HDD vs SSD for archiving/backups

Discussion
41

@kovacslt :

Thanks for the suggestion, László. :heart:

Well, the external TOSHIBA HDD (500 GB) which I´m using at the moment seems to be happy with its directly being connected my PC´s USB 2.0 port.
No problem with spinning up or with anything else.

But you´re referring to the docking station scenario for internal HDDs, right?

In that case I´d choose one with an external power supply.

Thanks again and many greetings from Rosika :slightly_smiling_face:

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42

Well, it’s not hungry then, if that’s the case, you don’t need the powered connectors right now.

Yes, and if you scroll back to @Tech_JA post:

You see other hints too.
“Von mir aus” you can choose anything :wink:

I had problem with an external drive long ago, that was a 100MB (yes, MegaByte) Samsung HDD, but with IDE interface - the casement provided the interface. The thingy had an Y USB cable, one for power only, and another for power and data.
Usually it could work by plugging only Data+power plug, leaving the power-only unplugged. But sometimes, it needed both.
The hard time was with a laptop that had only one USB port, and the power was insufficient to spin up that monster.

Your budget will determine what you can buy anyway, I just mentioned my HDD docks, because I’m extremely satisfied with them.
Having them USB 3 connected I used to see 130…140 MB/s transfer speeds, and these are limited by the HDD currently docked.

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43

Hi László, :wave:

thanks so much for your reply. :heart:

Yes, quite so. But I need to purchase another HDD that is equally “not hungry”.
As for external ones with their own housing I was considering e.g. this Toshiba HDD, which seems to fulfill my demands:

  • USB-powered
  • 2.5 "
  • 1 TB in size
  • USB 2.0/3.0
  • 5400 revolutions per minute

Currently it´s avaibale at 56.99 Euros at amazon.

It also says:

  • memory type: DIMM

… sadly I cannot evaluate this feature. What may it mean :question:

I haven´t entirely made up my mind yet. Perhaps it´ll be a docking station plus an internal HDD.
I fear it´ll be more expensive in the end though. :thinking:

Many greetings from Rosika :slightly_smiling_face:

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44

That surely makes no sense. It must be a faulty description.
However, the other features seems to be well written.

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45

Hi Rosika,

This term usually refers to the memory or Ram inside of a PC. For a HDD, it makes no sense.
Here a definition of DIMM.

“What is it? DIMM stands for dual in-line memory module; more commonly, it is called a RAM stick. It is a long, thin strip of printed circuit board containing RAM (random access memory) chips, with pins that connect it directly to a motherboard.”

So no need to worry about it.

Kind Regards,
Howard

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46

Hi again, :wave:

thanks for your replies. :heart:

@kovacslt :

Yes, it seems that way.
You can´t always rely on the amazon info. :slightly_frowning_face:
Oh well…

At least the other features they provided make sense. Thanks for your evaluation, László.

@easyt50 :

Thanks for providing the definition for it, Howard.
I´ve come across this abbreviation a few times but never bothered to look it up. :blush:

Many greetings to you all.
All the best from Rosika :slightly_smiling_face:

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47

Hi, Rosika,
I’m going to challenge you to an adventure: :cold_face:

  • If I’m not mistaken, you have an internal HDD in your PC;
  • You buy an external case for your internal HDD, remove it from the PC and put it in the external case as a backup HDD;
  • You buy an SSD and put it in place of the internal HDD and Install your Lite on the SSD;

With these changes, you have an internal SSD with the operating system and 2 external HDDs to use as backups :wink:

Jorge

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48

Only problem with the idea of jorge is the connecting interface inside the computer may not accept a ssd so you need to check before you by the ssd has a sata interface. Just a word of warning.

As your version of linux is lite not sure you will gain much in speed against the work involved plus the storage capacity.

Windows needs ssd otherwise it runs more of a dog than it really is. StRt up time changes greatly.

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49

You may want to follow the thread on this post

As the discussion is around the same subject

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50

Sorry, I think I posted to the wrong topic!

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51

Hi all, :wave:

@Tech_JA :

thanks for the adventurous suggestion, Jorge. :wink:

I know you´re a much more hardware-savvy person than I am.
Therefore this challenge wouldn’t be a major problem for you.
I fear I might not be bold enough to embark on such an adventure. Oh dear. :neutral_face:

Even if I did what you suggested…
… my internal HDD is just 500 GB in size. Actually I wanted to have a 1 TB one, if I have to throw myself into financial expenses.

Still thanks for the suggestion, Jorge.

@callpaul.eu :

Thanks for bringing up this word of warning, Paul.
I´m not sure I would´ve taken this point into consideration. :neutral_face:

Thanks also for the link. I´ll look at it.

@nevj :

No problem, Neville.

Many greetings to all of you from Rosika :slightly_smiling_face:

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52

Just to add to your selection process

https://www.howtogeek.com/reasons-i-still-buy-hdds/

HARD DISK WINS,

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53

Hi Paul, :wave:

thanks for the link.
I´m going to read it through immediately.

Good think that I already have a How-To-Geek account. Otherwise I wouldn´t be able to read the article.

Many greetings from Rosika :slightly_smiling_face:

P.S.:

I´ve read the article now.
Very interesting.

[HDD] And when I inevitably need to access a file on one of those years-old drives, I can be pretty sure they won’t have suffered from data loss.

Great. :+1:

Data loss or leaks can occur in an unpowered SSD because the data is stored using minuscule electrical charges.
The containers where the charges are stored aren’t perfect and can leak over time. Without periodical power input to refresh them, the charges gradually weaken to the point that data can be lost.

To be clear, this isn’t a process that will occur in a few weeks. […]
Most SSDs can be stored unpowered for around a year without suffering data loss, and many newer drives are rated as safe for much longer.

I didn´t know that.

Thanks again, Paul. :heart:

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54

I did not know or realise that
How-To-Geek was to register for or could involve a cost, when i followed the links myself it asked if i was ok with cookie’s and i always reject by default but perhaps before i have accepted by mistake. Time i looked at my cookies and killed some

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55

Hi Paul, :wave:

no problem.

It´s just that I noticed that the site said “log in to your account” (or something similar to that ) in order to be able to read the full article.

Like I said, I had created an account quite a while ago, so fortunately it posed no problem to me. :blush:

Thanks again, Paul.

Cheers from Rosika :slightly_smiling_face:

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56

Hi Rosika,

There is a daily news letter that you can have sent to your in-box. Most of the time
I only skim thru it because a lot of the information does not interest me. But this one about HDD being still a good investment was interesting.

I been doing one of the recommendations for years for my desktop. A smaller SSD for the Linux system and files I reference a lot. A large HDD for backups and files that are not needed as often.

Good luck with your new HDD.

Kind regards,
Howard

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57

Hi Howard, :wave:

thanks for your feedback.

Thanks for mentioning it.
Actually I´ve subscribed to the How-To-Geek newsletter as well.
Often enough it´s pretty informative.

What I like a lot about it is the fact that they also offer the free download of interesting e-books via tradepub (for a limited time, so you may have to be fast).

That´s certainly a commendable approach, Howard. :+1:

Many greetings from Rosika :slightly_smiling_face:

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