[SOLVED] What's the most durable 16TB HDD ?

[knowledge2121]

I am backing up my data and need a very reliable and durable HDD...I am looking at a Seagate 16TB HDD Exos X16 .. is this as good as it gets ? or are there better alternatives ?

 

[USAFRet]

The most reliable drive is one with a known good multilevel backup.

All drives, of any make and model, can and will fail.
If the fleetwide fail rate is 1% (typical across all brands)...it sucks if yours is in that 1%.


All drives will die eventually. Or, any of the other forms of data loss.
Backup backup backup.

That Exos is just fine. No better or worse than any other at that size.

 

[Deleted member 2838871]

I've been using a Seagate Barracuda Pro 12TB 7200 rpm and a WD easystore external 10TB for the last 4+ years and haven't had a problem with either. I store thousands of MP4 video files on them with one drive being a backup of the other.

 

[knowledge2121]

yeah but if an inferior drive like this and a top drive like Exos have nearly the same price....it is a no brainer to go with the Exos...right ?

 

[USAFRet]

yeah but if an inferior drive like this and a top drive like Exos have nearly the same price....it is a no brainer to go with the Exos...right ?

Yes.
And the Exos is 15% more. Matters to some people.

The external things are often quite a bit less expensive than the standalone of equal size.
I have the drive shucked out of an 8TB version of that external. Works just fine.

But it still needs a real backup situation, whichever one you get.

 

[knowledge2121]

So anything out there that beats the Exos spec-wise ? something more durable/reliable spec-wise ?

 

[knowledge2121]

Wouldn't it be better to buy 2x8TB instead of 1x16TB ? since they end up having the same price ?

 

[USAFRet]

Wouldn't it be better to buy 2x8TB instead of 1x16TB ? since they end up having the same price ?

All depends on your needs and use case.

Whatever config, work a good backup plan into the budget.

 

[fzabkar]

Check the reliability statistics at BackBlaze.

https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-hard-drive-stats-for-2020/

 

[sonofjesse]

In my understanding EXOS is rated a lot better than the iron wolf and iron wolf pro, if you go by the specs MTBF etc.

Just buy 2, mirror it, and also think of your backup solution.

 

[Karadjgne]

Everything fails. Eventually. The difference between Quality and Junk is not the occurances of failure, but the amount of use before failure.

But that only applies to working stock that's working as intended. Electronics in general are governed under Murphy's Law. If it can fail, it will fail, it's only a question of when.

Which means you can do all the research, purchase the absolute best and most reliable HDD on the planet, and it dies completely in a week of use.

Figure most HDD's are going to be roughly reliable for about 5 years of general usage, so I'd get the Exo if that fits your needs for reliability and size and performance, and revisit purchases in 5 years±.

I've had a WD Black last over 7 years, a WD Blue was still strong after 6 years and Seagates/Hitachi die after but 2 years. Also had a Seagate last almost 10 years, but didn't see daily usage.

HDD death cannot be predicted. *hit happens.