Ext HD ?'s

Ok, so please take the time to answer!

1) I (unfortunally) have a 1TB MyBook. Due to a recent data loss I am thinking about converting this 1TB to a RAID 1. I like having the full 1TB, but I also love the idea of having a double backup in one unit. Is it a good idea? I heard the more you make a HD work the more potiential failure.

2) I also have a bad MyBook 500gig that I want to open up and remove the HD in order to place it in another case. How do I know which case? If the current case only supports FW400 and USB, can I put the HD in a case supporting FW800? Will it work? I'm just not sure how to spec out a new case.

kaliber35 said:

Ok, so please take the time to answer!

1) I (unfortunally) have a 1TB MyBook. Due to a recent data loss I am thinking about converting this 1TB to a RAID 1. I like having the full 1TB, but I also love the idea of having a double backup in one unit. Is it a good idea? I heard the more you make a HD work the more potiential failure.

Click to expand...

RAID1 is your only choice for data redundancy with less than 3 drives. Yes, there will be additional load on the disks as they maintain the mirror, but I can tell you from many years of experience with servers that it does not usually make the disks fail prematurely. I have several servers that have a mirrored system volume and they've been up and running without a failure for 5+ years.

2) I also have a bad MyBook 500gig that I want to open up and remove the HD in order to place it in another case. How do I know which case? If the current case only supports FW400 and USB, can I put the HD in a case supporting FW800? Will it work? I'm just not sure how to spec out a new case.

Click to expand...

You can use whatever case you want, including FW800, because your hard drive can still transmit data faster than any of those buses can actually relay it to the host. The only time you need to be concerned with what type of external bus the enclosure supports is if you have a SATA hard drive - if your computer has external SATA ports (ESATA) and the fastest possible connection is important to you, then make sure you get an enclosure that supports ESATA.

Very well. Ill RAID 1 this 1TB as I care about security and I can go ahead and get the case I thought would work (with FW800).

Thank you for your time and information