What’s the best external drive or external RAID enclosure for me?
Some storage companies sell what they call a “complete solution,” that is, one or more hard drive or SSD(s) pre-installed in a storage chassis. “Is this the best unit for me,” you might ask. They’ll respond that theirs is the only solution for you but don’t supply much information to justify their claim.
One of the most important considerations is, “what’s inside the box?”
The True Cost of a Populated External Drive Unit
What is the COST for the small convenience of buying an external hard drive or RAID chassis with the drives pre-installed? Generally, single drives and RAID storage have a high mark-up so you pay significantly for this “convenience.”
Furthermore, marketing isn’t cheap, so if you’ve seen a product advertised in every magazine, website, it probably has a lot of marketing dollars behind it. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, what really matters is the reputation of the product for reliability and its warranty as well as post-sale customer support.
The Hard Drives
External Hard Drive(s), whether in a single-drive product or a RAID, should cost around $50.00 per TB, $100.00 for 2TB, and so on… as a general rule of thumb.
Any unit costing less than $50.00 per TB is likely made with drives that are refurbished / re-certified or worse yet, “pulled,” which is industry jargon for “recycled” from another system. Are the hard drives inside the unit you’re considering used?
The Enclosure
Is the hard drive enclosure assembled with non-standard security screws? Is there a sticker that voids the warranty if you open the case to upgrade or change out the drives? That’s a sign that the manufacturer prefers that you don’t know what’s “under the hood.”
Metal or Plastic? Make Mine Metal, Please!
A typical plastic enclosure with a quad interface is priced at about $40.00. To save on costs, some manufacturers use recycled plastic that may contain toxic chemicals. Here are some of the substances used to manufacture “recycled plastic:”
Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) Di-isononyl phthalate (DINP)
Diethyl phthalate (DEP) Dibutyl phthalate (DBP)
Benzylbutyl phthalate (BzBP) Dicylohexyl phthalate (DCHP)
Di-n-octyl phthalate (DOP)
These substances are toxic enough by themselves, but when the heat generated by hard drives warms the case, what’s “out-gassed” is even worse. Think about where you put your external drive. It’s probably right in front of you, or in close proximity to where you’re working.
Power Supply
Does the hard drive enclosure have a shielded internal power supply or a clumsy power brick? Most people like the ability to plug in a standard computer power cord to their storage unit rather than deal with an extra piece of hardware like a power brick on their desk or under their feet. Power bricks are generally cheap, 3rd party, out-sourced components that have a low MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) rating.
Tray or Tray-less?
Is the chassis tray-less? Tray-less products can be problematic as the inherent nature of hard drives is that they vibrate. When not well-secured to a tray, a drive can fail prematurely.
Is the hard drive tray built for only one type of chassis, or can it be used in a number of different products from the same manufacturer? It’s important that drive trays have some mounting flexibility.
Chassis Housing
Is the housing made of 3mm thick aluminum or other metal, or is it cheap, flimsy material? A well-constructed chassis has some heft to it and is made to dissipate heat as well as take some bumps and bruises and still survive. A well-designed housing also assures a modicum of convection cooling as well as noise reduction from fans and drives. What about the chassis finish? Are there sharp edges that could cut you?
Safety Approvals
Some chassis can or do circumvent getting FCC, UL, safety approvals as they’re only sold as “computer components” without drives inside. If you buy a cheap plastic box, don’t expect it to have the safety approvals it needs to protect YOU from EMF or electrical radiation. Cheap can be very costly!
Packaging
How secure is the physical carton surrounding the product? Is the chassis protected with foam inside a sturdy box, or is it cheap eggshell-type cardboard with a flimsy outer cardboard box? A thick foam shroud that surrounds and protects the chassis and drives inside is a sign of a quality product.
The Technology
The basic technology, interfaces, cabling, etc., are pretty standard across the board for any particular manufacturer. They all use the same technology to connect the host machine to the storage: FireWire, USB, eSATA, or even the upcoming Thunderbolt technology.
So, there they are, some important factors to take into consideration when shopping for back-up storage. Ultimately, like most things in the marketplace, it’s a matter of buyer be educated, buyer beware. We hope that this article has helped you in to make much more informed decision when considering the purchase of your next storage solution.
Some storage companies sell what they call a “complete solution,” that is, one or more hard drive or SSD(s) pre-installed in a storage chassis. “Is this the best unit for me,” you might ask. They’ll respond that theirs is the only solution for you but don’t supply much information to justify their claim.
One of the most important considerations is, “what’s inside the box?”
The True Cost of a Populated External Drive Unit
What is the COST for the small convenience of buying an external hard drive or RAID chassis with the drives pre-installed? Generally, single drives and RAID storage have a high mark-up so you pay significantly for this “convenience.”
Furthermore, marketing isn’t cheap, so if you’ve seen a product advertised in every magazine, website, it probably has a lot of marketing dollars behind it. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, what really matters is the reputation of the product for reliability and its warranty as well as post-sale customer support.
The Hard Drives
External Hard Drive(s), whether in a single-drive product or a RAID, should cost around $50.00 per TB, $100.00 for 2TB, and so on… as a general rule of thumb.
Any unit costing less than $50.00 per TB is likely made with drives that are refurbished / re-certified or worse yet, “pulled,” which is industry jargon for “recycled” from another system. Are the hard drives inside the unit you’re considering used?
The Enclosure
Is the hard drive enclosure assembled with non-standard security screws? Is there a sticker that voids the warranty if you open the case to upgrade or change out the drives? That’s a sign that the manufacturer prefers that you don’t know what’s “under the hood.”
Metal or Plastic? Make Mine Metal, Please!
A typical plastic enclosure with a quad interface is priced at about $40.00. To save on costs, some manufacturers use recycled plastic that may contain toxic chemicals. Here are some of the substances used to manufacture “recycled plastic:”
Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) Di-isononyl phthalate (DINP)
Diethyl phthalate (DEP) Dibutyl phthalate (DBP)
Benzylbutyl phthalate (BzBP) Dicylohexyl phthalate (DCHP)
Di-n-octyl phthalate (DOP)
These substances are toxic enough by themselves, but when the heat generated by hard drives warms the case, what’s “out-gassed” is even worse. Think about where you put your external drive. It’s probably right in front of you, or in close proximity to where you’re working.
Power Supply
Does the hard drive enclosure have a shielded internal power supply or a clumsy power brick? Most people like the ability to plug in a standard computer power cord to their storage unit rather than deal with an extra piece of hardware like a power brick on their desk or under their feet. Power bricks are generally cheap, 3rd party, out-sourced components that have a low MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) rating.
Tray or Tray-less?
Is the chassis tray-less? Tray-less products can be problematic as the inherent nature of hard drives is that they vibrate. When not well-secured to a tray, a drive can fail prematurely.
Is the hard drive tray built for only one type of chassis, or can it be used in a number of different products from the same manufacturer? It’s important that drive trays have some mounting flexibility.
Chassis Housing
Is the housing made of 3mm thick aluminum or other metal, or is it cheap, flimsy material? A well-constructed chassis has some heft to it and is made to dissipate heat as well as take some bumps and bruises and still survive. A well-designed housing also assures a modicum of convection cooling as well as noise reduction from fans and drives. What about the chassis finish? Are there sharp edges that could cut you?
Safety Approvals
Some chassis can or do circumvent getting FCC, UL, safety approvals as they’re only sold as “computer components” without drives inside. If you buy a cheap plastic box, don’t expect it to have the safety approvals it needs to protect YOU from EMF or electrical radiation. Cheap can be very costly!
Packaging
How secure is the physical carton surrounding the product? Is the chassis protected with foam inside a sturdy box, or is it cheap eggshell-type cardboard with a flimsy outer cardboard box? A thick foam shroud that surrounds and protects the chassis and drives inside is a sign of a quality product.
The Technology
The basic technology, interfaces, cabling, etc., are pretty standard across the board for any particular manufacturer. They all use the same technology to connect the host machine to the storage: FireWire, USB, eSATA, or even the upcoming Thunderbolt technology.
So, there they are, some important factors to take into consideration when shopping for back-up storage. Ultimately, like most things in the marketplace, it’s a matter of buyer be educated, buyer beware. We hope that this article has helped you in to make much more informed decision when considering the purchase of your next storage solution.
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