Best portable and fastest external HDD that is over 2 TB?
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From: Ant on 15 Apr 2010 22:07 Hello. What's the best portable and fastest external HDD to get these days? Here are my requirements: 1. Easy portablility between PCs (mostly Windows XP to the newest and can be old and new). 2. I will need to be able to hold over 2 TB of datas. Will need room for future growths too. I assume this will be in NTFS. 3. Some files will be huge as in GB sizes. 4. Avoid having to use special drivers to access the drives. Windows should detect them easily like USB drives once connected for the first time. 5. Since I will be transferring many GB and TB of datas a lot, I need to be able to do this fast (not days and weeks). USB2 is too slow. USB3 is too new and expensive and requires USB3 cards, but someone suggested that using ESATA would work. However, not all computers support this and would require ESATA cards too. New ones probably have external ESATA connectors? Having all the ports (USB, ESATA, Firewire, etc.) supported would be good. 6. The external HDD can be enclosure or bundled preassembled. I just need something that works with my requirements. 7. Store locations to order from only: Cdw.com Best buy Amazon.com A few years ago, I bought an Antec enclosure with USB and ESATA connectors. I don't know if something like that is still suitable for my requirements. Thank you in advance. :) -- "The world flatters the elephant and tramples on the ant." --Indian /\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site) / /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net | |o o| | \ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link. ( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed. Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.
From: Rod Speed on 16 Apr 2010 03:23 Ant wrote > What's the best portable and fastest external HDD to get these days? Its still best to assemble it yourself, mainly so you get the full warranty on the drive. I still prefer samsungs. You'll get the best speed with eSATA. > Here are my requirements: > 1. Easy portablility between PCs (mostly Windows XP > to the newest and can be old and new). Best to have dual eSATA and USB in that case. > 2. I will need to be able to hold over 2 TB of datas. Will need > room for future growths too. I assume this will be in NTFS. > 3. Some files will be huge as in GB sizes. Then you need it NTFS formatted. > 4. Avoid having to use special drivers to access the drives. Windows should > detect them easily like USB drives once connected for the first time. > 5. Since I will be transferring many GB and TB of datas a lot, I need > to be able to do this fast (not days and weeks). USB2 is too slow. > USB3 is too new and expensive and requires USB3 cards, but someone > suggested that using ESATA would work. However, not all computers > support this and would require ESATA cards too. New ones probably > have external ESATA connectors? Not all of them do. > Having all the ports (USB, ESATA, Firewire, etc.) supported would be good. > 6. The external HDD can be enclosure or bundled preassembled. > I just need something that works with my requirements. > 7. Store locations to order from only: > Cdw.com > Best buy > Amazon.com > A few years ago, I bought an Antec enclosure with USB and ESATA connectors. > I don't know if something like that is still suitable for my requirements. Yes it is. Worth considering a hard drive docking station. That way you can easily plug in different hard drives and that can be very convenient at times. You wouldnt want to be a klutz that drops things tho, the drives are bare. I just keep them in the antistatic box/shell that the come in myself when they arent in the docking station.
From: Ant on 16 Apr 2010 08:17 On 4/16/2010 12:23 AM PT, Rod Speed typed: >> What's the best portable and fastest external HDD to get these days? > > Its still best to assemble it yourself, mainly so you get the full warranty on the drive. > > I still prefer samsungs. > > You'll get the best speed with eSATA. OK. >> Here are my requirements: > >> 1. Easy portablility between PCs (mostly Windows XP >> to the newest and can be old and new). > > Best to have dual eSATA and USB in that case. Good. I assume Firewire is useless and its battle lost over USB and ESATA. >> 2. I will need to be able to hold over 2 TB of datas. Will need >> room for future growths too. I assume this will be in NTFS. >> 3. Some files will be huge as in GB sizes. > > Then you need it NTFS formatted. Good. >> 4. Avoid having to use special drivers to access the drives. Windows should >> detect them easily like USB drives once connected for the first time. > >> 5. Since I will be transferring many GB and TB of datas a lot, I need >> to be able to do this fast (not days and weeks). USB2 is too slow. >> USB3 is too new and expensive and requires USB3 cards, but someone >> suggested that using ESATA would work. However, not all computers >> support this and would require ESATA cards too. New ones probably >> have external ESATA connectors? > > Not all of them do. That's the hard part. I don't think the newst PCs I use even have one. :( USB2, yes. Sheesh! That probably means I need to buy an ESATA card. >> Having all the ports (USB, ESATA, Firewire, etc.) supported would be good. > >> 6. The external HDD can be enclosure or bundled preassembled. >> I just need something that works with my requirements. > >> 7. Store locations to order from only: >> Cdw.com >> Best buy >> Amazon.com > >> A few years ago, I bought an Antec enclosure with USB and ESATA connectors. >> I don't know if something like that is still suitable for my requirements. > > Yes it is. Good! > Worth considering a hard drive docking station. That way you can easily > plug in different hard drives and that can be very convenient at times. > > You wouldnt want to be a klutz that drops things tho, the drives are bare. > I just keep them in the antistatic box/shell that the come in myself when > they arent in the docking station. Know of any good ones to use from the listed stores? I am only planning to buy one dock and take it with me to various PCs. I was told that this needs to be huge and requires a RAID setup for this huge disk size? Prices shouldn't be an issue since my employer pays for it. -- "An ant hole may collapse an embankment." --Japanese /\___/\ Phil./Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site) / /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net | |o o| | \ _ / If crediting, then use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link. ( ) If e-mailing, then axe ANT from its address if needed. Ant is currently not listening to any songs on this computer.
From: Arno on 16 Apr 2010 10:52 Ant <ANTant(a)zimage.com> wrote: > Hello. > What's the best portable and fastest external HDD to get these days? > Here are my requirements: > 1. Easy portablility between PCs (mostly Windows XP to the newest and > can be old and new). > 2. I will need to be able to hold over 2 TB of datas. Will need room > for future growths too. I assume this will be in NTFS. There is a 2TB limit in MSDOS style partitions. If you want something larger, you need to use them unpartitioned. No idea whether XP can do that for this size. Also there are no disks >2TB on the market, so this will need to be mutlti-disk. > 3. Some files will be huge as in GB sizes. Will need NTFS. > 4. Avoid having to use special drivers to access the drives. Windows > should detect them easily like USB drives once connected for the > first time. USB: Needs 64 bit sector address support. I think XP does not have that without drivers. SATA: May not work for >2TB, due to partitioning limits, but may work unpartitioned. > 5. Since I will be transferring many GB and TB of datas a lot, I need > to be able to do this fast (not days and weeks). USB2 is too slow. > USB3 is too new and expensive and requires USB3 cards, but someone > suggested that using ESATA would work. However, not all computers > support this and would require ESATA cards too. New ones probably > have external ESATA connectors? Having all the ports (USB, ESATA, > Firewire, etc.) supported would be good. You cannot transfer TBs fast today. The fastest disks (FLASH) give you only 200MB/s, i.e. about 2h/TB real world speed. With HDDs, 4h/TB is about the best speed for unRAIDed. > 6. The external HDD can be enclosure or bundled preassembled. I just > need something that works with my requirements. > 7. Store locations to order from only: > Cdw.com > Best buy > Amazon.com > A few years ago, I bought an Antec enclosure with USB and ESATA > connectors. I don't know if something like that is still suitable for my > requirements. Whether or not, it is your best bet. Other people ship complete PCs for TB scale data shipping. Arno -- Arno Wagner, Dr. sc. techn., Dipl. Inform., CISSP -- Email: arno(a)wagner.name GnuPG: ID: 1E25338F FP: 0C30 5782 9D93 F785 E79C 0296 797F 6B50 1E25 338F ---- Cuddly UI's are the manifestation of wishful thinking. -- Dylan Evans
From: Rod Speed on 16 Apr 2010 13:36
Ant wrote > Rod Speed wrote >>> What's the best portable and fastest external HDD to get these days? >> Its still best to assemble it yourself, mainly so you get the full warranty on the drive. >> I still prefer samsungs. >> You'll get the best speed with eSATA. > OK. >>> Here are my requirements: >>> 1. Easy portablility between PCs (mostly Windows XP >>> to the newest and can be old and new). >> Best to have dual eSATA and USB in that case. > Good. I assume Firewire is useless and its battle lost over USB and ESATA. Yeah. The main exception is if you do much Mac support, can be handy for that. >>> 2. I will need to be able to hold over 2 TB of datas. Will need >>> room for future growths too. I assume this will be in NTFS. >>> 3. Some files will be huge as in GB sizes. >> Then you need it NTFS formatted. > Good. >>> 4. Avoid having to use special drivers to access the drives. >>> Windows should detect them easily like USB drives once connected for the first time. >>> 5. Since I will be transferring many GB and TB of datas a lot, I >>> need to be able to do this fast (not days and weeks). USB2 is >>> too slow. USB3 is too new and expensive and requires USB3 cards, >>> but someone suggested that using ESATA would work. However, not >>> all computers support this and would require ESATA cards too. >>> New ones probably have external ESATA connectors? >> Not all of them do. > That's the hard part. I don't think the newst PCs I use even have one. > :( USB2, yes. Sheesh! That probably means I need to buy an ESATA card. Its simpler just to use the USB2 option with those that dont support eSATA and wear the lower speed with those dinosaurs. After all, you have to do something else when doing a major job when say imagine the internal drive etc, its no big deal if that takes longer with the dinosaurs that dont have eSATA. >>> Having all the ports (USB, ESATA, Firewire, etc.) supported would be good. >>> 6. The external HDD can be enclosure or bundled preassembled. >>> I just need something that works with my requirements. >>> 7. Store locations to order from only: >>> Cdw.com >>> Best buy >>> Amazon.com >>> A few years ago, I bought an Antec enclosure with USB and ESATA connectors. I don't know if something like that is >>> still suitable> for my requirements. >> Yes it is. > Good! >> Worth considering a hard drive docking station. That way you can easily plug in different hard drives and that can be >> very convenient at times. >> You wouldnt want to be a klutz that drops things tho, the drives are bare. I just keep them in the antistatic >> box/shell that the come in myself when they arent in the docking station. > Know of any good ones to use from the listed stores? There isnt much in it between them and I havent bought what they sell. > I am only planning to buy one dock and take it with me to various PCs. Yes, but it can be convenient to be able to have more than one back at base and you can choose which drive you take to a particular job etc. > I was told that this needs to be huge and requires a RAID setup for this huge disk size? Nope, you can buy 2TB samsungs now. And bigger later if you need to with a docking station. > Prices shouldn't be an issue since my employer pays for it. Sure. |