Hi all -

I have a friend who is looking to purchase an external storage drive to perform backups of his computer, and he asked me whether a hard disk drive or a solid-state drive would be a better option.

I know that HDDs can be easily damaged if they are dropped, and that SSDs tend to be more expensive. Read/Write speed would not be as much of an issue, given that the drive would only be run to backup information onto it. Researching the topic online gave me mixed views. Some websites stated that SSDs are not a good option for long-term storage because the flash chips can lose their charges over time. Others said that these charges can be "refreshed" by formatting and re-copying the data onto the SSD periodically, and that breakdown of moving parts in a HDD can cause them to die earlier than SSDs.

Of note is that my friend travels often and would be wanting to bring his drive with him... which could lead to damage of moving HDD parts if the drive happens to be dropped. Right now, I am leaning towards recommending a SSD and doing a format/re-copy of the drive contents about once a year.

Does anybody have any thoughts/experience to share on which type of drive to choose?


Thank you.

Matteo

Define how long your friend wants the backup to last. Millentia DVD's claim to last 1000 years, but they're a bit pricey for the media size vs. a USB memory stick. The best advice would be that they make backups often into 2 or 3 memory devices. Long term storage philosophy is that you discard the media after 5 years or so, even less for SSD drives.

Carl

He is using them to store family videos, so I would imagine the backups would need to last well into the future... long enough that he would need to buy new drives more than once.
Carl, how often would you recommend replacing SSDs?

Thank you.

Matteo

I wouldn't use SSD's for long-term storage and after doing any research, you probably wouldn't either. I guess M-Disc's are the way to go..although I still have some old CD's. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=m-disc+review+2018

A lot of my stuff is stored on old zip discs and I have tons of hard drives, both network and portable, online (like 4). I've used Idrive for about 3 years, after using SugarSync before, to store my critical business files online.

I'm not a picture taker, so I don't have tons of photos, but I do have tons of MP3 music stored on network drives. They number in the thousands (like 44K) and I just have them stored in several places. I can sync them at any time.

For entertainment, spend a few minutes with these articles https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&sxsrf=ACYBGNS6n2C8AxQvQYw90vTEVygspSaHtA%3A1570716818935&ei=kjyfXcTeOILStAXat6HoAg&q=which+lasts+longer+ssd+or+hdd&oq=how+long+do+ssd%27s+last&gs_l=psy-ab.1.0.0i356l4.0.0..31815...0.2..0.0.0.......0......gws-wiz.JAOZjsMpqLg

Thank you Carl!

Zip discs.
I remember them.
I had them till the drive died.
I thought they stopped making the reader and the discs!

Are there any specifically reliable brands of HDD that anyone would recommend for the purpose of computer backup?

Thank you.

Matteo

Zip discs.
I remember them.
I had them till the drive died.
I thought they stopped making the reader and the discs!
[/quote]


Of course they did, yet look https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=zip+drives&_sacat=0&_sop=15

I own 3 drives and about 10 100 and 5 250 disks.

Matteo, I just went out and got a 1TB Western Digital portable drive. It's slow because it's USB powered, but that's my "portable" drive. The other two are on the shelf next to my 24 port switch and in my "file server".

You can also use cloud storage. Amazon Prime has "FREE"* unlimited photo storage for Prime members.






*"FREE" as in $119 a year🤣

I use wd red drives for my server and NAS.
Very reliable so far.
I think 4 years now.
But instead of portable drives I use a usb docking port.
Very useful for copying , testing , cloning etc.
https://www.startech.com/HDD/Docking/dual-sata-hdd-dock~SDOCK2U33

WD or Samsung - both good choices.