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Which 8TB drive for TimeMachine

D

danqi

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 14, 2010
233
19
I need to upgrade my internal TimeMachine drive to a capacity of 8TB (I know about the drawbacks of an internal backup drive, but I also have several clone backups, some off-site) and would like to avoid a RAID. Since TM can only use a single drive, my only other option is to get an 8TB drive.

The only internal 8TB consumer drives on the market seem to be the Seagate Archive and the WD Red. The Seagate drive uses SMR, which has some drawbacks, and the WD drive is meant for use in a RAID system, not as a single drive in a desktop.

Which one would you choose?
 
Tomorrow said:
You need 8 Tb for Time Machine? Wowzers.
Click to expand...

Ideally, I'd like to have twice as much. This is just for my most important and most used files.

matreya said:
I just bought one of these and removed the drive from the case:

http://www.amazon.com/Book-Desktop-External-Drive-WDBFJK0080HBK-NESN/dp/B01B6BN0Q2/

Inside is a highly reliable HGST HelioSeal drive, so you're getting an enterprise-grade drive rather cheaply.
Click to expand...

But then I'd have no warranty at all, right?
 
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It's a backup, not a primary.

I got the 8TB LaCie Porsche Design Mac version. Apple sells them up to 5TB but they go up to 8.
 
My opinion only, but if you already maintain several cloned backups, a large TM drive like you're talking about is nothing more than a waste of money and effort.

I realize that others will take exception to this comment.
 
I have the WD Red 4T and 6T, they works well so far. Therefore, if I were you, I will go for the WD red 8T, which should be a low risk move.
 
ZipZap said:
You want to bet the farm on a single 8TB drive for backups?
Click to expand...


Yes, because my budget is limited. The only alternative for TM (due to it needing to see a single drive) would be a RAID setup, which would cost more than twice, possibly three times as much. Instead of using one RAID, I'd rather use multiple backups to single drives, one of which I keep off-site, for the same price.


satinsilverem2 said:
AFIK you can use more than one drive in Time Machine now.
Click to expand...


I think that creates several independent backups, not more space for one. Please correct me if I am wrong.


Fishrrman said:
My opinion only, but if you already maintain several cloned backups, a large TM drive like you're talking about is nothing more than a waste of money and effort.

I realize that others will take exception to this comment.
Click to expand...


The clone backups will backup a larger amount of data and have a size of 16TB each. The TM backup is meant more as a version control system for my most important data.
 
LiveM said:
I got the 8TB LaCie Porsche Design Mac version. Apple sells them up to 5TB but they go up to 8.
Click to expand...

LaCie used to have a good reputation, but once they were taken over by Seagate, all LaCie drives have the cheapest (and nastiest) Seagate hard drives used inside them.
 
I wouldn't worry too much. Every brand has its moment. Seagate is fine.
 
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Any views on running WD purple edition in Time Capsule? I can get it for a good price.
 
Time machine can't see the RAID 0 array? Even though RAID 0 is not a good way for backup, but I think it's OK for that technically. A single 8T is not the only way to go.
 
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