Using External Hard Drive Inside of Computer

[sciamwow]

Hi!
I'm putting together a PC build for a friend of mine. He has an 8tb external hard drive that he is currently using on his 5k iMac for storage. He realized the iMac isn't built for video editing, so I'm making him a PC and realized we could save a decent chunk of cash if we remove the 8tb hard drive from its enclosure and place it in the computer via SATA. I read that USB is much slower than SATA, so I figured this would be the best option. A few questions about this:

1) All external hard drives are just plan internal hard drives with an enclosure, correct? For instance, I could go to any store and grab an external hard drive and crack it open to find a "normal" internal HDD that I can slap into a PC?

2) Are there any external hard drives that do not have a normal SATA connector? Or are all external hard drives just connected to a SATA to USB converter in the enclosure?

3) Are external hard drives not built to be used as much as internal ones are? I'm sure internal hard drives are built for constant use over long periods of time, so would one that is built to mainly back up/store files be okay running programs and being used much more often? The reason I ask this is because I know WD has their Red series for NAS use, Black for high performance, etc. so I didn't know if external hard drives were built cheaper or something.

I know this was long winded, but any help is appreciated!

Thanks so much!

 

[captaincharisma]

it is possible some have a weird kind of connection. depending on the size it could be abig drive like for a desktop or smaller form for laptops

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... 1) YES
2) There were also IDE HD's models... of years ago... this would not be in a 8TB size model HD thou.
3) You should be fine... Open it up... and see... typically it is just a Standard SATA 5400 or 7200 speed HD in it. The brand/model in it can very B )

Check utube videos for the secret release and locations of the plastic/screws orTABs... or it could be glued together?

 

[panathas]

It could work but I wouldn't recommend it. Some drives are simple sata models but others use proprietary connectors. Also the drives that manufacturers use inside the external enclosures are usually slower 5200RMP models with a small amount of cache memory that are specially optimised for this back-up file storage purpose and not as an OS/system drive. For example WD uses Green low power models that are too slow for OS use. For OS/System use you want an SSD and if you can't afford one you should go with a fast 7200RMP drive with a big cache.

Finally some manufacturers that provide hardware encryption with their drives, have a special chip inside that makes the drive useless once you remove it from the enclosure. So you have to be extremely careful and now exactly what drive is inside the external enclosure before you decide to remove it. Also don't forget that you'll void the warranty when you remove it.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

I can confirm that most recent and new external hard drives have a non-standard, proprietary connector on the end panel of the actual hard drive itself.

I know this from personal experience as I've cracked a few of them open in the past, intending to mount the drive internally which of course I couldn't. I don't know whether Seagate/WD do it deliberately just to confound us or what.

 

[captaincharisma]

I can confirm that most recent and new external hard drives have a non-standard, proprietary connector on the end panel of the actual hard drive itself.

I know this from personal experience as I've cracked a few of them open in the past, intending to mount the drive internally which of course I couldn't. I don't know whether Seagate/WD do it deliberately just to confound us or what.

i would expect something like that from the small WD/segate drives that are just powered by USB. if it is the same with the external drives that have external power that would be a new one for me,

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... +1 ^Good point... does this external have a separate Power supply/wall wart OR is it only USB powered?

Can you post a website with this model of external?

 

[sciamwow]

Thanks for the answers, guys! I just asked him if he knows the model, I'll let y'all know if he tells me.
The plan for the build is a 256gb SSD for the OS (the plan is for it to be a hackintosh) and for applications, then the hard drive would be used for footage (he will be using the PC for video editing)

 

[sciamwow]

He sent me a picture of the side, but all I can see is "Seagate Backup Plus Hub" and I remember him telling me it is 8tb. Since he has an iMac, I'm assuming this is it:
https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-External-Desktop-Storage-STEL8000100/dp/B01JS7OJG6?th=1

 

[sciamwow]

I suppose my followup question would be is it feasible to leave it plugged in via USB 3.0 and just use it for storage, not applications? Or would it still be noticeable slower than internally?

 

[captaincharisma]

He sent me a picture of the side, but all I can see is "Seagate Backup Plus Hub" and I remember him telling me it is 8tb. Since he has an iMac, I'm assuming this is it:
https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-External-Desktop-Storage-STEL8000100/dp/B01JS7OJG6?th=1

its hard to judge from the pics on amazon but with the size of it it might have 2 HDD's in it i would google the name of this product to find reviews and possibly articles where they took one of these apart. to find out