Portable SSD with USB Connection For Photos

[sengsational]

My photo backup has been to DVD's, but I've been pretty lax on keeping that up to date because it's not easy to update with new and changed content. So I thought I'd buy an SSD that I could just sync occasionally using some software.

My first stop was a jaw dropping 4T drive for $30! Then I realized it was just a fake... reports itself as two 2T drives, but each has 64GB and it fails if you go beyond 64GB (you'd think Amazon would have better screening).

Then I started looking at the legit 1T drives. They go for $120 and up (roughly, if I recall). But I started looking at the negative reviews. Most had 3% or 5% that said the drive heated up and failed. Now, some of these people had lots of reads and writes. I'd just be writing, pretty much. But since it would be a sync program, it would be writing hard.

So on the off chance that someone here has experience with using a USB connected portable SSD for backup, I figured I'd see if I could get an idea of what to do, and what not to do. I'm not concerned with paying a bit more to get something that's likely to be more trouble-free. I'd consider a spinning (Lacie) drive if it's more reliable, but it seemed they all had quite a few complaints. Apparently a lot of people disappointed with "customer no service" of some big names, especially WD and Seagate.

 

[jim584672]

For a backup you don't need a SSD, a spinning disk is fine. I do a rsynch command with a second HD. It only saves/add/deletes changed files.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have many SSDs in use, but have no experience with USB portable SSDs. Is there a difference between them?

I have had no problem with 2.5" SSDs of different brands. I put them as boot drives in desktops and laptops. I do use one as a portable drive, by putting it inside a portable case with a USB connection. Then, I use it as a NAS drive by plugging it into my router USB port, and that's one of my storage backup drives.

 

[Jerry1]

I have a 1T SSD that we used for awhile, but DW’s storage needs outgrew it quickly. I’ve had very good luck with usb portable drives from WD and Seagate. I have a 4TB WD right now that I’m using. It’s just too cheap per TB to not use the HD over the SSD. If your really worried, get two of them and back up your back up. Seriously, I did that until I got her a better computer with a 2 disk 4TB RAID setup.

 

[ERD50]

For a backup you don't need a SSD, a spinning disk is fine. I do a rsynch command with a second HD. It only saves/add/deletes changed files.

+1.

And who cares about reliability (to a point)? You are going to have at least two backups, so if/when a failure occurs, you go to your 2nd backup.

Even the most reliable tech can/will fail, so you need that second backup regardless.

And I've been using rsync for years. First the GUI version (grsync), but then realized it was simple to write a script to do what I want. The problem I had with the GUI version was that it was really easy to inadvertently click in the wrong spot when moving the window around, or checking your settings, then you had no idea what you changed. The script states explicitly what you want to do. And the GUI actually could spit out the commands, so all I had to do was copy those to a script, and add some options if I wanted.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

I have a 1T SSD that we used for awhile, but DW’s storage needs outgrew it quickly. I’ve had very good luck with usb portable drives from WD and Seagate. I have a 4TB WD right now that I’m using. It’s just too cheap per TB to not use the HD over the SSD. If your really worried, get two of them and back up your back up. Seriously, I did that until I got her a better computer with a 2 disk 4TB RAID setup.

As I just posted, you really need to backup your backup. Worried or not, if it is worth backing up at all, it's worth backing up the back up. Any tech can/will fail.

-ERD50

 

[easysurfer]

I don't own any SSDs. If I was backing up photos, think I'd prefer using a HDD. I believe should a SSD fail, all the data on is gone. Whereas, on HDD the data may be recoverable. At least that's how I understand.

 

[MTB4me]

Recently purchased a portable USB-based 1TB SSD from Costco for about $120. I let Windows automatically do daily incremental (only the changes) backups. It's basically set and forget.

As for hard drives (what we in the IT business call spinning rust) vs. SSDs, give me SSDs any day. Faster, on average more reliable, and generally smaller. SATA-based spinning drives are less expensive per TB of capacity but far, far slower. Yes, it might be possible to recover data from a failed SATA drive, but you are going to pay very handsomely for that service, which will have no guarantee of success.

I use both an off-site backup service (Backblaze) and the 1TB SSD. The off-site backup is for disaster recovery while the SSD backup is for convenience. We live in an area that is susceptible to forest fires and have had to evacuate at least once in the last 25 years. Easier to just grab the USB drive and all my data than to grab the PC. Restoring from off-site backup is easy, but MUCH slower. There are full disaster recovery options where Backblaze will ship me a drive, however.

We used to have a saying among the storage administrators on our IT team: there are two types of hard drives - those that have failed, and those that will fail.

 

[Sunset]

I use 3 spinning drives, which are 4 -> 5 TB in size. I bought whatever was around 5TB in size and rated well from a known brand.

Here is one similar to what I have at a good price of $107:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/wd-eas...able-hard-drive-black/6406512.p?skuId=6406512

 

[donheff]

I prefer to be able to access my photos from all my devices so I use Google Photos. The free version uses a proprietary compression algorithm and seems fine to me but you can buy extra storage for storing them as full resolution originals if you prefer.

 

[sengsational]

Thanks, all, for the ideas.

I use 3 spinning drives, which are 4 -> 5 TB in size. I bought whatever was around 5TB in size and rated well from a known brand.

Here is one similar to what I have at a good price of $107:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/wd-eas...able-hard-drive-black/6406512.p?skuId=6406512

That one is very inexpensive on a per TB basis. Like every other drive, it has negative reviews of "quit working after X months". This one has 3% one-star reviews.

I'm coming to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a reliable USB external drive, spinning or SSD.

Apparently one issue is that they use this "SMR" technology, which is prone to issues. I really don't want to become a hard drive technology guru just to buy a drive that is going to be reliable! There's no button on Amazon to say "exclude SMR".

 

[Jerry1]

Just get two of them and keep them in sync. Cost per storage unit (TB) is still pretty cheap and what is the likelihood that they’d both go bad at the same time. Also, no matter how good the reviews are and how reliable any drive appears to be, no drive is guaranteed to work forever so you’ll still really want to have a backup.

 

[JT90505]

Most important in my mind is having at least two backups, one being offsite (which could be the cloud).

I use spinning drives for USB backup, when they age out I expect I'll switch to SSD for both speed and higher reliability. As a side note, I have seen very few products on amazon without 1-star reviews; if a very large % of the reviews are 4 or 5 star I tend to discount a small number of very negative reviews.

my approach, FWIW:
Two drives offsite in a safe deposit box. Typically replaced every 6-9 months.

A drive in the house that is updated every 3 months or so.

A thumb drive that I use for updating documents that change frequently, pretty much weekly, give or take.

 

[Sunset]

Thanks, all, for the ideas.


That one is very inexpensive on a per TB basis. Like every other drive, it has negative reviews of "quit working after X months". This one has 3% one-star reviews.

I'm coming to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a reliable USB external drive, spinning or SSD.

Apparently one issue is that they use this "SMR" technology, which is prone to issues. I really don't want to become a hard drive technology guru just to buy a drive that is going to be reliable! There's no button on Amazon to say "exclude SMR".

When I look I get 156 one star reviews:
156÷7965 = 1.9585687 % Which can be rounded to 2%

This one is similar to what I have, I'd have to go look to see if I have one of these or not, as I'm not sure Seagate or WD is better than the other for these.

I never trust just 1 drive, as I'm sure 1 will fail someday before I outgrow it.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Apparently a lot of people disappointed with "customer no service" of some big names, especially WD and Seagate.

I like the WD "My Drive" product. I have had a 4 TB drive running for about 4 years with no issues. I think I paid about $129. I recently picked up 2 more for $89 each on Amazon. They connect by USB by need separate power as well.

Drawbacks are that at 4 TB some systems will not recognize them. My router does not recognize it for NAS for example. They also seem to ship somewhat randomly with different file systems (EXFAT, NTFS). That might not be an issue for you and you can always reformat. Mine have all had EXFAT. I have not needed customer service so I can't comment on that.

Lots of name brand 2 TB usb drives on Amazon for under $50.

 

[SecondAttempt]

I don't own any SSDs. If I was backing up photos, think I'd prefer using a HDD. I believe should a SSD fail, all the data on is gone. Whereas, on HDD the data may be recoverable. At least that's how I understand.

Or invest in a RAID system to be more resilient.

 

[Sunset]

When I buy a HD, for me it is a commitment.
Should it die, I won't be returning it as it has my data on it, even when it's encrypted.

Other folks aren't like me, and I've bought computers at garage sales and then looked through their tax records, letters, photos as they didn't even format the drives

 

[target2019]

My photo backup has been to DVD's, but I've been pretty lax on keeping that up to date because it's not easy to update with new and changed content. So I thought I'd buy an SSD that I could just sync occasionally using some software.

My first stop was a jaw dropping 4T drive for $30! Then I realized it was just a fake... reports itself as two 2T drives, but each has 64GB and it fails if you go beyond 64GB (you'd think Amazon would have better screening).

Then I started looking at the legit 1T drives. They go for $120 and up (roughly, if I recall). But I started looking at the negative reviews. Most had 3% or 5% that said the drive heated up and failed. Now, some of these people had lots of reads and writes. I'd just be writing, pretty much. But since it would be a sync program, it would be writing hard.

So on the off chance that someone here has experience with using a USB connected portable SSD for backup, I figured I'd see if I could get an idea of what to do, and what not to do. I'm not concerned with paying a bit more to get something that's likely to be more trouble-free. I'd consider a spinning (Lacie) drive if it's more reliable, but it seemed they all had quite a few complaints. Apparently a lot of people disappointed with "customer no service" of some big names, especially WD and Seagate.

Here is a device with embedded O/S and several functions that might help.
https://www.ravpower.com/products/rp-wd009-filehub

It seems to have a feature to transfer from an SD card to the included drive, or a connected drive. Or you could use wireless to backup phone pictures to the drive.

I have one, and didn't take it on the trip, so it's in the box and ready for experimenting.

 

[qwerty3656]

If you have Amazon prime, you can backup unlimited photos for free

 

[mountainsoft]

I thought I'd buy an SSD that I could just sync occasionally using some software.

SSD's are great, no moving parts, fast, quiet, and low power. I have four of them and wouldn't use anything else in my computer. I recently upgraded to a 2TB M.2 Nvme drive and am selling a couple of my older SSD drives. Love them!

However, backups are about redundancy. You don't need the speed of an SSD for backups, and ideally you should have multiple drives. You're looking for the cheapest drives you can get with the capacity you need (lowest cost per megabyte). Traditional hard drives are still the better option in this case. If you can find an equivalent sized SSD for the same price, by all means go SSD. But SSD''s generally still cost a lot more for the same storage space.

I'm coming to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a reliable USB external drive, spinning or SSD.

ALL drives will fail at some point. That's the reason you have backups, and why you shouldn't rely on a single backup drive. Multiple backups, on different drives, stored in different locations.

I have gone through a few different backup drives over the years. I've had Western Digital, Seagate, and Toshiba drives and haven't had one fail on me yet. I've always replaced them to get more capacity. The drives still worked fine and I sold them as pairs on eBay.

I am currently using two 5TB Western Digital Elements drives for my backups. They are fast enough (limited to about 100MB/s transfer speeds over USB), and small enough to fit in my safe deposit box (1TB is about $52, or 2TB for about $60).

https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Portable-External-Drive-WDBU6Y0050BBK-WESN/dp/B07X41PWTY

I use Macrium Reflect to make a nightly image backup of my drives. I use the "incremental forever" mode so it only takes a few minutes to backup each of my drives. About once a month I swap the local drive with a second drive I keep in our safe deposit box at the bank.

Remember, the best backup is the one you actually do. If you have to manually plug in a drive and start a backup yourself, odds are you'll forget or not do it regularly. Depending on how you use your computer, you can lose a LOT of data if you haven't backed up in a week or two.

Just yesterday a bug in a program I was working on deleted everything on my personal data drive. Thankfully I was able to restore everything back to the drive that had been automatically backed up at 2am earlier in the day. It took 2-1/2 hours to restore, but it would have been a tremendous loss without that backup (photos, financial records, home movies, etc.).

Cheap drives, automated backups, multiple backup drives, multiple locations...

 

[Jerry1]

When I buy a HD, for me it is a commitment.
Should it die, I won't be returning it as it has my data on it, even when it's encrypted.

Same here. I have every hard drive I’ve ever had. When I get rid of a computer, I take the drive out.

 

[Ready]

I use this one to store my drone videos. It’s worked great. Super fast and reasonably priced. And on sale now at Costco.

https://www.costco.com/sandisk-nvme-extreme-portable-1tb-solid-state-drive.product.100780552.html

I have an older magnetic hard drive that I use for time machine backups. It works, but it’s so much slower than the SSD that I’m going to eventually buy a second SSD for backups as well.