What's the BEST external harddrive???

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.
 
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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)
 
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.
 
Sunstream said:
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.
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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!
 
WD forget it

WD forget it

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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 nextarr 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.
 
Sunstream said:
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.
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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 said:
Does this enclosure look good: WiebeTech Toughtech XE ?

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