External HD: Buy an Internal + Enclosure?

Quick background/question:

Looking to buy an additional hard drive solely for archiving, data backup etc. Recently purchased a lenovo x200s with a 64gb SSD. I'd like the additional space (~320-500gb) just "to have". It would be for archiving files, potentially movie storage, etc. Nothing that I'd care about regarding speed, looks, portability etc. This would sit on my desk and stay there, I'd use flash drives/SD cards for portable memory.

Am I better off purchasing an internal drive and an enclosure or something akin to a WD Mybook, Transcend Storejet, etc?

If the internal drive is a better idea, what size should I be looking at, 5400 vs. 7200, and any suggestions on brands? (appears WD, seagate, and hitachi are popular)

Thanks very much!
Adam

 

pre-made enclosures usually have only a 1 year warranty.

'bare drives' usually come with a 3-5 year warranty.

I bought a 500Gb Hitachi and put it into a $20 usb/esata enclosure.

Speed? Really doesn't matter. No drive today can saturate an esata or usb 2 connection.

Addonics makes some interesting enclosures including a 4 bay 2.5" raid enclosure. Were I in the market for a new raid box and if I didn't have a shelf full of nearly new 3.5" drives, I'd be looking at that thing.

 

Pretty much everything is covered here by newsposter.



I have a DLink DNS-323 NAS box with two 1TB drives, one is for media, the other for backup, for both my desktop and notebook. It sits in the corner by the router and stays there. I know there are cheaper alternative methods, but I wanted something out of the way and remote, and this does it perfectly fine. Plus, I can access the files downstairs for my home theater, so that was another point of me getting it

If you just want a basic no-frills external HD, pick up a 1TB 3.5" HD for $80~, an enclosure for $10~$20, stick it in, and voila. Speed doesn't matter for a 3.5" since it'll come in one speed anyways, and the bottleneck will still be the USB/eSATA/FireWire port that it'll have.

 

Thanks for those info. It was useful to me too.

 

Some desktop hard drives and most SSDs can saturate USB 2.0 with ease.

 

Thx newsposter and coriolis for the helpful info!
So I have been looking on newegg as well as searching google ever since I read your posts this afternoon....

There are a LOT of options!
Any chance you can point me in the right direction?

5400 vs 7200? Assume 5400 will run quieter, cooler?
IDE vs SATA vs SATA I/II? not sure of the difference here
2.5" vs 3.5"? Assume 3.5", probably cheaper, more storage, etc
Then which enclosure? Does its "internal interface" (per newegg details) need to be SATA I/II if I buy that type of hard drive?

sorry, ignorant I know. Don't have much background in this sort of stuff. The more idiot proof you can make it the better!

Thanks! Adam

 

As for speed, for 3.5" typical desktop hard drives, they're all 7200rpm, so it doesn't matter. For 2.5", it can vary from 4200/5400/7200 but for storage, the former two are fine. 3.5" require a power outlet, 2.5" is powered through USB/FW/eSATA and is much smaller, but more expensive.

 

I think it's all hdds and all good SSDs can saturate USB 2.0 with ease. My laptop hdd can saturate twice of usb 2.0's typical bandwidth. My desktop hdd can saturate 3-4 times the typical usb 2.0's bandwidth.

 

Thanks for the reply coriolis

Follow up question (sorry, still have very little understanding of this).
My x200s ONLY has USB, the docking station (which I do not have) has a sata port. Therefore, I will need something powered by USB, correct?

My question: the USB connection is on the enclosure correct? I could buy any SATA 3.0Gb/s hard drive and with the appropriate USB enclosure, use it with my laptop right?

Regarding the 5400 vs 7200 rpm, which is better for my purposes? This directly correlates to SATA 3.0 vs SATA 1.5 I believe, so answering that question would solve the RPM debate.

 

Yes. This provides the optimum external enclosure experience: portability and convenience (ie, no extra power cords, AC adapters, etc.).

Yes, the USB data connection is on the enclosure. External enclosures come in two types: IDE and SATA. If you purchase a SATA hard drive, ensure that you match it with a SATA external enclosure. So to answer your question, yes, as long as the external enclosure you buy supports SATA HDD's, you'll be fine. If it helps, SATA external enclosures contain an adapter that fits over the data and power connections on your hard drive which then interfaces with a regular USB 2.0 cable.

This entirely depends on your needs. If you are simply doing archiving, backing up, etc., then I would probably go with a 5,400 RPM hard drive. Since this hard drive is enclosed by a USB 2.0 external enclosure, I don't see the benefits of buying the more expensive 7,200 RPM hard drive since the performance benefits of a higher spindle speed of the hard drive will not be able to saturate a USB 2.0 connection, which maxes out at 480Mbps.

In part, yes. Again, you will be using a USB data connection to transfer data (480Mbps) with a hard drive that is capable of 1.5Gbps (SATA I) and 3.0Gbps (SATA II) respectively. Problem is, your hard drive will only transfer data as fast as the data interface allows it to, which in this case is USB 2.0 (480Mbps).

 

garetjax - Thank you!!!

I think that about solves it, I'll read some reviews on 5400 drives and grab one. Thanks a bunch man, very helpful!

ADam

 

RPM speed has no correlation to the type of connection it uses. Most 7200 RPM drives do not even take 1/3 advantage of SATA-150. You can get either SATA-300 or SATA-150, it won't matter because USB2.0 would be the limiting factor for either. As stated above, you should get a 5400 RPM drive for USB 2.0, since that will still saturate USB 2.0.