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In Reply to: about to give up on audio server posted by MediaSeth on September 18, 2006 at 10:17:29:
It seems you have chosen langlauf skis for downhill :-)USB drives are inteded as portable storage not permanent 24/7 workhorse. The failure rate of USB drives is around 50% because of the excessive heat.
Especially failure prone are solutions where ordinary 3.5in drives are used in DIY enclosures. It works for transporting documents but does not work as music storage.
Anyone using external USB drives without off site backup is looking for trouble.
Solution? Get enterprise-class internal Seagate drives (one with 5 years warranty) put them into workstation and you'll be fine.
If your PC can not handle addition drives, buy any P3 or P4 PC and use it as a file server, place it in the basement or somewhere elese and hook up to home network.
I guess there is no looking back once you got spoiled with thousands of CDs three mouseclicks away.
Follow Ups:
I have a combo of 5 firewire external HD music and 5 Vantec removable SATA drives as back up (see link) and these SATA HD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148140
Heat is a huge problem in unventilated external USB enclosures, but you can get them that are ventilated. Some of the Western Digital drives have fans, maybe others.
"Especially failure prone are solutions where ordinary 3.5in drives are used in DIY enclosures. It works for transporting documents but does not work as music storage.Anyone using external USB drives without off site backup is looking for trouble.
Solution? Get enterprise-class internal Seagate drives (one with 5 years warranty) put them into workstation and you'll be fine."
Bob,
Can you explain further? I just bought a 250 GB Seagate, and was planning on using it in an external enclosure (Ultra USB/firewire - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=ULT31310 ). It does have a built in fan, so will this help save it from the excessive heat that you mentioned?
I wanted to use the external enclosure for portability's sake. The thought of being able to take my music collection with me anywhere I go is enticing.
Does anybody else have an opinion on using an external enclosure w/ a hard drive?
Traut, I have read a white paper on external drives reliability. It was created by the company selling backup solutions but their findings were valid nevertheless.3'5 drive dissipates heat through heavy cast metal frame, not through the thin cover at the top. Touch one in your PC and you can feel it.
Most but not all external drives made of aluminum are in direct contact with the drive's lid, not with the cast metal frame. Frame is usually in contact with the sliding rail and rail has limited contact surface with the aluminum body of the enclosure.
As a result, many external drives warm up like toaster. Many enclosures are even made of plastic, not metal. I do not want to think if there are some noxious evaporation from the hot plastics, having in mind it was made in China with no environmental control (lead was found in plastic the toys are made of).
I have had a bad experience with an external drive made by well known accessory manufacturer. The external power supply started heating so much that the external plastic got melted. Drive crashed before I noticed foul smell of burnt PS. Think about it - $30 drive enclosure uses $1 power supply and both your data and your house relies on it operating well.
I almost got my house on fire because PS was sitting on the carpet. This experience made me think twice before purchasing any device that will be connected to AC for a long periods of time.
Can you explain further? I just bought a 250 GB Seagate, and was planning on using it in an external enclosure (Ultra USB/firewire - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=ULT31310 ). It does have a built in fan, so will this help save it from the excessive heat that you mentioned?I wanted to use the external enclosure for portability's sake. The thought of being able to take my music collection with me anywhere I go is enticing.
Does anybody else have an opinion on using an external enclosure w/ a hard drive?
External enclosures aren't all equal - some are better at cooling the drive they contain than others. Sounds like the fan you have may be a good idea, particularly if it's a 3.5" hard drive.
3.5" drives tend to run a bit hotter than the smaller 2.5" and 1.8" drives due to the greater mass of the platters and (usually) higher rpm. Moreover, they're not designed to withstand the rigors of being carried around to quite the degree that the smaller drives, which are designed to be used in laptop computers and portable devices like iPods.
If I were looking for an external drive to be used mostly for transporting files I'd probably go with a 2.5" or 1.8" drive. If it was to be used with a laptop in particular, I'd go with a 1.8", since the 1.8" drives are pretty much guaranteed to be powered by the USB port on the laptop and not require additional power. The 2.5" drives are often borderline and some will need external power. The main downside to the small drives are smaller capacities, slower speeds, and higher prices.
With all that said, I think 3.5" drives can be safely used in external enclosures, just as long as they're well cooled and you're careful not to handle them too roughly.
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