Buying an SSD external drive?

[ChrisGreaves]

After 6,000 or so posts spread over five or so years, each one telling me to "Go SSD!", I am hooked on SSD.
I need a larger external backup drive, and it will be an SSD.
I seek advice from those of us who are currently using a large external SSD for backups.

My data partition holds just under 400 GB of data, as does my daily backup external USB HDD.

LT006.jpg

My weekly accumulated external USB HDD holds 820 GB of 931 GB available. That is, it is at 90% of capacity.

I can use Everything 1.5a to delete duplicated folders of a significant size, but that will only delay the inevitable.

I suspect a tenfold increase in capacity is always a good quantum leap in data storage.

Question 1: So I am looking for a ten-terabyte external SSD. Have I done my sums correctly?

Question 2: For a semi-literate guy like me, do I buy an 10 TB external drive off the shelf, or do I buy an external enclosure and then screw a 10 TB SSD "chip" into the enclosure?

Thanks in advance for any experienced comments that come close to my level of comprehension.
Chris

[stuck]

When my 1 TB internal HDD data drive became more or less full (of photos) I couldn't afford a 10 TB SSD so I bought a 10 TB (internal) HDD. It works for me but I'm not a speed demon, my photos load fast enough for me.

Ken

[StuartR]

I am in the same position. I also use a 10TB hard drive to backup my SSDs.

[HansV]

My backup HDD is not that large, but I agree that an SSD isn't a must for backups (unlike for your system and data disks).

[ChrisGreaves]

I am in the same position. I also use a 10TB hard drive to backup my SSDs.

@Stuck @Stuart
Thanks guys.
But I am still thinking of an external backup drive, the sort that you might store off-site in your accountant's office.
Even in my humble state I like to pop the USB drives into a fire-resistant box.
If the house catches fire I toss the cubic-foot steel box through a window and jump out after it.
Passports etc AND a copy of my data are (is?) saved.

Cheers, Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

My backup HDD is not that large, but I agree that an SSD isn't a must for backups (unlike for your system and data disks).

Thanks, Hans.
My Data partition is less than 500GB, so a 500GB USB HDD is good for me.

But what if I had seven working laptops and chose to preserve all seven machines on the external drive. I suspect you see that I am edging closer to 10TB than 1TB.

SSD? Well, I am so impressed with the speed that I am turning right away from those old-fashioned spinning platters. You know me. Always wanting to keep up-to-date

Truly: I was looking at my weekly backup (backup to daily drive, accumulate daily backup to weekly drive, mirror copy data partition to daily backup), and thinking that the little job should be faster with an SSD at each end of the cable.

Too I was wondering about a computer school with seven laptops and wanting to back them all up each night to a single SSD.
Cheers, Chris

[StuartR]

But I am still thinking of an external backup drive, the sort that you might store off-site in your accountant's office.

I have both. Daily backups to an internal drive AND a cloud service. Monthly backups to an offsite drive.

[ChrisGreaves]

... Monthly backups to an offsite drive.

Thank you, Stuart.
This monthly off-site drive then, is it an off-the-shelf drive? Did you contemplate purchasing an SSD memory chip and then mounting it in an separately purchased enclosure?
Thanks again, Chris

[StuartR]

Chris, this is an off-the-shelf external HDD.
I don't think it is possible to buy a 10TB SDD

[ChrisGreaves]

Chris, this is an off-the-shelf external HDD.
I don't think it is possible to buy a 10TB SDD

OK. Thanks Stuart.
In the back of my mind is that an SSD is really just slow-speed RAM. I think we used to see that sort of non-mechanical memory in mainframe machines years ago.
If SSD is really just slow-speed but still expensive RAM, then a 10TB SSD would be prohibitively expensive.
I shall end up using a large external HDD.
Thanks again.
Chris

[StuartR]

I was wrong, you can buy an internal 15TB SSD for only around US $1700
(Found at https://www.techradar.com/best/large-ha ... s-and-ssds)

[ChrisGreaves]

I was wrong, you can buy an internal 15TB SSD for only around US $1700
(Found at https://www.techradar.com/best/large-ha ... s-and-ssds)

Waaaaay beyond my price range; I was at this page yesterday and quickly found in my browser "History; Clear Recent History"

However, a re-read (thanks Stuart!) directed me to Best Buy Canada; I have dealt with them before.
This page in the first two rows (today) has, amongst other offerings, a "SanDisk Extreme 2TB External Solid State Drive (SDSSDE61-2T00-G25)" listed at $165, which will be $200 by the time S&H and tax are added.

$200 is within my budget, and is half what I paid for my first hard drive just under 30 years ago (20 MB, since you ask).

Then there is the "SanDisk Portable 1TB USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive (SDSSDE30-1T00-G25)" at only $85 + + but - it only comes in black

In the back of my mind is peoples reluctance to make backups. So I think that every few seconds I squeeze out of the backup process makes the process look easier to folks.
I am supposing that a laptops SSD to an external SSD will be limited by the speed of the USB interface and the CPU, but can bridge that gap when I come to it.

1 TB still seems reasonable for me. Those powers of ten might only be another zero-digit, but they soon add up, dont they?
Cheers, Chris

[stuck]

...a "SanDisk Extreme 2TB External Solid State Drive (SDSSDE61-2T00-G25)" listed at $165, which will be $200 by the time S&H and tax are added.

$200 is within my budget, and is half what I paid for my first hard drive just under 30 years ago (20 MB, since you ask).

Then there is the "SanDisk Portable 1TB USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive (SDSSDE30-1T00-G25)" at only $85 + + but - it only comes in black
....

Then there is the 10 TB HDD that I bought:
    https://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital- ... B08MKJPFZ7

Seems waaaay better value for money to me.

Ken

[ChrisGreaves]

Seems waaaay better value for money to me.

I agree, but then I'd have to buy a new laptop with an SSD significantly larger than my current 1 TB in order to make good use of the backup drive.
Probably have to get into media, images, astrophotographical assimilation, maybe with 000s of images taken 2 seconds apart. A shed outside shielded from light. Insulated during our 13-month long winters ...

Cheers, Chris

[HansV]

Huh? Initially you wanted a 10 TB SSD, and now a 10 TB HDD is too large?

[BobH]

My question: Do you really want all your eggs in one basket?

[ChrisGreaves]

My question: Do you really want all your eggs in one basket?

No. I've thought of that too.
1. I want this family (who have three laptops) to make backups. Nightly if possible, weekly at least.
2. One backup drive should be sufficient
3. I suspect that the youngest member of the family will be responsible for all three backups
4. I was thinking of making the three backups run as quickly as possible for the teenager's sake.

That is what led me to start thinking of an SSD for them rather than the slowly disappearing HDD technology.

There are many other points
5. co$t to the family
6. Encryption/privacy for each family member on a shared backup drive
7. etc.

Once I get the passwords to the other two laptops I will have all three backed up to a 300 GB external HDD.
At that time I may just sell them that old drive for $20 so that they can have their laptops back AND start making regular backups.

Once they buy three new laptops, they can, if they choose, spring for a higher capacity SSD if they choose.

In the meantime I might work out a scheme to have them separate their personal material from what you and I would call the Boot partition, to ease the migration to new laptops.

On Sunday I was able to fix the first problem on one of the three smartphones ("15.8 GB of 16.0 GB used"), once I run out of laptop problems I can get my teeth into something!

As far as "all your eggs" go, the one smartphone was useless for emails because it had 4 GB of images, and no-one knew how to move them to a laptop, and even then the laptop was misbehaving. Getting the 4GB to MY laptop (and then backing it up Sunday night) was a huge step forward.

Cheers, Chris