[SOLVED] Travelling with an external HDD ?

[Danvic]

Is it safe to travel with an external hard drive inside my back pack ?

 

[TheFlash1300]

Is it safe to travel with an external hard drive inside my backpack?

Hard drives have moving parts. This means that exposing them to strong vibrations may damage them. If it's a solid-state drive, then you won't have problems.

Just make sure the HDD is not exposed to too strong vibrations, and everything will be fine. While you travel, keep the HDD on a soft surface, not on a hard surface. A soft surface will absorb the shock from the vibrations caused by the vehicle's engine and the holes on the street, for example.

If you put the HDD in a backpack and just walk with your legs, nothing bad will happen.

 

[Bob.B]

Is it safe to travel an external hard drive inside my back pack?

Should be.
Might be a good idea to wrap the ext in some bubble wrap.

 

[Danvic]

Hard drives have moving parts. This means that exposing them to strong vibrations may damage them. If it's a solid-state drive, then you won't have problems.

Just make sure the HDD is not exposed to too strong vibrations, and everything will be fine. While you travel, keep the HDD on a soft surface, not on a hard surface. A soft surface will absorb the shock from the vibrations caused by the vehicle's engine and the holes on the street, for example.

If you put the HDD in a backpack and just walk with your legs, nothing bad will happen.

Is external hdd still sensitive to vibration even if its powered down or non-operational?

 

[TheFlash1300]

Is external hdd still sensitive to vibration even if its powered down or non-operational?

Put the HDD on a soft surface, and it should be fine. The problem comes when the HDD is put on a hard surface, and there is nothing to absorb the shock and vibrations, which results in the HDD's moving parts absorbing the shock, which damages them.

I recommend you to wait until other people, who know better than me, come and express their opinion on the subject, too.

 

[USAFRet]

Is it safe to travel an external hard drive inside my back pack?

Mostly, yes.

Consider a laptop. They are moved around all the time, on or off, with generally no problems. We've been doing that for several decades.

Just don't drop it.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

But now that external SSDs are available at reasonable cost, I'd feel more at ease travelling with one of those.

 

[Danvic]

Mostly, yes.

Consider a laptop. They are moved around all the time, on or off, with generally no problems. We've been doing that for several decades.

Just don't drop it.

I'm more concern on accidental bumps, jolt, shake and vibration while I'm traveling. Maybe there will be a time I will forgot that I have a external hdd inside my bag and be careless because I'm enjoying.

 

[USAFRet]

I'm more concern on accidental bumps, jolt, shake and vibration while I'm traveling. Maybe there will be a time I will forgot that I have a external hdd inside my bag and be careless because I'm enjoying.

Then get a solid state drive.

"Safe" is a sliding scale. There is no "100% will never ever have a problem."