External Hard Drive Question

[Sammy's]

I just picked up a WD Easystore 8TB Drive. Can you leave these desktop external drives plugged in all the time?

Thanks

 

[Fishrrman]

If the drive is going to be used "for backup", I WOULD NOT leave it connected and running "all the time".
Just connect for backup, do backup, then disconnect.
That policy has worked well for me for 30+ years.

If you're using it for a Time Machine backup that's supposed to run every hour or so, well... I guess there's no choice?
But I don't TM. I use CarbonCopyCloner and run cloned backup updates once or twice a week.

I'm of the mind that "the longer it runs, the quicker it fails".
Others will disagree with this.
I have old hard drives that have been used only occasionally that are 10-15 years old (or older) and ... still running.

 

[Sammy's]

If the drive is going to be used "for backup", I WOULD NOT leave it connected and running "all the time".
Just connect for backup, do backup, then disconnect.
That policy has worked well for me for 30+ years.

If you're using it for a Time Machine backup that's supposed to run every hour or so, well... I guess there's no choice?
But I don't TM. I use CarbonCopyCloner and run cloned backup updates once or twice a week.

I'm of the mind that "the longer it runs, the quicker it fails".
Others will disagree with this.
I have old hard drives that have been used only occasionally that are 10-15 years old (or older) and ... still running.

Cool - if you're just using it for backup what is the best way to disconnect it? Do you have to remove both the USB connected to the computer and the power supply to the Easystore?

 

[Weaselboy]

Cool - if you're just using it for backup what is the best way to disconnect it? Do you have to remove both the USB connected to the computer and the power supply to the Easystore?

There is no need to disconnect or shut down the external drive at all in my opinion. Just leave it on and let the automated backups run on their own. If you set your Mac to sleep when not in use, the external drive will sleep also.

I have had external drives attached for Time Machine backup for literally years on end and never had a problem.

 

[Sammy's]

There is no need to disconnect or shut down the external drive at all in my opinion. Just leave it on and let the automated backups run on their own. If you set your Mac to sleep when not in use, the external drive will sleep also.

I have had external drives attached for Time Machine backup for literally years on end and never had a problem.

Would this advice hold if I'm not using it for automated backups?

 

[Weaselboy]

Would this advice hold if I'm not using it for automated backups?

Yep... I see no reason to fuss around connecting and disconnecting all the time. Just leave it connected.

I guess if it was data you only access once in six months, I could see disconnecting and sticking it in a drawer, but if you are accessing it fairly frequently, there is no reason to disconnect.

 

[shinji]

I leave my two external drives connected 24/7. No problems here.

 

[LizKat]

If the drive is going to be used "for backup", I WOULD NOT leave it connected and running "all the time".
Just connect for backup, do backup, then disconnect.
That policy has worked well for me for 30+ years.

If you're using it for a Time Machine backup that's supposed to run every hour or so, well... I guess there's no choice?
But I don't TM. I use CarbonCopyCloner and run cloned backup updates once or twice a week.

I'm of the mind that "the longer it runs, the quicker it fails".
Others will disagree with this.
I have old hard drives that have been used only occasionally that are 10-15 years old (or older) and ... still running.

😀 I have some oldie but goodie drives like that too, I'm amazing they have not failed and I've long since made archives of their content on newer media... partly because as connector tech advances, one eventually risks the drive becoming unusable for other than media failure.

I use and disconnect drives that are for specific archival purposes like making backup of purchased media I don't want to have to download again. I use laptops now, so I plug in and then disconnect the clone drives updated once or twice a week as well as the ones used for TM backups a couple times daily.

When I had a desktop machine however, I left an external plugged in and running... but also had some clones I updated once a week and then disconnected.