Harddrive recommendations?

[topa]

Hi!
I was at the Computer-Shop today, looking for a big (400gb) external harddrive solution to hold my FLACs for the SB3...

Well, I came out again after 10min, without a purchase under my arm but very puzzled and completely fed up with loads of abbreviations and tech-talk this nerdy sales guy had pumped out at an astonishing pace.

Now, I need to go external and USB 2.0 or if required Ethernet. I need 400GB of diskspace, plus later on the same amount again as backup. Searching the Internet, I found an external case which can hold two IDE disk drives and is cooled by a fan. It looks ideal for me. But which drives should I buy? From what I remember the shop recommends Seagate or Samsung. Any special types? Are there slower spinning (5400rpm) Versions at this size? (Less noise and wear) Can I configure the backup disk to remain calm and only start up (spinning) if needed, while running the other one as slimserver? If so, how?

What's with IDE vs S-ATA? I mean, I don't care, and Slimserver won't either I figure as the Data load isn't that dramatic, but if I go IDE, will I be able to obtain another disk in the future? Or will it all be S-ATA within a few weeks?

Thank you for kind advice,
Tobi.

[tommypeters]

Not within a few weeks, but it's better to use S-ATA disks if there's no other thing that's pro IDE (like half price).

I think you should go with 7200rpm drives, cool and low noise models. Usually means Western Digital or Samsung, but maybe Seagate has a new model series that doesn't get as warm as previous models - I don't know.

Usually it's possible to configure any drive not accessed for a while to spin down, how depends on make and the computer's OS.

[sdr]

What about a 500GB version of the WD Mybook? (www.wdmybook.com/en/)? The "essential" version is USB 2.0 only, and you can get them for a pretty reasonable price online.

[tommypeters]

I have a few 250GB WD MyBook Essential purely for backup - and even though I can't say much about their durability since they're mostly turned off, they have worked well and are compatible with most stuff/OS. I bought them when 2*250GB was a lot cheaper than 1*500GB, the difference is much smaller now for external drives.

Today I bought a LaCie Porsche 500GB USB2, also for backup, haven't even opened the box yet. It's also (said to be) compatible with most stuff/OS and was here cheaper than the 500GB MyBook Essential.

[topa]

Hi guys!
Thank you for your input. I made a second attempt, and tried another shop. They understood that I don't understand too much and kindly explained a lot to me. I now have an external Hd, enclosure is by Teac, HD by Samsung, 400 GB for a good price.

Only trouble is, if running simultaniosly my older Trekstore external HD is lost and can't be accessed anymore no matter what I do. I use it for Itunes MP3s and Photo backups.

The Teac/Samsung is great though.

Tobi.

[tommypeters]

What type of computer do you have, how are the two external hard drives connected?

[topa]

It's a compaq Evo D510 USDT ("Ultra-Slim-Desktop") and the two HDs are connected via USB 2.0

[michel]

Your external drives most likely share the same drive letter. Go into management and change at least one drive letter.

[Rangdo]

An effective way I use is instread of using drive letters, assign the USB drive to a folder instead - as soon as the drives available it's just there as an 'extension' to your existing drive.

I'm sure this has been mentioned on this forum before, or is that just my memory ;)

[topa]

Hi,
no, I had different drive letters asigned. I now discovered this not only happens with my older external drive, but also with my up-to-date 2 GB USB Memory stick. So it's the new HD causing the problems. I'm returning it now to the shop, what a pity though, it was very fast and quiet.
I'm off for two weeks of vacation now, so I won't report back on the result of the hardware change immediately, but I'll get back to you guys!

Cheers,
Tobi.
(off to Croatia)