which hdd for timemachine

E

extrafuzzyllama

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 29, 2010
Messages
303
hi all i am trying to decide which wd hdd to use for time machine
i was thinking of getting a macally g-s350su external enclosure and a 500gb wd caviar green (wd5000cstrl) to use for time machine

i am wondering if that is a good setup or go with a caviar black?

i am a bit concerned about the greens because i remember reading a while back they have pretty high failure rate

i am still going strong with a 1tb caviar black i bought about a year ago so i feel really good about the caviar blacks

i only considered a caviar green for its quiet feature since it will be ON all the time while i am using my imac for use with time machine
 
I own 4 500GB WD Green drives and they have been running for 1-2 years and all going strong.

Though I have to agree with you, though they are quiet, the Blacks are built much sturdier and aren't really that much louder.

Honestly, I've yet to see a Green drive fail, and not just mine personally, but others I've used in builds for others and work.

The Green drives do run much cooler than the Black drives though, which may help with extending its life.

Either is a good choice. Good luck.
 
A black drive would be a waste for a backup drive. You want something that is low power and low heat for this application. Speed is not a concern. In other words, the green drive is an excellent choice. I have not heard about any massive failure rates with green drives. Look at the samsung ecogreen drives, too. I've had really good luck with them.

That is an excellent enclosure.
 
The Green drives are great for Time Machine. There's no need for a super fast drive for it. Just something reliable.
 
It depends. I have a 500GB system drive and a 500GB time machine drive, but I only use about 120GB on my system drive. If you keep your drive pretty full, then get the 1TB. If you don't use more than 300ish GB, then the 500 is fine. Time machine is very efficient with how it manages space because it backs everything up once and then only copies file changes. If you have a smaller time machine drive, that just means that your daily snapshots won't go back as far.
 
is it true oxford chipset enclosures r really good like from OWC? i was looking into getting a macally gs350su enclosure but i am now thinking of getting a owc elite pro al enclosure
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top