What's the BEST external harddrive???

[concon310]

So, I've heard horror stories from people storing footage on externals and having them crash randomly. I've used Lacie for several years now for standard definition and have never had a problem.

I want to invest in a nice 500gb harddrive, but I'm taking every precaution I can to avoid losing data, or having it crash.

I've heard Lacie sucks for HD. And heard some good things about Apple's G drives, and the WD My Book.

Any recommendations?

[Jarek Zabczynski]

I like the drives from G-Tech.

[MikeWilkinson]

I use 4 LaCie's. No problems. 2x500, 2x100.

I also have 3 WDs - 500 My Book, 2x160 USB drives. No problems.

I have a 300 Seagate. It crashed once, but I didn't lose any files.

I had a client's G-Raid drive last year, and the thing would crash in about an hour into use... and that was if I could get it to mount. Luckily we replaced it before we lost any data.

Prices are getting so low that you can get a couple of 500's and use one as a duplicate backup.

[RE1000]

I have a usb 500gb WD Mybook(about $135 from newegg). So far so good.
I've had it for a few months, it's my backup hd.

[Indywannabe]

I've not had any problems with LaCie 500 Quadras. The tech guys at the Apple store say they do not see many issues either...and that G-tech and WD have about the same level of returns.

My assumption is that mainly just the bad drives get reported in the reviews. If that is the case then 10's out of ten thousands is not a bad performance.

[joeher133]

I have 320GB G-raid that has been running strong for the past three years and I just got a 500GB G-Raid2 which is also running strong.

[David Saraceno]

G-Tech or wiebetech.com.

My preference is wiebetech.com.

I'm glad that the "usb 500gb WD Mybook" is working, but I just wouldn't trust this data to any mechanism and enclosure that isn't among the best.

I don't believe those WD enclosures and drives are among the best.

The reports I've seen is that anything Hitachi is among the best.

[wgzn]

lacie has a VERY chequered past as far as reliability goes. for every story i hear of someone liking them, i hear 5 of them crashing, failing to stay mounted or as in my case simply corrupt a years worth of data (and did an "island of doc moreau" job to about 10% of my itunes library)

they may have worked their kinks out by now, but im still reading horror stories.

also heard some unhapiness with the WD mybook drives.

one thing you should look for is multiple ports, should you ever need to daisy chain more than one drive.

i swear by drives from promax and OWC. used them both for years without a single hiccup!

i did have to buy one of those new seagate, multi interface drives the other day (all store had was that, lacie products, and mybooks) you know, that one that sits vertically on a stand and has that amber glow all around its edges. i was a little skeptical as it reeks of commercialised CHEESINESS - BUT i just put it through an ultra-grueling 4 day project editing a 4.75 hour final runtime live presentation shoot, and it didnt miss a beat!

[mindzeye]

g-tech my friend!!! i had four 500 gig drives from lacie and have been a lacie user up until one of my newer drives crashed for some odd reason... so i chucked my lacies and bought a terabyte from g-tech... it's filled to the brim with my DV footage and has been dependable for the past couple years... it cools better... and that's a fact!! anything that can with stand an LA summer with no AC has my vote.... (i'd rather save on my power bill than my equip) i run it everyday for a minimum of 12 hour a day!! G-TECH ALL TECH WAY!!!!

[mindzeye]

i hear 5 of them crashing, failing to stay mounted or as in my case simply corrupt a years worth of data

make that 6!!

[bosindy]

I am using a Lacie for editing and the sounds this thing makes worry me. so far so good though.

[David Wilson]

We've used Maxtor hard drives for over five years years without a single failure. For our current project we are running 2 300GB and 1 500GB Maxtor One Touch III drives that have preformed beautifully. We're just using a USB 2 connection but they also support firewire 800. The 500GB cost us some $150. Seagate recently bought Maxtor but I believe the drives we're using are still available.

[Jacquot]

I use CalDigit (http://www.caldigit.com/index.asp) drives.

[Sherlock256]

I too have been looking for reliable and fast HD's. I've had two Maxtor drives crash in one year. Both firewire drives showed odd behavior, glitches, lost files, and then failed at the power supply. I was able to save the data on the first drive but the second failed completely. Fortunately, I have a WD 1TB drive that contained most of the data of the second drive. I have 4x 300 GB Maxtor one touch II drives and I have little confidence in their ability to store data long term. I would hesitate to buy another Maxtor based on my experience.

[Ming]

The WD MyBookPro 2 is a steamer, avoid it. I've got two of them. First off the fans suck in air rather than blow it out. I'm pretty sure they were just assembled wrong in the first place as flipping the fans over makes about a 90% difference in their cooling. But they're just crappy. Problems I've had: Random disconnects. They just unmount themselves at random times. TOTALLY sucks when you're in the middle of something important, like oh I dunno writing data. Doing a firmware upgrade is a crapshoot. I had one shut off during such an operation after it had wiped its own flash memory but before it had written the new data. I had to RMA that one, and on my own dime. WD has the worst tech support in the universe. He was rude and stupid, not to mention he seemed to care very little about fixing the issue. I'll never buy another WD product again. Note however, my 500GB My Book has run perfectly for 2 years and the problems are with the 1TB Raid models.

[arrestthisman]

I used to use Lacie; and haven't had any real problems with them. I still use a a few, but I've heard too many horror stories about them.

Pro shops rarely use them unless they have sponsorship deals (which they have TON).

I just got in to G-tech. I love it. Too early to tell for durability.

Simply put, follow the manufacturer with the best warranty. The warranty is a direct reflection of how reliabile the maker thinks their product is.

MOST models from Seagate carry a five year deal. That's the best you can get right now.

Best value has to go to western digital, two year deal, but they are very inexpesive. G-tech has the best performance, but costs the most.

There really is no answer. But there are definately makers to AVOID... and they are not hard to find. Buy nothing with a 1 year warranty, IMO.

Best of luck.
- Alex

[Mike Naylor]

I have several Lacie drives and was very happy until one went down. All discs evntually go down, but it shouldn't take Lacie 3 months to repair them. So, now I've just bought the new IOMEGA 2TB Power Pro Raid - excellent value for money and it seems to work.

[JasperReynolds]

g tech is da bomb.....

[calchip]

It's a bit pricier than the other externals, but I very highly recommend the Buffalo Terastations. These are RAID-5 arrays, 1 to 2 TB capacity, that connect over Ethernet.

If one of the drives fails, you simply replace it, reboot, hit the reset switch, and the Terastation will continue to function normally as it rebuilds the missing data on the new drive.

As far as peace of mind goes, there's no comparison from my perspective. Of course, we keep tape backups of the Terastations as well, just to be sure.

We have had multiple Maxtor failures, tons of Western Digital failures. Maxtor is now Seagate's "value" line, which scares me a bit.

I haven't used Hitachi drives in years (since right after they bought IBM's drive division and became Hitachi) but way back then, the drives sucked. I have heard they are better now.

These days, we are buying Seagate drives. 5 year warranty, seem to be fast and run relatively cool, and I think I've had maybe one failure, less than any other brand .

[Sunstream]

Ive gone to 2.5 eSATA/FW enclosures in the field. I find that there are just as fast and there are a lot more durable laptop 2.5 drives out there that can handle the mobility that I require. After all, thats what they are made for. Most 3.5 drives are not designed for so much movement. Plus the big bonus is size, of course they are more expensive and only small capacities of 120-160 are available at 7200 speed. I always back them up to a raid ASAP of course, and If Im on a Desktop, Im using a raid. I always have a backup of the P2 image when the project is still active.
FYI - Had horible experiences with LaCie which contain Seagate drives I believe.

[Indywannabe]

On the Buffalo -- Good drive for all the reasons you mentioned. The tradeoffs are performance vs. data protection of RAID 5, and performance vs. data sharing of the Ethernet.

For heads down FCS performance on the Mac, I would recommend FW800 or eSATA for connectivity and no RAID 5.

Using RAID 0 as an throughput enhancer option also has it's tradeoffs. RAID 0 most benefits applications with multi-stream processing. However, it is scary to think that you are doubling your points of failure. But we all stay backed up, right?

I use FCS one app at a time, and even then only on limited files at a time. The Apple guys say that RAID 0 will probably not provide me the full benefit.

...oh...I use a LaCie 500 Quadra for FCP projects, no problems yet...but I do backup to a Western Digital (which is ssssllllloooowww for file xfer) and store them for archival when they fill up.

[sweatshirtbrigade]

Are these drives you guys are talking about good for storage/editing etc. only? Would you recommend different drives for direct to disk recording?

[wgzn]

same logic applies to both storage/edit and live capture.

[ullanta]

If you want the best, get a Glyph. They are the fastest and most reliable drives you'll find. If it matters to you (as it does for me, in audio applications), they're also made to be very quiet. Glyph backs them with free overnight replacement for 3 years, and free data recovery. You won't see anyone else providing such guarantees - for a good reason. I've used over 40 external HDs since 2000, when I got my first Glyph, and everything but my Glyph drives have had some sort of problem. I have 5 Glyph drives, that have been in daily use for from 1 to 7 years; none has ever had the slightest problem. For any live/critical application, these are the only drives I'd use. They are the definition of bulletproof.

IMHO, LaCie has been the worst (most fail catastrophically within 2 years); SmartDisk FireLite bus powered drives have been surprisingly reliable, but slow (I use them for backup), G-Drives have been good, and fast, with only minor issues but not as bulletproof as the Glyphs. The problems with drives tend to be with the interface circuitry rather than with the drive mechanisms; Glyph designs custom firmware for their interfaces, specialized for A/V applications, which seems to give them the edge in both reliability and speed.

So, for any serious direct-to-disk recording - get a Glyph (http://www.glyphtech.com)

[wgzn]

wow! i didnt know glyph drives were still around - im gonna give them a shot!

[Sunstream]

Almost all of my external disk failures (including places that I have worked) have been the interface, so you can rip it apart and put the drive in a housing and still have the data. Of the rest, there are ways to get the data in many cases.

[ullanta]

Almost all of my external disk failures (including places that I have worked) have been the interface, so you can rip it apart and put the drive in a housing and still have the data. Of the rest, there are ways to get the data in many cases.

OFTEN ways to get MOST of the data... but sometimes not, and usually not all... depends what you're doing when the failure occurs. I've saved MOST data from failed LaCie drives this way, but in every case have lost at least a few things... not worth the risk for anything crucial, or for live recording before there's any backup!

[DocBedford]

In studio today, fellow techie lost 3.5 HOURS of material when his WD My Book bit the dust. He was off all day trying to find someone to recover it.

What a horror story. He was maniac about it. Don't do WD.

[ez_dbc]

for insanely reliable go Wiebetech Raid 5 1.8TB-- this is by far the best thing I ever bought but not superfast especially as it becomes full. Great archive storage because it self heals. Man did I say this was great yet!

for extremely fast go Seagate eSata 300GB (PCI or Xpress adaptor) great value at $120 for 300GB. I have a ton of these!

for extremely unreliable buy a Lacie Big Disk 500GB raid level 0 -- I 've had both drives fail for an astonishing 100% fail rate. Worst purchase X2 of all time.

I have three G-Raids and had to send the 500GB back for a recall but they sent it back and it's now very reliable. I've been pretty impressed with G-Raid especially for fast.

Bottom line: Speed vs. Security. Best speed: eSata. Best reliability : Wiebe Raid 5. Good value firewire 800: G-Raid. And the award for absolute worst purchase of anything in my entire life: Lacie Big Disk.

[Sunstream]

The bigger the Disk the harder it falls....
at least the more info you loose, and the more important it is to have it backed up. Bottom Line, there is no BEST drive. Any drive can fail, and all you can do is take precautions. Maybe its time for us all to stop looking for that magical drive that wont fail and find a procedure that offers best success.
I keep P2 images on a separate drive not attached to the system, so worst case I still have the original P2 image. Then in my system I RAID. Make certain that everything is backed up, and keep autosave project files on a seperate disk than the project files themselves, that way, if GOD Forbid everything is lost, at least I can rebuild it.

[ez_dbc]

there's Raid 0*** then there's Raid 5. Big is beautiful.

[Jason Miller]

lacie, one of my lacie trips, took a 25 foot dive onto pavement and kept on trucken.

[Pierre Petit]

I wonder why someone would not just buy the case and drive seperatly. At least you will know whats inside. Am i missing something? I personally buy seagates drives and vantec nextar (http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=17167&vpn=NST-360SU-BK&manufacture=VANTEC)r case.
On the field i use the usb connection and plug it with the esata on my editing rig so i can edit right of the drive and save another transfer.
Over the years i had many western digital and maxtor drives fail on me but not a single seagate yet.

[indigo]

there is no BEST drive.

Amen, brother!

Indy....

[ullanta]

Any drive can fail, and all you can do is take precautions. Maybe its time for us all to stop looking for that magical drive that wont fail and find a procedure that offers best success.


This is very true, and indeed proper procedure is essential and no drive shouyld ever be treated as infallible. But that doesn't mean good drives don't make a difference, and indeed in certain steps of the process (e.g., live capture) reducing chance of drive failure (or even a slowdown that causes dropped frames) is essential. Good drives, well-maintained, make a difference here... and they should be backed up as soon as shooting stops, and put onto archiving media as soon after that as possible...

[sweatshirtbrigade]

Does this enclosure look good: WiebeTech Toughtech XE (http://www.wiebetech.com/products/toughtech.php)?

It doesn't have a fan. Does that mean it's not worth it?

[ullanta]

Does this enclosure look good: WiebeTech Toughtech XE (http://www.wiebetech.com/products/toughtech.php)?

It doesn't have a fan. Does that mean it's not worth it?



Depends where you live and work, perhaps... here in SoCal I'm often working (on location and even in some studios, including my home setup!) where fanless drives overheat in heavy usage. So I prefer drives like the Glyphs that have a fan which only kicks in when necessary (very rarely), and are designed to be quiet when it does. Try to check out the drives before you buy... some fans are intolerably whiny; some are always-on, etc. You may want to have some of each (fanless and fanny), or just keep at least one drive with a fan around just in case you find yourself in a hot situation.

[DavidBeier]

I've been working with a very affordable 700 gig Seagate drive. It's worked geat.

[cbln]

My G-Tech minis were great on the road for storage.

[J P]

Another happy G-Tech user. I have three of them.

[cbln]

Also, for those of us who live in SoCal, G-Tech is local. You can get someone on the phone and talk to them. Great service.

[hatchmo]

I've heard Lacie sucks for HD.

I would ignore the person who told you that. The remark makes no sense. Sustitute G-Tech or OWC for LaCie, or substitute SD for HD, and it still makes no sense.

[Nathan Beaman]

no lacie does suck. but in general not just hd. they have an incredibly high failure rate, and no cosistency between manufacturing runs as all parts are lowest bidder.

[SurJones]

I have had G-drive, I used to say Maxtor, but I had 2 crash on me after 3 years of use. Not a glitch and G-Drive only uses A+ drives.

[wgzn]

i think the real question here comes down to general experience. sure individual mileage will vary - but list all the brands weve mentioned in this (and similar) thread.

which ones get the most bad reports? lacie is gonna win that one hands down. just a fact - BUT, lacie arguably has sold more units than all the other brands in the race combined, second only to maxtor - who coincidentally is second in the gross number of horror stories. its understandable that the vendor with 10x the number of sold units would have a higher number of problems... but still, i say basic logic is to go with the vendors youve heard less bad from:

owc, glyph, promax, gtech