two 1TB hard drives or 1 2tb hard drive?

Dankdab

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Jan 16, 2016
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title says it all. Should I get x2 wd blue 1tb hard drive

or should I get x1 wd black 2tb hard drive

is there any pros or cons to having two hard drives or just one?
 
Solution
2x WD Blue 1TB
PROS:
- Ability to RAID
- At current price of $50 each, will cost less (total of $100) than a $125 WD Black 2TB
- Relatively quiet than the WD Black
- Partitioned physically (2 actual drives)
- If one drive fails, you still have another

CONS:
- More 3.5" drive space needed
- Might restrict interior airflow (depends on position of drive cages in case versus fans)
- More power needed to run 2x HDDs in use
- More heat generated
- More cable runs / clutter (SATA power but most especially SATA data cables)
- 1 less SATA port (might be a problem if you need more for ODD or SSDs)

1x WD Black 2TB
PROS:
- Faster speed than Blue's
- Less space and drive bays needed
- Better airflow inside case (due to lesser obstructions and less...
Having two HDD allows them to be put into RAID however although RAID increases speeds it can also increase the chance of data errors and corruption occurring.

Having two drives will also use more power than one.

Personally unless you really need two drives for a specific reason you should just go with the single 2TB.
 
2x WD Blue 1TB
PROS:
- Ability to RAID
- At current price of $50 each, will cost less (total of $100) than a $125 WD Black 2TB
- Relatively quiet than the WD Black
- Partitioned physically (2 actual drives)
- If one drive fails, you still have another

CONS:
- More 3.5" drive space needed
- Might restrict interior airflow (depends on position of drive cages in case versus fans)
- More power needed to run 2x HDDs in use
- More heat generated
- More cable runs / clutter (SATA power but most especially SATA data cables)
- 1 less SATA port (might be a problem if you need more for ODD or SSDs)

1x WD Black 2TB
PROS:
- Faster speed than Blue's
- Less space and drive bays needed
- Better airflow inside case (due to lesser obstructions and less cable clutter)
- Will free up a SATA port for future expansion (compared to using 2x HDDs)
- Less power consumption to run than 2x HDDs
- Less heat generated

CONS:
- At current price of $125, will be more expensive than 2x WD Blue 1TB at $50 each
- Noisier than Blue's
- Can only be partitioned "non-physically" (via OS)
- If this drive fails, it *might* include everything stored inside (but *might* also not)
- Cannot do RAID
 
Solution