Looking for a Rugged 6/8TB Portable HDD

Grazz989 on 13/12/2021 - 15:29
Last edited 17/01/2022 - 23:41 by 1 other user

Hi all,

I'm looking for a 6 or 8TB portable HDD that's rugged enough for traveling interstate, can survive gentle drops etc. Preferably, of course, without paying a ridiculous amount.

Previously I purchased a standard internal 3.5" WD Blue and bought an enclosure that didn't really have any shock absorbance … A couple of weeks of usage and bumpy transport and it developed a LOT of bad sectors - I suspect since it's a consumer drive sitting in nothing but thin plastic, even setting it down on a table could've knocked it too hard.

Cheers for any recommendations!

Computing Computer Peripheral Portable Hard Drive

Comments

  • Hybroid on 13/12/2021 - 15:36
    +1

    It doesn't really matter what you wrap it in, at the end of the day it's a mechanical hard drive with delicate platters inside that does not like being shaken around. The odd travel here or there should be fine.

    But if you're constantly travelling with it then you want a solid state drive for rugged resilience (nothing mechanical to get damaged) but that comes at a significant price premium. Do you really really need that much storage on the go?

    • Grazz989 on 13/12/2021 - 15:40

      I realise that hard drives are delicate of course, but I know that enterprise drive tend to be more durable in that regard, and also there's a reason why WD and Seagate put rubber grommets and such inside their enclosures.

      All it took was the odd travel here and there, and it was enough to render the internal WD Blue + crappy enclosure I bought unusable with all the bad sectors haha.

      I do need at least 6TB, and I can't afford 6TB worth of solid state drives.

      • Hybroid on 13/12/2021 - 15:42
        +1

        LaCie Rugged 8TB is probably the best you're going to get then.

        • Grazz989 on 13/12/2021 - 15:44

          Those seem ridiculously overpriced. $700+ ?

          At that cost you could buy an 8TB SSD ….

          • Hybroid on 13/12/2021 - 15:48

            @Grazz989: Yep. What you're looking for is considered business-grade requirements and hence they will pay that no prob.

            Else, you get a cheaper standard drive and risk the same issue happening with your Blue. Even if it's a highest spec WD Black.

            Either route you take, make sure you have a backup copy too and not relying on the single drive itself.

            • Grazz989 on 13/12/2021 - 15:56

              @Hybroid: It just doesn't seem correct to me that there's no inbetween option between a $200 fragile consumer internal drive (+ $35 crappy enclosure), and a $700+ drive made obsolete by SSDs?

              Surely there's a consumer grade WD or Seagate portable that has a decent drive in it, decent shock absorbance etc.

          • garetz on 13/12/2021 - 16:54

            @Grazz989: You are paying a premium for them being rugged, there are few drives that do this .

            https://www.amazon.com.au/LaCie-Rugged-USB-3-0-8TB/dp/B07S4N…

            pretty much your best/only option at 8tb.

          • freefall101 on 13/12/2021 - 17:00

            @Grazz989: Would 5TB do? Or even two of those is a lot cheaper. The 8TB has two 2.5" 4TB drives in RAID, so you're paying for the cost of the raid controller as well.

            There's not all that many rugged 3.5" drives on the market, for obvious reasons. There's a few aftermarket ones around though. A lot of 2.5" drives but they all top out at 5TB (because that's the biggest 2.5" drive around).

            • Grazz989 on 13/12/2021 - 17:20

              @freefall101: I've noticed that there's a 50% price increase from 6TB to 8TB in general for 3.5" drives. What's up with that?

              I suppose I could get two smaller 2.5" drives. Are 2.5" drives more rugged in general? … I imagine that two drives totalling 8TB, even the non-rugged models, would be significantly more expensive than a single 3.5" 8TB drive …

              I had the idea just below that's a bit jank but I think could work for a super budget solution: Simply stuffing the cardboard box the portable HDD comes in with bubble wrap or foam or something, and leave the cords plugged into the drive 24/7. A bit of duct tape or something to make sure the cords don't yank out, and now it's got a protective case that should surely take a lot of shock out of any impacts. Still left with the question of which of the consumer external HDDs are least-sucky when it comes to durability without going to the 3x higher expense of the specialist drives in SSD price land.

              • freefall101 on 13/12/2021 - 17:41

                @Grazz989: Chia (crypto that uses storage space instead of processing power) blew up the storage market for bigger drives. It's only just settling down now, where you can see the stock standard 8TB Seagate 3.5" is on sale for $189 today at SE.

                2.5" aren't generally more rugged (they are lighter which means less forces if dropped), there are just more options. They're not significantly more expensive, take this for example, $180 for 4TB and $230 for 5TB. The only reason I suggest 2.5" is that good 3.5" cases don't seem to exist. If you find one that's definitely a valid option, but most people want 2.5" rugged drives because you don't need to take a power cable with them.

                It's hard to pick if any drive is more reliable than another. These days enterprise drives supposedly have better vibration protection but mostly just come with a longer warranty, if they break the vendor will replace it and you should have good backups. And the price of them makes it not really worth while.

                I'd also see if you can replace your existing drive under warranty. Run Crystal Disk and look at the G-Sense Error Rate, if this is anything except 100 then it's registered a shock and WD will deny the warranty. But it could just be the drive itself is defective.

                • Grazz989 on 13/12/2021 - 17:46

                  @freefall101: See, to me $180 for 4TB is a lot more expensive than 8TB for $189. That's literally almost double the price per GB.

                  It's tempting to get that 8TB Seagate bare drive, but then I'd probably be playing roulette again with crappy enclosures that don't protect against shock. I imagine that WD and Seagate's portable models, even the 3.5" ones, would have at least half-decent shock absorbance, if only to save them the cost of warranty returns.

                  Thanks a bunch for the Crystal Disk / G-Sense Error Rate suggestion - I had no idea that's what they based the warranty off.

                  • freefall101 on 13/12/2021 - 18:10

                    @Grazz989: I'm assuming the enclosure costs a fair bit. Normal 4TB portable drives can be had for $120.

                    I assumed you'd be looking at $100 for a good, shockproof 3.5" enclosure.

      • avoidfullprice on 13/12/2021 - 16:17

        I know that enterprise drive tend to be more durable in that regard

        Aren't enterprise drive designed to absorb small but frequent vibration, not from the so called gentle drop (unpacking from baggage)? Bike helmet vs bubble wraps.

        Anyways, suggestion is get a 2TB SSD and a 4-6TB HDD. When you have to access the data on the move, use the SSD. Wait until you get to a room or something, then slowly unpack it from the bag access data on the 4-6TB HDD.

        • Grazz989 on 13/12/2021 - 16:21

          I'm not entirely sure, but to my knowledge they rate higher on the G-force shock rating specification. Even shock absorbance for small vibrations would help a little with sudden shocks, I imagine. By gentle drop I mean like, the shock of putting it down on a table a little roughly or hitting a pothole while driving.

          I get what you're saying about the SSD + the HDD, but then I'm back to square one asking 'which durable 4TB drive should I buy'. I'm only intending to use it while stationary, not while on transport etc.

          • avoidfullprice on 13/12/2021 - 16:36

            @Grazz989: If the risk of shock only comes from handling the hard-disk while cold, and not access-on-move, then would a Pelican protector Case do the job?

            https://www.pelican.com/au/en/product/cases/protector/1120

            Are you using something like this at the moment? Unsure from your collective replies so far.

            • Grazz989 on 13/12/2021 - 17:12

              @avoidfullprice: No, I'm not using something like that - If I've mentioned 'bag' previously, I literally just mean a backpack while travelling.

              It's a tempting idea but given that accidents happen and it might get bumped or whatever while packing/unpacking (even if it's unlikely to get bumped while actually running), an external enclosure that provides some actual protection + a drive that at least isn't particularly sensitive to shock is still something I'd want to begin with, even if I do end up slapping it into a case or something. Also, not to sound too 'OzBargain' about it, but I could just get a spare cardboard box and a towel and achieve 90% of the same protection for 10% of the cost … but either way it's more bulk and zero protection when unpacked.

              Although - That gives me another idea…. Get an Ext hard drive and a cardboard box only a little larger than the unit, and pack it with bubble wrap / towel / foam whatever, cut holes for the cords, and just leave the cables plugged in. I'd have to duct tape for strain relief or something, but theoretically I could just leave the HDD inside the box forever and while in-use, as long as I'm not running it hard for a long period of time (to avoid heat issues)?

              Still left with the question of 'which external HDD do I buy', I suppose.

  • jv on 13/12/2021 - 15:37
    -1

    can survive gentle drops etc.

    Why would you want to do that?

    • Grazz989 on 13/12/2021 - 15:42

      Obviously I'm not intentionally dropping them, but if I have the drive in a bag it can get thrown around a bit, and outside of traveling accidents happen and you can put it down too hard on a table, maybe drop it onto some carpet while unpacking it, etc etc.

      … I'm just after a rugged portable HDD so I'm less likely to brick the thing.

  • abb on 13/12/2021 - 15:50

    Could you instead rent 8TB of online storage and access it via the interwebs?

    Never have to worry about drops, or forgetting it… but if you're uploading raw 4k video it might be a little slower

    • Grazz989 on 13/12/2021 - 15:52

      Unfortunately not. The speed issue is real, but also data caps.

  • AndyC1 on 13/12/2021 - 15:56

    The biggest problem with external HDD is that they MUST be shutdown correctly in order for the head to be retracted so it is not on part of the platter that is used. If you disconnect the HDD without ejecting it or waiting for the ejection to say it is finished then any bump can cause the head to hit the platter….

    If you are going to be rough then get an external SSD as they have no moving parts and have a way higher G shock rating that no standard or ruggard HDD case will come close to.

    • Grazz989 on 13/12/2021 - 16:00

      Thanks for the heads up about shutting them down correctly. I wasn't aware of that. What happens if you simply unplug the data cable, and leave the power on? Would it retract the head given that it's not connected to anything data wise, but still is powered on?

      Alas, 6-8TB of SSD is just not within the budget at the moment. I think I'll be fine with an external HDD if I baby it, but I'd just like to find better options than an internal HDD in a crappy padding-less enclosure. I know for a fact that Seagate and WD's externals come with rubber shock pads between the drive and the enclosure itself, and perhaps there are some of their consumer grade products/drives that are just slightly more durable than others without being 3x the price.

    • freefall101 on 13/12/2021 - 16:47
      +2

      That hasn't been true for a long time, hard drives these days have an automatic process to park the head in the right spot even when power is lost.

  • 7ekn00 on 13/12/2021 - 18:27
    -1

    Um, a HDD is a spinning platter with a read head …
    There is no such thing as "rugged", they will always be vulnerable to damage when bumped with the head over a platter …
    It doesn't matter how much "padding" you put on the outside, there is no shock absorption mechanism to prevent the head crashing onto the platter …
    SSD is the only true "rugged" storage :P

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