I've ben putting off gettin backup/con drives and a docking station... help.

OK, I am on Amazon (a little cheaper).
I have this in my cart. Am I on the right track or am I making a mistake?
 
1: $44.50 (x2) Seagate 1TB (1 tb) SATA II 7200 RPM 32MB Cache Internal Desktop Bare Hard Drive for PC, Mac, CCTV DVR, NAS, RAID (2 of these)
 
2: $21.99 iDsonix® SuperSpeed USB 3.0/2.0 to SATA Hard Drive Docking Station For 2.5 or 3.5in HDD/SSD Tool Free Design - Supports 4TB+ Hard Drives Premium 12V2.5A Power Adapter&3.3 Ft USB3.0 Cable included
(only one bay)
 
3: $79.00  True Image 2016 (3-Users) ( can use it with my DAW, laptop, and my wifes laptop) NOTE: If I am cloning a HD, can I get a two bay, pull the drives 2.5 and 3.5, and just clone them using the docking station and Acronis without having to buy True Image for 3 CPUs?)
 
4: $29.00  Hitachi Deskstar 7K500 HDS725050KLA360 500GB SATA 300 7200RPM 16MB Hard Drive (for cloning my OS drive in my DAW)
 
I have about 75 bucks of rewards on my AMEX I can put toward this, I'll do that BUT... I want to be sure I am getting exactly what I need. I guess I could get one 3tb hard drive cheaper but I have never partitioned a HD and it makes me a little nervous that I might accidentally backup the OS drive on the samples partition or something similar. I will get two 2,5 drives for cloning the two laptops, though it is nearly, if not past time to upgrade out laptops. I wish I could afford the new MS Surface books laptops, they are expensive but I'm thinking they should work with Windows-10 with no problems, you would think, right?
 
Do you see any errors. I have never done this before so I feel like I am flying blind. Recommendations are certainly appreciated and desired!!
 
J
 

Doktor Avalanche
Consider SSD for your OS drive.
 
For acronis backups you don't need to buy multiple drives for backup purposes. Just get one big fat drive (unless you ancipate running out of room). Acronis will compress your backups into an image file.
Acronis is licensed per machine.
You don't really need a caddy but get one if you like, you can just clone to an external USB drive connected to the PC.
 
Cheers...

Well, I'm not very computer savvy and it is a Studiocat so I think I'll be more comfortable making a Clone of the C drive and backups of the other two. I have never done a partition before so I don't know if it's hard or easy. I really would prefer easy. I'm not going to replace the OS drive at this point but if I ever have to I will. I just want a clone of the C drive and backups of the Samples drive and the audio drive.. the easiest way. I'll pay extra for easy and foolproof.
I am a computer user, I know NOTHING about anything else except removing malware from XP... I don't get malware on W-7+... I am pretty much plug and play, if you know what I mean. It may be simple, I just don't know. I've asked for help several times and still didn't understand well enough to jump but I need to. I am really ignorant about this stuff, assume I know nothing. I know to get a 7200 RPM, 10,000 RPM, or SSD but not for a clone drive or a backup, I don't think it matters much because I wont be using it very much. Of course I don't want something that takes half a day to do a backup and like I said, I've never partitioned a drive so I tend to think I should get a drive to clone the C drive and a drive to backup each of the other drives... because I know nothing about it and it scares me that I will get the wrong thing.
I don't want a new drive, I just want to backup and clone. So, I'm not sure what you're saying, you assume I know more than I do. That's OK though because most people do, so it is expected.
 
J

Hi Julien,
 
You want a USB3 docking station.
Make note of the largest drive size the unit supports.  You'll be "capped" by this limit.
 
Using True Image is easy.
Give me a call and I'll step you thru the process.
 
If you've already ordered the eSATA model, you're going to need to add an eSATA bracket.
This is inexpensive and very easy to install.
Mounts in an unused slot space... and connects to an unused internal SATA port

Jim Roseberry
Hi Julien,
 
You want a USB3 docking station.
Make note of the largest drive size the unit supports.  You'll be "capped" by this limit.
 
Using True Image is easy.
Give me a call and I'll step you thru the process.
 
If you've already ordered the eSATA model, you're going to need to add an eSATA bracket.
This is inexpensive and very easy to install.
Mounts in an unused slot space... and connects to an unused internal SATA port

No Jim, I have not ordered yet and after thinking about it, I think I should get a 500gb, and two 1tb drives so that I can clone all three and be done with it, or maybe not. I'm worried that I might make a mess or do something wrong if I order one large drive and partition it for cloning all three drives. I have never made a partition in my life.
I did notice the size of drive that the dock supports is in the specs. That makes me think that you are thinking I will do OK with one 4gb drive for cloning all three drives. Then I can get another drive to clone our two laptop drives, I think I should keep them separate. So, a 4gb drive or three comparable drives? Assume I know nothing, I know a little about computers, but not much.
I assume I can update a clone as needed? I won't order eSATA. Does it matter if I order SATA, SATA II, or SATA III. I did remember that you said USB 3, lol. I know, I know... I should have already done this but I'm taking care of it now. I'm thinking that a one bay dock should work unless there is a need to pull a drive from somewhere to clone it, like a laptop drive.
 
So to recap:
1: SATA, SATA II, or SATA III? (or does it matter as long as the dock is USB3?).
2: Docking station with one or two bays? (USB3 with large drive support).
3: One big drive to be partitioned to clone three drives, or three drives to clone three other drives?
 
I think those are my questions in a nutshell.
Thanks!
Julien

jbow
 
No Jim, I have not ordered and after thinking about it, I think I should get a 500gb, and two 1tb drives so that I can clone all three and be done with it. I assume I can update a clone as needed? I won't order eSATA. Does it matter if I order SATA, SATA II, or SATA III. I did remember that you said USB 3, lol. I know I should have already done this but I'm taking care of it now. I'm thinking that a one bay dock should work unless there is a need to pull a drive from somewhere to clone it, like a laptop drive.
 

 
You'll be fine with a single slot docking station.
I'd get a unit that officially supports SATA I, II, III and drives up to 4TB.
That'll let you use a broad range of potential drives... and you won't feel limited for quite a while.
Regarding backups:
Having a recent backup image file(s) is sufficient (no real need to physically clone the drive).
If you're under super tight deadlines (composing for TV), I could see having a cloned backup drive on the shelf.
That way if anything went wrong you could pop the drive in and be up-and-running instantly.
A typical True Image restore is pretty quick.  
If your boot drive is relatively clean, the backup image file should reload in 5-15 minutes.
 

Thanks Jim
 
You are a great asset here! I'll order. I'll call if I am unsure of what to do.
 
J

After having 2 Seagate drives fail without warning this year, I am off Seagate for a while. Pretty sure your PC has Toshiba drives in it. Why not use drives similar to what you have in the PC? The model should show in your Windows device manager.

I'll fire it up and look. I was looking on Amazon with the parameters of SATA II, 1tb, Toshiba, and 3.5". The cheapest one is $144.00
Newegg is better. They also have Hitachi HGST drives (not trying to second guess you, just wondering if you think they are a viable alternative) that seem to have good reviews, I'll listen. I asked for help because I really don't know. I don't want to have junk from saving 50 bucks. I'll fire up the Cat and see what is in it.
I do appreciate it.
 
Thanks again.
 
I got the {three CPU) Acronis TI 2016 from the Acronis site, it downloaded, got the account set up no problem. It was 47 bucks and some change, pretty good deal I think! I guess I should download the Universal Backup, IDK.
 
J
 

scook
I don't believe you will need to partition (which is easy). Why not give Jim a call? He has offered to help you understand how it all works.

I think I've got it now, thanks to your help. You saved me some money!! Thank you. I don't want to bother Jim unless I need to. It looks to me like the 300 will work great, just make three folders and back up three drives. I'll call Jim if I run into trouble.
 
Thanks! Happy!
 
J

DONE... DT01ACA300 and docking station.
 
Thank you Scook. You helped me go from spending 168 buck to 113 bucks. You are a gentleman and a scholar!
 
Julien

My dock arrived a few minutes ago, but it doesn't have the eSATA interface.  It is strictly USB3/2.  I called Amazon to **** and they processed a refund and told me to keep the unit.
 
I guess I'll try it with USB.  I wanted eSATA because I have so much USB stuff connected I'm concerned about USB overload.  Now I need to get a drive somewhere ...