Multiple hard drives or just the one large one?

[daveveej]

Hi Guys, I have been looking into getting a new hard drive, for more storage although I was seeing that where i was looking i could pay like £49 for a 1TB then £15 more and get like a 2TB HDD, I am wondering then like I see 3/4TB hdds and is it worth me getting a few 1/2TB HDD's or like one 4TB.

It just puzzles me how only a few quid more can get you double what you wanted?!?! :S

p.s. Tbh I have no cares fro SSD's my 75000rpm boot hard drive suits me well, plus I don't see the worth in paying like £50 for a 120gb SSD that may die quicker than a HDD also like read write stuff and controllers ect makes no sense at all to me, as long as i can boot from it / use it as storage and it works then fine by me

Dave-

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Hard drives can and do fail, therefore it's essential to keep at least one backup copy of all the data on another hard drive (two backup copies on two separate hard drives is even safer). You won't be able to do that with only one large drive.

And if you do buy a 4TB drive you have to partition it differently from the usual MBR partition style because an MBR partition only supports 2.2 TB maximum.

 

[Hawkeye22]

If you do a lot of video work or large graphics, then yes, 4TB is fine. If the data on that drive is important to you, then I suggest a second drive to back it up to.

 

[daveveej]

Hard drives can and do fail, therefore it's essential to keep at least one backup copy of all the data on another hard drive (two backup copies on two separate hard drives is even safer). You won't be able to do that with only one large drive.

And if you do buy a 4TB drive you have to partition it differently from the usual MBR partition style because an MBR partition only supports 2.2 TB maximum.

MBR?!? so it would not work right off the bat with windows 7 i would need to split it?

 

[Hawkeye22]

Any drive over 2.2Tb needs partitioned as GPT, not MBR. Also, if this is to be a boot drive, you will need a UEFI motherboard in addition to the GPT partition.

 

[MidnightDistort]

You do have to remember that buying a new hard drive, you will have to make sure to backup the data you store on it. So having an existing drive as a normal usage and then one as a backup is necessary. I own a 2TB and a 3TB hard drive, i use the 3Tb as the backup and the 2TB for regular storage. I also have several smaller drives i use for regular use and just swap them out as they die so the 2 and 3TB will generally last longer by not using them all the time. Drives can die at any time, even my 3TB might not function so it might be best to go the cheaper route so you could have 2 - 2TB drives versus spending that money on a 4TB drive. If you already have capped off your other drives capacity, you can move to something bigger. I also recommend if you plan on getting 2 drives, try to get different models at least because generally if you buy 2 drives of the same one of them might fail and the other one might do the same but isn't always the case. I just prefer not to have drives that were on the same batch that could have complications.

 

[daveveej]

You do have to remember that buying a new hard drive, you will have to make sure to backup the data you store on it. So having an existing drive as a normal usage and then one as a backup is necessary. I own a 2TB and a 3TB hard drive, i use the 3Tb as the backup and the 2TB for regular storage. I also have several smaller drives i use for regular use and just swap them out as they die so the 2 and 3TB will generally last longer by not using them all the time. Drives can die at any time, even my 3TB might not function so it might be best to go the cheaper route so you could have 2 - 2TB drives versus spending that money on a 4TB drive. If you already have capped off your other drives capacity, you can move to something bigger. I also recommend if you plan on getting 2 drives, try to get different models at least because generally if you buy 2 drives of the same one of them might fail and the other one might do the same but isn't always the case. I just prefer not to have drives that were on the same batch that could have complications.

yeah I can see where you are coming from about the 2 types of drives although mainly it would be for me to have more space I use all my drives as equal as each other mostly this drive would be for video renders / writing.
Also this is not about me getting a hard drive I am just curious like as I said about the hdd price "i could pay like £49 for a 1TB then £15 more and get like a 2TB HDD" is that extra £15 worth it (well probs yeah)

 

[MidnightDistort]

Yeah, getting the 2TB would totally be worth it .