internal or external backup?

Discussion in 'Buying Tips and Advice' started by csista, Apr 16, 2007.

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  1. csista, Apr 16, 2007

    csista macrumors member

    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2007
    #1
    Hey guys. I'm in need of some opinions here. I have one 500gb hard drive in my MacPro dedicated to photo storage, I want to get a drive to completely mirror that one. I can't decide between going for an external, or getting an extra internal to fill one of the empty slots.

    Each one seems to have pros and cons. External is separate from the computer, in case anything were to ever happen to it. And it's portable. But there doesn't seem to be any affordable external drives that get frequent good reviews for reliability. Internal (Seagate) will be faster, cheaper, and more reliable, but trapped inside the computer. Also, I don't think there are any external casings that can take the SATA/300 I would get for the MacPro, if I ever wanted to remove it.

    Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

    - Chris
     
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  2. PlaceofDis, Apr 16, 2007

    PlaceofDis macrumors Core

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2004
    #2
    as you say there are pros and cons.

    if this is important data (as in work, and what you get paid for) you probably should have more than just one backup. one onsite and one offsite at least.

    /shrug just my opinion.

    anyways. it all ends up being what works out the best for your particular needs/wants in terms of backup.

    an internal offers you the easiest solution, but its not ideal were your machine to be stolen, physically damaged, etc.

    an external is a bit more reliable in that aspect at least.
     
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  3. Super Macho Man, Apr 16, 2007

    Super Macho Man macrumors 6502a

    Super Macho Man

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2006
    Location:
    Hollywood, CA
    #3
    Mirroring is not backup, it's mirroring... corruption, accidental deletion etc. gets mirrored to the "backup."

    What individual users say about reliability is not significant - you have to try to get as large a sample as you can. I would guess that all drives are pretty much similar. It's a cutthroat market, and long-term reliability is not priority #1 for HD makers, except for high-end SCSI drives.

    Just get an internal HD and put it in an external firewire enclosure for $30 more. Adding decent incremental backup software to the budget would be a good idea too.
     
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