On 3/3/2016 9:53 AM, Jim Nichols wrote:
Hi Ken,
The drive that needs replacing is a WD Caviar Black from June 2010, and it is still working fine, but is too small to
handle my weekly backup and current photo images. My 16MP Fuji RAF files appear as 25MB, and full-size TIFF files
appear as 95MB, so I'm adding about 14GB per week. And this is with an old sensor! The newer cameras, with modern
sensors, devour the space even faster.
My review of Newegg comments on WD Black 1-4TB was not encouraging. Some comments were about overheating, and many,
many were about noise. Others were DOA. I'm still scratching my head.
Assume that all brands and models have the same failure characteristics. Take an infinitesimal sample, such as we
represent. The anecdotal reports of individual failures from us are statistically meaningless and of no use whatsoever
in predicting our future failure experiences.
User reviews are always biased toward the negative. Those who have a bad experience will always review in greater
proportion than those who have no problem. Whatever past reviews are about, it's most likely not what is currently being
sold. There are constant changes in production.
The only sensible solution is to recognize that one cannot know a best choice. Then, the answer is simple, find a
strategy that is as insulated as possible form individual drive failure. RAID arrays of the proper type are one
solution. You can tell it's not mine because I don't which configuration.
What I do is buy pairs of drives at the same time. One in or connected to the computer all the time. The other is only
on and connected briefly when I make fairly frequent incremental back-ups. The expected life of the back-up drive could
be measured in centuries, with such light use. The B-U drives live in a small fire resistant safe at the other end of
the house, unlocked.
(Just to balance the anecdotal "evidence", the only drive I've had fail is a WD, which failed within a handful of
minutes of being hooked up.)
Wet Blanket Moose
--
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
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