[Leaplist] Re: Refurbished Hard Drive

Wed Feb 3 12:49:26 EST 2010

Consider not putting your eggs in one basket, and maintaining
a dedicated "full copy" on another drive.

As you may have read in my other posts, I only use 2.5" portables
for portable storage, not permanent or backup.

--- MORE DETAILS ---

For permanent and backup, I only use internal drives.  This
includes for off-line backup, in trayless 2.5" bays, which can be
moved off-site (put into rubber covers and stored for a few weeks).

Most specifically, for my dSLR photos ...
- Internal server storage (4x-12x 2.5" tray)
- Internal backup disks (2x 2.5" trayless, only one copy for photos)
- Portable disk (2.5") for sharing only (not backup)

I have only one backup disk dedicated to a second copy of photos.
I don't keep a running set of backup disks simply because I've already
taken 1TB of photos (aggregately 50,000 accuations of RAW+JPEG)
with my 6-14.6MP dSLR cameras over the last 3+ years.

The most important photos are already edited and published in
other directories that are regularly backed up with my 1-2-3 cycle
to 2.5" drives.  Those likely only take up 25GB or so, so I can afford
to do so.

 -- 
Bryan J  Smith           Professional, Technical Annoyance 
Linked Profile:         http://www.linkedin.com/in/bjsmith 
---------------------------------------------------------- 
Red Hat:  That 'other' American software company built on
open customer selection of options and value, instead of
controlled distribution channels of forced bundle and lock

________________________________
From: Ram K. Singh <rksingh54 at yahoo.com>
To: This is the Leap Main List <leaplist at leap-cf.org>
Sent: Wed, February 3, 2010 12:36:05 PM
Subject: Re: [Leaplist] Refurbished Hard Drive

Thanks Gentlemen,

I appreciate your input. I would stick with new 2.5" portable drives since the files on the drive would be very valuable family photo and documents.

Ram

________________________________
From: Kevin Inscoe <kevin at inscoe.org>
To: This is the Leap Main List <leaplist at leap-cf.org>
Sent: Wed, February 3, 2010 6:36:01 AM
Subject: Re: [Leaplist] Refurbished Hard Drive

To add to the cacophony here I agree largely with Bryan. Refurb means
one thing: it failed for somebody (or several people) at some point in
it's life cycle (most likely early on) and that by definition make
something like a hard drive suspect. However it's all about the data.
How important is this data? Is just backups? Maybe this would be just
fine. Are you going to use it in a RAID or mirror to another cheap
refurb drive? There again since the likely hood of two points of
failure is not likely it would be fine. Have to weight out the cost vs
risk. Do you get a warranty of any kind? The seller doesn't want this
returned (yet again) so it's not super likely to fail at least not in
the warranty cycle anyway. If this were your primary and only data
drive I would not trust it.

On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 10:35 PM, Bryan J. Smith <b.j.smith at ieee.org> wrote:
> First off, I would never, ever recommend the purchase of a
> refurbished hard drive.  Mechanics are things I never like to
> get refurbished.
>
> Secondly, as you may have noticed, I'm partial to 2.5" drives.
> Now I'm partial to 2.5" drives for everything, internal and
> external.  But while some could argue 3.5" internal drives
> (especially since 3.5" prices have dropped while 2.5" have not
> nearly as much), I wouldn't disagree, I absolutely believe 3.5"
> external drives should _never_ be purchased.
>
> So for an external drive, I would recommend this 1TB drive
> (WDBABM0010BBK):
> http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=722
>
> It is a 2.5"x12mm high drive with 3 platters at 333MB/platter.
> I've seen them for $160 on-sale.
>
> Yes, it's more than a 3.5" drive.
>
> But as someone who has flown at least twice per week, pockets his
> drive in his bag and pulls it out at least twice per day, etc... for years,
> I can honestly say I abuse the heck out of the half-dozen 2.5" external
> drives I have.
>
> None have died yet.
>
> Cannot say the same about the 3.5" FreeAgent Pro drives that sat
> on my desk in New York for 6 months.  I know others have had issues
> with their MyBook as well.
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Ram K. Singh <rksingh54 at yahoo.com>
>
> I am looking for a USB Hard Drive of one TB Capacity.
> I am finding many Refurbished drives for a reasonable price.
> Do the professionals have opinion on Refurbished drives?
>
> --
> This message has been scanned for viruses and
> dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
> believed to be clean.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leaplist mailing list
> Leaplist at leap-cf.org
> http://lists.leap-cf.org/mailman/listinfo/leaplist
>

-- 
Kevin P. Inscoe      http://kevininscoe.com
Deltona, FL        kevin [at] inscoe [dot] org

-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.

_______________________________________________
Leaplist mailing list
Leaplist at leap-cf.org
http://lists.leap-cf.org/mailman/listinfo/leaplist

-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and 
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is 
believed to be clean. 

-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.