Author Topic: Need advice on external data storage HDD/MICROSD (Read 905 times)

thegoodperry · July 28, 2018, 08:54:04 PM

Im buying a relatively cheap laptop to get back into game design. The laptop costs around $250 and comes with 32gb of hard drive space, which is too little. The only laptops with more than 100gbs of hard disk cost around 600+.

I once bought a terrabyte external HD which I used to store all my models and within a month it corrupted and I lost all my data, so I'm really nervous about using another external.

Does anyone have any advice on external storage? I'm ok with anything from moving parts HDs to micro sds as long as they're incredibly cheap (under 80 dollars) and are safe for storing data for up to 3-5 years without corruption or random damage from constant reading and writing. They also need to have 128gb or more of disk space

Ad Bot · Advertisement

Snaffle J. Bean · July 28, 2018, 09:35:15 PM

Quote from: thegoodperry on July 28, 2018, 08:54:04 PM

I once bought a terrabyte external HD which I used to store all my models and within a month it corrupted and I lost all my data

Were you ejecting it within your OS before physically unplugging it? Because if not then that might have been what did it in.

Quote from: thegoodperry on July 28, 2018, 08:54:04 PM

Does anyone have any advice on external storage? I'm ok with anything from moving parts HDs to micro sds as long as they're incredibly cheap (under 80 dollars) and are safe for storing data for up to 3-5 years without corruption or random damage from constant reading and writing. They also need to have 128gb or more of disk space

Portable flash memory devices (such as flash drives and SD cards) are not advisable for long-term data storage. An external hard disk like you had before would be your best option given your budget and usage requirements, but keep in mind that even hard disks aren't a very good long-term storage medium as they can lose data over time (IIRC it's recommended that you overwrite the data on a hard disk with a fresh copy of itself every 3 years or so to avoid data loss)

thegoodperry · July 28, 2018, 09:38:00 PM

No I kept the disk plugged in like 24/7.

I mostly want like an external that can mirror the safety and robustness of an actual computer HDD. Iwonder if that's asking for too much

Darth C3P0� · July 28, 2018, 09:44:49 PM

I assume its an HP Stream if its 32gb because I have one (which is what I am typing with right now) and I'm just saying, even if you are gonna get a hard disk it's cpu isn't that powerful, can barely run Firefox on performance mode.

Anyways, I would get a micro SD card . If you are even getting a stream, the micro SD is gonna be the most portable, just guessing because of the tiny storage size which literally only has 2 gigabytes of space free after system files are involved, but the laptop is very very portable. I will start looking and let you know if I see a good micro SD, but from what I've heard its possible to get small hard disks with a storage box that sits on the side. That might be your best bet if you want a reliable storage unit.

Hawt · July 29, 2018, 10:03:26 AM

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/wd-easystore-8tb-external-usb-3-0-hard-drive-black/5792401.p?skuId=5792401

Headcrab Zombie · July 29, 2018, 01:01:21 PM

Why not just upgrade the internal drive?
Depending on the laptop model it can be very doable

You'd need to reinstall Windows of course, but given how much bloatware prebuilt computers usually come with, to me that's more of a pro than a con

You wouldn't need to buy a new copy of Windows; Windows 10 links your key to some piece of your hardware. So if you can just get an iso to install from, it will automatically reactivate it with the same key you had installed.

thegoodperry · July 29, 2018, 01:07:38 PM

I don't want to void the warranty. The supplier doesn't offer internal upgrades either so I can't do much. Im on a tight budget amyways

Writer The Wolf · July 29, 2018, 01:09:51 PM

Quote from: thegoodperry on July 28, 2018, 09:38:00 PM

No I kept the disk plugged in like 24/7.

I mostly want like an external that can mirror the safety and robustness of an actual computer HDD. Iwonder if that's asking for too much

External HDDs are typically just internal drives in an enclosure with an added controller for USB. You can literally take them out and put them in a computer an an internal drive.

Unfortunately, as with any mechanical drive, there's always a chance of getting a defective unit. I recently had a 4TB drive fail on me. If it's real data integrity you want, I'd look into a personal NAS. Otherwise you could just get an external SSD. SD cards tend to be slower and degrade much faster.

Mardalf · July 29, 2018, 01:33:40 PM

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E83X9P8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is what I've had for just over 4 years and it's worked beautifully

All I've been using it for recently is extra storage on my Xb1 but for the first two years I used it for PC backups

I'm pretty sure it was half the price at the time but it looks like that's what the newer model is now

Headcrab Zombie · July 29, 2018, 03:06:44 PM

Quote from: thegoodperry on July 29, 2018, 01:07:38 PM

I don't want to void the warranty. The supplier doesn't offer internal upgrades either so I can't do much. Im on a tight budget amyways

As I said, depending on the laptop model, it's very doable, as in they're made to be easily replaced, along with ram and battery. It should be easy to find that information online.

Also, just as an FYI (I wouldn't advise trying to take on a multi-million dollar company by yourself in court) but the whole "warranty void if sticker removed" thing is actually an illegal practice, and the FTC is starting to crack down on it (link)

But if you want to go with an external option, I recommend against micro SD. Compact flash cards are more expensive, but have faster speeds, and sturdier build quality; I wouldn't trust the thinness of micro SD for long term storage. But even then I think you'd be better off with a regular drive

thegoodperry · July 29, 2018, 03:33:37 PM

By flash card you mean the USB stick, right?

Headcrab Zombie · July 30, 2018, 12:20:01 AM

Quote from: thegoodperry on July 29, 2018, 03:33:37 PM

By flash card you mean the USB stick, right?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompactFlash
But not sure why I didn't think of a USB stick, that would be more universal and probably just as good.

But regardless, I'd really recommend an actual drive over either option.