Portable Hard Drive (4TB) - Best Options

cheapskatez on 23/08/2021 - 16:30

I am looking at purchasing a 4TB portable hard drive, however all I see is sub-standard user reviews. I will be using this for file storage only (not gaming).
I have an old Seagate 3TB that still works perfectly but is AC powered and big and chunky so looking at upgrading as I am using it more recently, are current models just as reliable?

Can I please get your recommendations WD or Seagate or another brand? Any model better than others? I need something that will last for at least 5 years without skipping a beat.

Also does the encryption advertised on current models contain basic protection that will get brute forced in a minute or two or do they provide VeraCrypt like protection?

Any assistance/advice will be greatly appreciated.

Computing 4TB Computer Peripheral Portable Hard Drive

Comments

  • Trance N Dance on 23/08/2021 - 16:45
    +3

    Hard drives will fail, not a question of it but when. Asking 5 years guarantee is a bit of a stretch for a portable drive that will see some shock from movement.
    Seagates can be shucked so if the SATA to USB interface dies you can still get access to the drive. WD has their controller attached straight onto the drive. Otherwise they're much of a muchness both will be SMR drives (if that matters to you)

  • Hybroid on 23/08/2021 - 16:47
    +4

    You'll want a $500 4TB SSD if you want portability and higher chance of surviving 5 years solid. A $99 Seagate in your backpack will less likely get you there.

    Having said that, comment above is completely correct.

    Also: Backup. Backup. Backup!

    • Chandler on 24/08/2021 - 12:51

      $500 4TB SSD 5 years

      $99 Seagate less likely get you there

      If the Seagate lives more than 1yr (which it should), you'd be up $-wise (if not time wise due to the slower drive).

      • xentar on 04/09/2021 - 11:10

        I see you value your data ;).

  • dammit on 23/08/2021 - 16:55
    +3

    I’ve had a WD drive fail and lost everything. It can happen to any brand though.

    • BewareOfThe Dog on 23/08/2021 - 19:09

      I've had plenty of WD drives over the years fail, so my bias is towards Seagate.

      • Chandler on 24/08/2021 - 12:55

        My first hard drive purchase were Seagate's (Barracuda's) - both died (within warranty). One of the two replacements then also died.

        All hard drives die. Get the cheapest one you can from a reputable brand and of a type that's suitable for your purpose, test them when you get them, then run em till they drop. Have backups so that the physical loss doesn't result in a digital loss. Rinse and repeat.

        • xentar on 04/09/2021 - 12:23

          Do you any suggestions for backup solutions? I had a raid setup on desktop but have been laptop+several 2.5" externals since I moved a few years ago. Basically copy files everything 3 months to Other drives reserved for backup data, and weekly backup of higher priority data+ daily cloud backup for documents.

          I've had terrible failure rates with powered externals. Over 50% failure rates within 24 months compared with 17% over 5 years for 2.5" admittedly the use case differs due to lower capacity the 1-2 plugged in constantly change and when I get a new one data gets reshuffled and it becomes the write drive. I'm not sure if I'm just an outlier or if I needed more expensive power adapters. I had more or less stopped using them when I got a UPS so the data is pretty flawed.

          I have been considering a 14-18GB external but I'm still wary of powered drives or perhaps some sort of drive array or nas fill the role better.

          • freefall101 on 04/09/2021 - 18:24

            @xentar: I'd go with a NAS and chock it full of drives (or a small number of enterprise drives) and let it manage the pain for you. It's a lot easier than copying files all over the place, then let it do a backup to the cloud on top of that. Depending on the NAS size it'll handle some drive failures, you just need to buy a new drive and slot it in when it tells you. Easier than managing your own RAID.

            Personally, I took the time to figure out what's an important backup and scrapped pretty much everything else. I could fit everything on a 1TB external SSD and a 1TB OneDrive account, although I've yet to transition all my photos to this setup (important family photos are backed up in this but for everything else I was using Google's unlimited storage, that's dead now. I either need to sign up an iDrive account or flickr). Games, applications, music, movies, no longer backed up in any way (nor is my generic "downloads" folder, which means I do need to make sure I'm not saving important things to it).

  • Presence on 23/08/2021 - 17:13
    +1

    This specific colour is on sale for a very reasonable price right now (see CamelCamelCamel).
    Not many portable drives are USB-C, but i refuse to buy micro USB devices any more!

    https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07GK2PC5V/ref=ppx_yo_d…

    • xentar on 04/09/2021 - 12:32

      Do the drives do usb c speeds? My incoming laptop is going to deliver a huge blow to my usb-a port count. It doesn't help that I have a unifying dongle and a separate one for my g903.

      • Presence on 04/09/2021 - 15:26

        USB C is a plug shape not a speed.

        I bought two of these drives so I can answer any Q's you have.

  • G-rig on 19/10/2021 - 07:32

    Wondering what's a good hdd for media files to plug into a RPi4
    My power supply (5V/3A usb C) is fine to power one 2.5" external I believe - seems like once you go over 4TB you'd need a 3.5" powered?
    Still not sure whether to leave running all the time or not (likewise with the Pi, it's just got a music streaming OS loaded up.
    So not exactly a NAS but a NAS quality drive would make sense.

    Thanks,

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