I need some HDDs I can occasionally plug into my desktop PC to backup my media collection.
My plan is to buy about 3 larger SATA drives (maybe 5 TB each) to store all of my files, duplicates and all. I will be plugging these into my desktop periodically to check with a CRC and verify with a HASH. Otherwise they will live in boxes in different houses. I will rotate a new HD in ever few years.
I will also have 3 smaller SATA drives (for consolidated file storage with all the duplicates removed, and my collection pruned and labelled. These will get the same verification then “live in a box” treatment as the larger drives, unless something fails in my main PC and I need to restore data.
The idea for the large “ALL FILES!” drives is for peace of mind that I don’t accidentally delete something forever while scanning for duplicate files/trimming down my collection.
Questions:
- I’ve heard that where I buy drives matters, as Amazon tends to be rough with their drives and some arrive partially damaged (and then fail). All prices being equal, what online portals should I buy from?
- Should I look for Enterprise grade HDs for this use case, or is it unnecessary?
- Should I care about SMR or CMR for the big cold storage drives? I feel like since I won’t access them often, it doesn’t matter much.
- Since I’m looking for longevity and reliability, should I avoid refurbs?
- Any obvious holes in this plan that I’m overlooking?