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Need Help Choosing a HDD for Time Machine

Fried Potato

Fried Potato

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 10, 2015
130
32
Hey guys,

My good old Time Capsule's internal hard drive died a couple of months ago and I haven't really bothered getting a replacement. The thought just crossed my mind again, so I should seriously get one rather soon before the times comes of me needing to retrieve an old file and having no back up.

The Time Capsules are unfortunately discontinued, so I'll just continue using it as a router and get something else for the Time Machine backups instead. I'm unsure of what I should get. Could you guys help me?
I'd like something reliable. Around 4TB (same size as my Time Capsule) and something that isn't too noisy (same noise level as Time Capsule is ok, the TC also goes completely quiet after backing up/not being used in Time Machine). It'll be stationary, so it doesn't need to be portable. I'm thinking about a price around $100-150 (rather lower than higher, but if the quality is worth it I'd rather go for the higher end of my budget). I guess it'll have to be directly plugged to my iMac and can't backup wireless? My iMac (late 2014 27" Retina iMac) has all the USB ports filled up and the Time Capsule used the ethernet port/wi-fi for backups, although that isn't too big of an issue as I can free up a USB port.

I've checked out some of WD's offerings like My Book, Elements Desktop and portable versions such as My Passport etc. I really don't know what to go with. I guess the stationary ones are better when it comes to the hard drive not overheating and such?

I really appreciate you help. Thank you in advance. :)
 
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I’m interested in seeing what you are recommended! I was in your exact situation and purchased a WD My Passport for the Mac. It sometimes backs up, sometimes doesn’t. I returned the first HD I bought. They sent me a replacement. Same story. It was SO tedious dealing with their customer service reps that I’m just living with it for now.
 
I would recommend AGAINST Seagate and WD.

Instead, get a Toshiba or HGST (Hitachi) 2.5" platter-based drive.
If it's for time machine only, 5400rpm is "fast enough".

Put it into a USB enclosure like this one:
www.amazon.com

Inateck 2.5 Inch USB 3.0 Hard Drive Enclosure External SATA HDD and SSD Case - Optimized for 9.5mm 7mm 2.5" SSD, Tool Free (FE2002)

Attention: package contains an extra foam sticker for 7 mm thickness hard drives, you should attach the sticker to the original one inside the lid before you insert the hard drive; 12.5 mm hard drives might be incompatible with this product. 70% faster than traditional USB 3.0 With UASP transfer ...
www.amazon.com

It just snaps together.
Then initialize with disk utility.

My best recommendation of all:
Try either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper instead of tm.
Either will serve you better in a "moment of extreme need"...
 
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If you're looking for USB HDD, any external HDD from a reputable company will do the job for you (WD, Seagate, Toshiba etc).
If you're looking for a back-up solution, I would recommend the Buffalo Linkstation 210 with 4TB. You can connected over ethernet and you can set-up your Timemachine. There is a USB port that you can connect a second HDD at some point.

If you really want to prop your back-up, you better start thinking for a 2-bay NAS for a RAID config so you don't loose data in case your backup disk fails. I don't think you'll find at your budget, but it may worth considering saving a bit more to get a simple NAS system like a WD My Book Duo or WD My Cloud Expert EX2.
 
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coolajami said:
If you're looking for USB HDD, any external HDD from a reputable company will do the job for you (WD, Seagate, Toshiba etc).
If you're looking for a back-up solution, I would recommend the Buffalo Linkstation 210 with 4TB. You can connected over ethernet and you can set-up your Timemachine. There is a USB port that you can connect a second HDD at some point.

If you really want to prop your back-up, you better start thinking for a 2-bay NAS for a RAID config so you don't loose data in case your backup disk fails. I don't think you'll find at your budget, but it may worth considering saving a bit more to get a simple NAS system like a WD My Book Duo or WD My Cloud Expert EX2.
Click to expand...
Thank your for your thorough reply!

I totally understand that a NAS system would be preferred, but I’d like a more simple system as of right now, so a single HDD will do (the Time Capsule held on for years without issues). m
My main issue is that I’m unsure what to go with. I’m pretty set on going with something from WD, but there’s a ton of options. Would a desktop variant (e.g. Elements Desktop) be better than a portable one (e.g. My Passport)? As mentione, it’ll be used for an iMac and hence will be stationary as the computer.

I’m thinking mostly of the noise level and longevity (performance might be a bonus).
 
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Fried Potato said:
Thank your for your thorough reply!

I totally understand that a NAS system would be preferred, but I’d like a more simple system as of right now, so a single HDD will do (the Time Capsule held on for years without issues). m
My main issue is that I’m unsure what to go with. I’m pretty set on going with something from WD, but there’s a ton of options. Would a desktop variant (e.g. Elements Desktop) be better than a portable one (e.g. My Passport)? As mentione, it’ll be used for an iMac and hence will be stationary as the computer.

I’m thinking mostly of the noise level and longevity (performance might be a bonus).
Click to expand...

Rules of thumb regarding external drives are the following:
The portable drives (e.g WD My Passport) are using 2.5" HDD's, that they do not require any external power (apart from the power of the USB) and thus their performance is dependant on the performance of the host machine (laptop etc) aka usually slower. They generally work well, but they are not designed to be attached to a host machine 24/7 and may not survive prolonged use.

The desktop drives (e.g WD Element Desktop) are usually using 3.5" HDDs (the cheaper desktop HDDs may use also 2.5" disks, you need to check their form factor). They usually require extra power to run, thus the need for an extra power brick. Usually they are faster and more reliable than the portable ones, as they do not rely to the host to draw power (your iMac). Depending on the type of HDD inside (here is when becomes tricky, read below) they are fairly reliable and they can stay attached to your iMac 24/7.

One problem with the external drives is that most companies don't publish what type of HDD they include in each of their models, and there were things become tricky. For example, as far as I know, the WD Element and WD Passport models are using the WD Green or Blue HDDs, which are the very basic model of WD hard drives. On the other hand, the WD MyBook models, which are slightly more expensive, usually packed with a WD Red HDD that is design as a backup drive (tested to run 24/7), and is the best you can get in terms of HDD for a back-up solution in a normal price.

Problem is, when you get any of the above models, you don't know which HDD you're getting, because WD (or Seagate, or any of these companies) do NOT guarantee which HDD model they will pack in the enclosure for the products targeting home users. If You check the small office or enterprise models, you'll see that they are very descriptive of what HDD they're packing. So, for home products, even if you read reviews stating that the X enclosure packs the Y HDD model, if that is not stated by the company, that my change to the next batch of the same model.

The other problem is that usually desktop drives are more noisy, because they have bigger HDD's that are spinning faster plus usually they have a small fan to cool down things.

Ideally, what you're looking for is a desktop drive with 3.5" HHDs (that would require external power). If you want to become more picky, try to look for a variant that contains either a WD Red or Seagate LionWolf HDD. I believe the WD MyBook is one of them and possible some editions of WD Desktop Elements.

You'll find numerous reviews on Amazon for each variant (plus youtube videos), where you can read how noisy they are and which HDD contain (I'm always amazed how many people are stripping the HDDs from their newly acquired desktop drives, in order to check what's inside).
 
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I ended up carefully installing a 10TB drive. Worked liked a charm as long as you have the right tools.
The Airport TimeCapsule is not super fast, but reliable and quiet. My Synology NAS can get quite noisy from moving heads during Time Machine saves.
 
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