[Ham-Computers] RE: External Hard Drives?

[W8DBF D.B. Fischer]

Aaron,

Why not put a double layer DVD read/write drive in the machine? Is that not 
good for about 7 GB? More cost effective over time too.

Duane w8DBF

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Hsu, Aaron (NBC Universal)" <aaron.hsu at nbcuni.com>
To: "I>Ham-Computers" <Ham-Computers at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 1:47 PM
Subject: [Ham-Computers] RE: External Hard Drives?


> Most any external HD would work in your situation.  For simplicity, I
> would suggest a "portable" 2.5" drive rather than a 3.5" drive.  2.5"
> drives are a bit more rugged than 3.5" drives as they were designed for
> laptop use.  They're slower, but you'll be limited by the interface
> anyway.  Most can also run just by drawing power from the USB port - as
> long as the USB port can source the full 500ma USB spec.  I would stick
> with a drive from an actual HD manufacturer (such as Western Digital or
> Seagate).  Currently, all my external 2.5" drives are leftover drives
> (from laptop ugrades) with a "generic" case, but if I bought an "all in
> one" (drive & case) solution, I would go with the Western Digital
> "Passport" drives.
>
> Most all external drives these days have a "Hi-Speed" USB 2.0 port
> (480Mbps/60MBps max).  Due to overhead, you'll lose 10-20% of this
> bandwidth.  Most 2.5" HD's I've seen max out around 35MBps, so it'll
> take about 5 minutes to copy those 10 gigs (plus overhead)...actual
> results may vary.
>
> Might I suggest archiving to DVD's instead?  That way, you have a true
> "archive" that can be updated (older backups contain original material,
> newer backups contain "updated" material).  Plus, you have more than one
> backup - should the external HD fail, you've lost your only backup.  As
> CD/DVD recordable media isn't 100% infailable either, check them a
> couple times a year to make sure everything is still readable.  There
> are free utilities that will do simple read tests Some companies (such
> as Plextor) include diagnostic software to check dics almost at the bit
> level - the more bits in the "red", the more likely uncorrectable errors
> will eventually show up (time to move the data to a new disc).  At 4.3GB
> per disc, you can categorize the shows per disc and probably end up with
> about 5 or 6 discs for the entire collection.
>
> 73,
>
>  - Aaron, NN6O
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 11:21 AM
> Subject: [Ham-Computers] External Hard Drives?
>
>
> Hi All,
>
> I have a collection of OTR (Old Time Radio) shows in MP3 Format  that
> takes up over 6GB of drive space, and before it's completed will
> probably be about 15-20GB.  These are stored on my Main 80GB Hard drive
> AND on the 80GB back-up drive.  However, IF I should ever get a worm or
> virus it could wipe out everything on both drives and all those hours of
> downloads would  be lost.  Since it's so large I don't really consider
> using CDR's as a viable backup medium and want to buy an "outboard" hard
> drive that would ONLY be used as a "archive and backup" medium.  It
> would ONLY connected to the computer when I want to transfer data.
>
> Is there anything 'special" I need to look for in an external drive?  I
> figure it'll use a USB interface.  Any feeling for how long can I expect
> it to take to copy, say 10GB from the main drive to the backup drive via
> USB? I suspect it'll be pretty slow and take a lot longer than from the
> main drive to the internal backup drive.
>
> 73 de Phil,  KO6BB
> DX begins at the noise floor!
>
> THE BEACONEER'S LAIR:   http://www.geocities.com/ko6bb/
> MY RADIO-LOGS:       http://www.geocities.com/ko6bb/Logs/
> QSL GALLERY: http://photobucket.com/albums/f306/KO6BB/
> Merced, Central California,    37.3N  120.48W  CM97sh
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Ham-Computers mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/ham-computers
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html
> Post: mailto:Ham-Computers at mailman.qth.net
>
>
>
> -- 
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.3.3/296 - Release Date: 3/29/2006
>
>