Hi all,
I've done some research on external drive recommendations here. I've read the buying guide thread and most of the threads that it pointed to.
I have narrowed it down to an OWC:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/usb/eliteclassic
or one of the WD with fire wire 800 or building my own with a WD green drive.
My main priorities are for the drive to be quiet, cool and very reliable. I will be used only to back up my 1TB iMac i5.
I am leaning towards building my own so...My questions:
1. In terms of best reliability, what are the different classes of drives. I've heard of the term "enterprise". Is this a higher grade of components? How can I tell from looking at newegg.com which are the "better" drives? I would be looking at WD, hitachi and seagate, with preference in that order. Those seem to be the leaders. Any guidance you can give would be appreciated.
2. Once I pick a disk, what else will I need? I've never built an external drive before so need some help/advise. I know I need an enclosure but not sure if I need to purchase a controller, etc, etc. Which enclosures have good cooling? I am thinking of strapping the external drive to the back of my iMac stand.
Thanks for your help and advise.
I've done some research on external drive recommendations here. I've read the buying guide thread and most of the threads that it pointed to.
I have narrowed it down to an OWC:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/usb/eliteclassic
or one of the WD with fire wire 800 or building my own with a WD green drive.
My main priorities are for the drive to be quiet, cool and very reliable. I will be used only to back up my 1TB iMac i5.
I am leaning towards building my own so...My questions:
1. In terms of best reliability, what are the different classes of drives. I've heard of the term "enterprise". Is this a higher grade of components? How can I tell from looking at newegg.com which are the "better" drives? I would be looking at WD, hitachi and seagate, with preference in that order. Those seem to be the leaders. Any guidance you can give would be appreciated.
2. Once I pick a disk, what else will I need? I've never built an external drive before so need some help/advise. I know I need an enclosure but not sure if I need to purchase a controller, etc, etc. Which enclosures have good cooling? I am thinking of strapping the external drive to the back of my iMac stand.
Thanks for your help and advise.