Newbie here who needs an ext. HD

[mjcmt]

I've been using iMacs since the beginning in 1996 w/ a green one. I'm on my 4th iMac and I'm still a novice. This is my 1st time joining a forum for advice and to gain knowledge.

I currently have a 20.5" 2017 1TB iMac and need a new external HD for back up. My very old OWC .5TB has been too small and slow for many, many years.
I'm thinking of a 4TB SSD where I can partition it w/ half for media and half for backup. My internal iMac HD is almost full w/ photos and many edited photos as I'm a serious photog.

Can you recommend a good 4TB external HD, and is it a good idea to use it for media and backup?

 

[HDFan]

I'm thinking of a 4TB SSD where I can partition it w/ half for media and half for backup. My internal iMac HD is almost full w/ photos and many edited photos as I'm a serious photog.

1. A HD is generally better than an SSD due to cost efficiency and it can have the same lifetime as an SSD. Performance is a function of the enclosure, interface, disk, and cable.

2. An SSD for just for photos might give you faster performance while scrolling though a log of pictures.

3. I wouldn't keep the backup on the same physical device. A 3-2-1 backup strategy is recommended. As a start this would imply having 2 external devices, or a 2 bay enclosure: 1 drive for the photos, 1 drive for 1 of the 3 backups.

 

[mjcmt]

1. A HD is generally better than an SSD due to cost efficiency and it can have the same lifetime as an SSD. Performance is a function of the enclosure, interface, disk, and cable.

2. An SSD for just for photos might give you faster performance while scrolling though a log of pictures.

3. I wouldn't keep the backup on the same physical device. A 3-2-1 backup strategy is recommended. As a start this would imply having 2 external devices, or a 2 bay enclosure: 1 drive for the photos, 1 drive for 1 of the 3 backups.

The more I was thinking about it HDFan, I likewise thought 2 HD would be safer. One for photos and one for backup. What is the 3rd HD? Is it the internal iMac HD for the operating system, programs, and documents that take up little space?

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:
"I'm thinking of a 4TB SSD where I can partition it w/ half for media and half for backup."

My recommendation is that you DO NOT do this.

Your "backup drive" should be that, and only that -- a BACKUP drive.
Keep your backups "simple" -- makes getting at stuff easier in "that moment of extreme need".

Instead, get TWO 2tb drives, and assign one to backups, the other as "photo storage".

But remember -- if you start storing stuff on a "primary, external" drive that DOES NOT have its data on the internal drive as well, you now have a SECOND drive that needs a backup -- hence, a SECOND "backup drive", as well.

 

[mjcmt]

OP:
"I'm thinking of a 4TB SSD where I can partition it w/ half for media and half for backup."

My recommendation is that you DO NOT do this.

Your "backup drive" should be that, and only that -- a BACKUP drive.
Keep your backups "simple" -- makes getting at stuff easier in "that moment of extreme need".

Instead, get TWO 2tb drives, and assign one to backups, the other as "photo storage".

But remember -- if you start storing stuff on a "primary, external" drive that DOES NOT have its data on the internal drive as well, you now have a SECOND drive that needs a backup -- hence, a SECOND "backup drive", as well.

HDFan said:
1. A HD is generally better than an SSD due to cost efficiency and it can have the same lifetime as an SSD. Performance is a function of the enclosure, interface, disk, and cable.

2. An SSD for just for photos might give you faster performance while scrolling though a log of pictures.

3. I wouldn't keep the backup on the same physical device. A 3-2-1 backup strategy is recommended. As a start this would imply having 2 external devices, or a 2 bay enclosure: 1 drive for the photos, 1 drive for 1 of the 3 backups.
______

Thanks HDFan and Fishrman. I ordered a WD 5TB My Passport Ultra HHD drive on sale from Amazon for $118. Many have said that a HDD drive is fast enough for backup and last longer. But do recommend a SSD drive for photo media because they're fast, but also much more expensive.

 

[mjcmt]

1. A HD is generally better than an SSD due to cost efficiency and it can have the same lifetime as an SSD. Performance is a function of the enclosure, interface, disk, and cable.

2. An SSD for just for photos might give you faster performance while scrolling though a log of pictures.

3. I wouldn't keep the backup on the same physical device. A 3-2-1 backup strategy is recommended. As a start this would imply having 2 external devices, or a 2 bay enclosure: 1 drive for the photos, 1 drive for 1 of the 3 backups.

Thanks. Read post before to see my response. So sorry, I couldn't figure out how to do a mult-quote.

 

[HDFan]

What is the 3rd HD?

If you are referring to the 3rd disk in a 3-2-1 backup strategy that could be the disk that you keep off-site, such as in a bank vault.

 

[mjcmt]

Here's my update everyone:

I purchased a WD 5TB My Passport Ultra HHD for my time machine backup for $140 USD. It's slow and I'll keep it unplugged and only use it about once or twice a week so the spinner should last a good long time.

I just ordered a OWC 2TB Envoy Pro Elektron NVMe SSD (uses Thunderbolt) for my photos for 270 USD. I'll keep this on all the time.