Internal or external hard drive for storage?

[alphaqforever247]

Currently i have a thermaltake black x docking station and used my samsung 1tb drive on it that just died on me. I am looking to replace my broken drive but wanted to maybe ask if going external hard drive is more safe or better then going internal drive on a docking bay.

 

[serpretetsky]

well... external hard drives use regular internal drives...

So are you asking if they generally use better quality internal drives or if somehow their enclosures cause less failures on internal drives?

 

[alphaqforever247]

well... external hard drives use regular internal drives...

So are you asking if they generally use better quality internal drives or if somehow their enclosures cause less failures on internal drives?

yeah i am juss looking for something with less failure rate. i got the samsung casue alot of good reviews and alot of reccomendations from people but it failed on me.

 

[SicKlown42012]

For my storage, I just got a regular 1TB harddrive and a seperate ESATA\USB enclosure. You'll get the same failure rates as a harddrive installed internally, but with ability to move it to different computers. Newegg has a good selection of enclosures, and their housebrand, Rosewill, is of good quality.

 

[longblock454]

yeah i am juss looking for something with less failure rate. i got the samsung casue alot of good reviews and alot of reccomendations from people but it failed on me.

The only issue with external drives is the super crappy power supply they always come with. Using an internal drive combined with a good quality PS and you'll be in good shape.

 

[InvisiBill]

I've heard that newer drives get quite warm, even in those half-exposed docks. If you get something like the Rosewill RX-358-S with a good fan, it will keep the drive very cool. I have a CM RC-690 with 6x Yate Loon 120's in it, including one right in front of the drive cage. My drive was cooler in the Rosewill sitting on top of the CM than it was in the CM (which was sitting on a cement floor in a basement, so taking in lots of nice cool air).

I'd still like to get one of those docks for tech work, but for a permanent enclosure, I prefer one with a good fan.

 

[MrF]

I used a switch that could disconnect two wires and placed in the path of the 5V and 12V wires of a Molex extension cable. I used it to power an internal drive.
The drive is SATA and is plugged into an AHCI port.

Now, when I want to use the drive, I just switch its power on. After I am done, I use the safely remove icon and when it says it is safe to remove, switch the power off again. So, the drive is almost always off except when I need to use it for backup.

For me, this was a free option and the drive is kept cool like my other internal drives and I don't need a power adapter.