On 7/3/2010 10:20 AM, Jim Nichols wrote:
> I need to add an additional hard drive to my Dell Dimension 4700. I am
> seeking advice on the reliability of available SATA drives in the range of
> 250 to 640GB. I have used WD and Seagate Barracuda drives in the past, but
> find disturbing comments on the web on the reliability of their present
> products.
I fretted about this the last few times I bought drives, reading way too many
user reviews about problems they had. I
finally came to a conclusion that may be summarized as follows:
1. There are millions and millions of these drives sold and in use, possibly
billions.
2. The number of people making on-line complaints is in the hundreds, in my
experience.
3. Even if they are the tip of an iceberg of problems, they amount to a tiny,
tiny % of units sold.
4. The chances of an individual encountering them are very small.
5. There is no way, other than prayer, or the operation of the Tao or Karma to
affect one's personal likelihood of
getting a bad one.
6. Ergo, buy the cheapest name brand drive that meets your needs.
> I'm not out for blazing speed or a giant size drive. But, reliability is
> uppermost in my mind. Cool operation and low noise would follow.
Second conclusion:
1. Drives fail. The % is very low, but it happens and there is no way to plan
or buy in such a way as to be sure one
won't be yours. For a hobbyist, I've bought a fair number of drives, over 10,
in the last few years. I got one bad one,
which was bad essentially out of the box. The chances of that happening were
low, but it did.
2. The only sensible solution is not trying to try buy the drive least likely
to fail, but to use back-up drives. It's
also cheap, as drives are amazingly inexpensive. It's also a good way to
protect against loss through theft, fire or
natural disaster.
Third conclusion:
1. A back-up drive in the same computer only protects against drive failure. It
is still vulnerable to viruses, theft,
fire and natural disaster.
2. The only sensible way to do back-up drives is externally, so the back-ups
may be stored away from the computer and
the chance of their being on when the virus strikes is minimal.
3. The securest solution is to by drives in threes, one in computer, second and
third kept in a different part of the
house and a remote location in rotation.
4. Good enough, for me, is buying in pairs and keeping the second in another
part of the house in a small, cheap,
fire-resistant safe.
Corollary: As the back-up drives are only on when actually making back-ups, the
chance of failure through age/wear/use
is infinitesimal.
Fourth conclusion, from experience:
1. Whatever size you choose is going to be too small sooner than anticipated.
2. The price difference between largish and the largest common size is small.
3. Ergo, buy larger than you think you need.
If one accepts this train of logic, the question of how to implement comes up.
The easiest may be drives in individual
external enclosures. For someone like me, who has multiple BU drives, a drive
docking station is cheaper and still very
easy.
Perhaps it's really true that you don't care about speed. Many people who say
that, and then wait for the drive, find
they do care. My advice is to make sure any external devices you buy have eSATA
capability. That way, a cheap connector
from mother board to back panel can make them just as fast as the internal
drives.
A. Conclusive Moose
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