fivemack: (Default)
Tom Womack ([personal profile] fivemack) wrote2008-10-26 09:43 am

Hard disc confusopoly

I have run out of disc space; I have a spare hot-swap disc bay in my computer; I'd like to put a 1TB disc in it.

www.scan.co.uk list thirteen models of 1TB SATA hard disc, ranging in price from £77 to £165, with no idea as to what differentiates them. I currently have three Seagate drives and a WD drive, so diversification suggests the cheaper Hitachi one, but that's a justification not much better than writing down the list and using a pin.

Given my curse, I wonder if I should buy two 1TB drives from different manufacturers and keep them as a RAID1.

[identity profile] randwolf.livejournal.com 2008-10-26 04:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Speed, physical size, reliability. Some drives automatically recalibrate themselves at inconvenient moments and interfere with video editing. Look for "media capable" or similar phrases if this is an issue. Some drives have IBM's SMART failure early-warning system. Depends what you're doing with the drive.