Plus (M.2 NVMe) SSD.

I just really liked the method Jay outlines. This method of 'just copy/paste it all to the new drive' was how I would've done it prior to any of this backing up knowledge.. which takes me several hours to sort the files and copy specific folders and make sure I got it all and all that stuff and then several more hours of file transferring time (per drive!) often with tens omf thousands of small game directory files... A lot of manual effort I'm not interested in doing weekly/monthly just to keep my data safe.

What I am interested in is a quick button I can press that (compresses?) the entire drive into a single file, as jay described above, to a location of my choosing (backup 8 TB drive). A file that I can use to restore the latest backup of a drive that fails on me back to working condition.
 
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Kirbyarm said:
Yes, the primary OS and gaming drive is a 1TB Samsung 970 Evo Plus (M.2 NVMe) SSD.

I just really liked the method Jay outlines. This method of 'just copy/paste it all to the new drive' was how I would've done it prior to any of this backing up knowledge.. which takes me several hours to sort the files and copy specific folders and make sure I got it all and all that stuff and then several more hours of file transferring time (per drive!) often with tens omf thousands of small game directory files... A lot of manual effort I'm not interested in doing weekly/monthly just to keep my data safe.

What I am interested in is a quick button I can press that (compresses?) the entire drive into a single file, as jay described above, to a location of my choosing (backup 8 TB drive). A file that I can use to restore the latest backup of a drive that fails on me back to working condition.
Click to expand...
And that is the 'Backup' function in Macrium or similar.

That is literally what my systems do every night.
Each physical drive gets its own folder on my NAS box (which could just as easily be an external drive)

This is the folder tree in my NAS box:
V1D2RyR.png


Look in my sig which lists all the drives, etc.
This is all automated, happens all by itself every night between midnight and 6AM.
Once set up, I don't have to do anything.


This is the resulting Images from one of the drives, both Full and nightly Incremental.
The Oct 14 is the initial Full Image, and the rest are nightly Incrementals.
cBFvRCr.png
 
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