Which WD color hard disk is suitable to use to store backup?

[smalltech]

I want to buy a WD hard disk to store my backups made by the Acronis program everyday.

Which WD color hard disk is suitable to use to store backup?

Is WD green good enough to use to store backup?

Thanks

 

[ronintexas]

WD Green make good backup drives - I utilize two of them in my network. They do not work well in RAID - but as stand alone backup drives they do a good job. The Green drives power down when not utilized, so initially on the backup there will be a 5-7 second delay while they spin up, then they will work perfectly.

 

[smalltech]

If WD Green is powered down when not utilized, will my Acronis software detect the hard disk when it is powered down? I mean I am setting scheduled Acronis backup, I am not sure if the Acronis software will be able to "see" the WD green is powered down.

(I am currently using WD Black as the backup disk to store Acronis scheduled backups)

 

[Mr5oh]

Is you backup important? I would use the black drive, its faster, and has a longer warranty for a reason. No reason to replace with a "flagship" performance drive with a "budget / economy" drive.

My data is important, so all my backup drives are Black drives.They cost more, but its cheap insurance.

 

[ronintexas]

I use Syncback Free - when it fires up, the backup pauses for 5-7 seconds while the drive spins up, then it starts. It isn't "turned off", as the system still recognizes the drive is there. I would assume the Acronis software would do the same thing. I am a huge fan of the WD black drives (I use them in a majority of my installations), in fact the only times I don't use it is when the build is SUPER FREAKING CHEAP (WD blue or other drive used), or for a backup drive the WD Green. I have a WD green 3TB that has worked for years on backups....and before that I had a 1TB Green that ran for about 7 years (it still worked, but I needed more space).

 

[popatim]

I have several brands of drives. My greens are older yet they still work fine. And thought they power & spin down to save energy - they do not power off. They are still fully responsive to system requests.

If you enjoy your black drives then by all means continue to use them. You're not missing out on anything by not using something else...

To answer your question: Red, Green, Blue, Black, Se, Re/Re2 would all be fine as backup drives.
Avoid purple - those are for video surveillance systems.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey, smalltech!

To answer your question directly: Yes, the WD Green is suitable for your needs as it is designed exactly for that same purpose - to be used as secondary/backup storage internally or externally (put in enclosure). They offer large capacity for your massive storage and run cool and quiet. They do have the power-efficiency feature, as it was already mentioned, which makes them spin down when they are not accessed but they are still fully functional once you start to read/write data. Here's a link to the product page of the WD Green drive, where you can see all the features that it incorporates: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=RYr6no

Let me know if you have any other questions!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[smalltech]

Hey, smalltech!

To answer your question directly: Yes, the WD Green is suitable for your needs as it is designed exactly for that same purpose - to be used as secondary/backup storage internally or externally (put in enclosure). They offer large capacity for your massive storage and run cool and quiet. They do have the power-efficiency feature, as it was already mentioned, which makes them spin down when they are not accessed but they are still fully functional once you start to read/write data. Here's a link to the product page of the WD Green drive, where you can see all the features that it incorporates: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=RYr6no

Let me know if you have any other questions!
SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD, what WD color is most durable and has the least RMA? Over the past 5 years, I have bought about 6 WD Blacks, about 4 need RMA in less than 5 years. It is a waste of time to recover data from the failing harddisk and reinstalling everything again.

And is there some sort of program that can give warning when a hard disk is going to fail?
Maybe like some program can check the heath of hard disk everyday automatically and popup a message if the hard disk is going to fail?

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

SuperSoph_WD, what WD color is most durable and has the least RMA? Over the past 5 years, I have bought about 6 WD Blacks, about 4 need RMA in less than 5 years. It is a waste of time to recover data from the failing harddisk and reinstalling everything again.

And is there some sort of program that can give warning when a hard disk is going to fail?
Maybe like some program can check the heath of hard disk everyday automatically and popup a message if the hard disk is going to fail?

Hi again, smalltech!

I'm sorry to hear about your unfortunate experience with the WD Blacks! 🙁
I'd suggest you to download WD's Data LifeGuard diagnostics tool. This software will let you monitor your HDDs' health and S.M.A.R.T. status. However, it isn't able to give you pop-up notifications when your drive is endangered or failing. You'd need to do regular checks by yourself. Here's a link to the utility: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=6dLQ3c

Do you have other components as suspects for these unfortunate failures? Maybe something bottlenecks the HDDs. I'm just guessing here, but it might be a good idea to check everything.

Hope I was helpful! Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[smalltech]

Do you have other components as suspects for these unfortunate failures? Maybe something bottlenecks the HDDs. I'm just guessing here, but it might be a good idea to check everything.

Hope I was helpful! Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

What do you recommend to check? How to check?

After the WD Black spoiled, I changed the hard disk cables to new ones and replaced the disk with a new WD Black, the WD black spoiled after some time. Maybe I was unlucky or some batches of WD black was not so durable.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

What do you recommend to check? How to check?

After the WD Black spoiled, I changed the hard disk cables to new ones and replaced the disk with a new WD Black, the WD black spoiled after some time. Maybe I was unlucky or some batches of WD black was not so durable.

I'd recommend running regular Quick tests using the Data LifeGuard Diagnostics tool and running the Extended test every once in awhile as well. This will give you more detailed info of the S.M.A.R.T. status of the drive.
Here's an article from our KB that might shed some light: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=EsNcmF
I'm sorry to see you so disappointed, really! :/

If you have any concerns whatsoever, I'd suggest you to talk to our tech support directly either via e-mail or phone.
Here are their contacts: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=mNZrK9

Hope I helpful though!
SuperSoph_WD