Enterprise Grade HDD

[MacOG728893]

So I am getting in a new CalDigit external and wanted to swap it out with a 2TB HDD. I know asking what the most reliable HDD is subjective and can greatly very, but I am curious about something else.

I have been looking at server grade HDD's to be able to store my data with a "safer" peace of mind.

Do you guys believe its worth the money and if not, what are you recommendations?

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digit...2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1330677030&sr=1-2

 

[Macman45]

I guess it's a matter of choice...Apple say they put Server grade hdd's in the TC, and although I have no reason to doubt the claim, there do seem to be an inordinate amount of failures.

Personal recommendation is the way to go as you say, but in the end paying a heavy premium for something labelled "Server or Premium grade" won't guarantee long life. A lot depends on usage, heat etc. I have 4 drives in my NAS which are an interesting mixture...one of them is a positively ancient Samsung Spinpoint...I was so convinced this would die that I only use it for dumping bits and bobs on...It's still going strong, and it used to be a system drive too.

 

[MacOG728893]

Interesting... Ugh this will be a tough one..

 

[miles01110]

You will see virtually no difference between an enterprise-grade hard drive or a desktop-grade hard drive unless you plan to leave it on 24/7 constantly reading/writing to the drive.

 

[Lennyvalentin]

I have been looking at server grade HDD's to be able to store my data with a "safer" peace of mind.

Do you guys believe its worth the money and if not, what are you recommendations?

No, it's not worth the money for you as a private individual to invest in TRUE server-grade harddrives. These units are incredibly expensive (cheap server grade harddrives are simply regular desktop drives sold under misleading labels, like Apple is doing with the Time Capsule drives - which are bog standard and actually not server grade at all.)

Buy any ol' el cheapo 2TB drive, and then invest in a proper tiered backup solution if you don't want to risk losing data. Any harddrive, server grade or not, can fail - and WILL, if used long enough. Relying purely on a server grade drive could mean a crash in a year, or a month or a week, there's no way of knowing when it'll happen, just like you could buy the most expensive BMW on the market and then suffer an engine fire on the highway back to your house. When your drive crashes and you then don't have a backup of your stuff it can all be so many bits, lost to the wind.

 

[MacOG728893]

No, it's not worth the money for you as a private individual to invest in TRUE server-grade harddrives. These units are incredibly expensive (cheap server grade harddrives are simply regular desktop drives sold under misleading labels, like Apple is doing with the Time Capsule drives - which are bog standard and actually not server grade at all.)

Buy any ol' el cheapo 2TB drive, and then invest in a proper tiered backup solution if you don't want to risk losing data. Any harddrive, server grade or not, can fail - and WILL, if used long enough. Relying purely on a server grade drive could mean a crash in a year, or a month or a week, there's no way of knowing when it'll happen, just like you could buy the most expensive BMW on the market and then suffer an engine fire on the highway back to your house. When your drive crashes and you then don't have a backup of your stuff it can all be so many bits, lost to the wind.

Thank you for the input, greatly appreciated! Any suggestions on a 2TB? Like I said, I know this is completely subjective, that I was I am simply asking for suggestions only now, thanks once again!

Edit: I am looking at a Caviar Green vs Black currently.