Winton DeShong

Web / Flash Development

Over the last several months I have been migrating to a different approach for routine backups. For longer than I can remember, I have manually backed up data from my various computers to a centralized Fedora Core Linux file server. My box only required a power and network cable to work. Pressing the power button would start her up and again to begin the shut down procedure. Occasionally I’d SSH in to make sure my RAID was working and to do any necessary updates.

Over time, even that process has become a chore for me. In an attempt to become lazier than I already am, I have been using large external drives with time machine to do routine backups of my primary systems.

Though time machine is a breeze, finding an external hard drive that is reliable hasn’t been so easy. After using a mix match of different enclosures and smaller hard drives I had laying around, I decided to consolidate. I looked around and decided to get the LaCie d2 quadra 500GB hard drive. At the time the quadra was attractive because of the price vs. storage ratio and the fact that I could use several interfaces besides USB.

Sadly, it only took 2-3 months of use for it to FAIL. One day, conveniently when I was going to upgrade the hard drive in my laptop for work, the drive decided it wouldn’t start. So, I talked with support and requested a new power cable. Apparently, it is common for their drives to have faulty power cable. No big deal, two weeks and a reminder to LaCie (they forgot to ship it), I received a new cable. For the time being, all was well.

Again, after about 2-3 months of use, my drive would not start. This time it came with an added bonus, the connection to the drive shot off sparks when connecting the power cable.

So, the next time you are in the market for an external hard drive, I’d avoid LaCie products if I were you. In turn, check out the following external drives that I’ve used:

1. Western Digital My Passport External Hard drives - Perfect if you need a drive that is extremely compact and reliable, but don’t require a fire wire, or esata interface. I’ve had the 60GB version of this drive for over 3 years and it still runs perfect!

2. Macally G-S350SUA Hi-Speed eSATA/FireWire/USB2.0 Storage Enclosure - This enclosure has several interfaces and is relatively light. It comes in two different models depending on if you want fire wire in addition to eSATA and USB. You can actually pair one of these enclosures with a 1TB Seagate drive for less than $200!

3. Western Digital My Book - Finally, there is the My Book. This option is probably the most popular of the three I’m describing. The enclosure is double the thickness of the Macally, or 2nd option, described above, but it comes with a few more flavors.