sharke


Check out the Glyph externals. They come in FireWire, USB and eSata. 

+100.
Well worth the money.
I also like the guarantee that if something goes wrong they get your data back for you for free.
But I've had mine for 6 years now and it's still rock solid, smooth, quick and quiet.


Mike

Ok guys many thanks for the helpful and varied comments. 

Based on what I have read above and through my own research I am going to look into buying a back up external drive and a seperate external drive for recording only.
I already have a couple of 500GB drives that are fine for second back ups but I want to have one large drive for putting all my data on it. I am looking at buying either the Seagate back-up plus Descktop 3TB or the WD my book essential 3TB for the back up drive.

In relation to the sole recording drive I am still undecided. I can see that the Glyph drives are top of the line. The cost however for me is a prohibitive. Recording is a hobby that comes and goes in my life. I have done some in the past and I want to do some in the near future. Long term I'm not so sure but I want to have a good reliable portable system to hand for recording. I will be working with a Laptop with Windows 7 and USB 2.0 & USB 3.0 and a 4 channel audio interface (that I am yet to buy - might do another post on that).

I know nothing about Solid state drives. The Esata hub looks like a viable option but for portability it might not be so good (plus I don't have an esata connection on my laptop). Building my own drive is an interesting concept but I would have no idea of what drives to buy and how to sort out the various connections and get an enclosure suitable for the drive to minimize heat and noise. Does anyone know a spec for building an external hard drive specifically for recording?

Currently I am strongly considering the G Tech G Drive mini 1TB or 750GB for my recording drive. Does anyone have any experience in using this drive? They seem to be built with audio recording in mind. They are also a little more modestly priced than the Glyph's however how do they compare in terms of quality and performance? Does anyone know other pre-built drives that were designed with recording in mind that I could consider?

Many thanks for your helpful advice on a topic that appears to have no clear cut answer.

Slain go fhoil

SSDs, though expensive, can't be beat for portability.

How portable does yours have to be ?
I'd much rather knock an ssd off a table than a spinning hard drive.

Lacie Rugged Triple 301984 1 TB External Hard Drive provides universal connectivity . Pleased to transfer 800mb video file in just 8 seconds with USB3.0 (also supports USB2.0). Has all the specs you desired with uncompromising speed and easy setup. 

I have an icy dock two drive enclosure that I like. I also like
Http://www.amazon.com/gp/...le/183-0233892-9413033

I don't have this exact one, but the same idea.

I like being able to harvest old drives out of cast off machines.

But I have a brand new internal terabyte internal drive that is very fast. I got it from new egg for 100.

I wouldn't buy any drive less than 1TB these days except an SSD. 

The only problem with solid state hard drives is that they get worn out way quicker than regular hard drives.  So, if you record, delete, record, delete, etc.  (I'm like this, I'll record/ delete many times until it's perfect), after a while, the drive gets worn out.  From what I've read, anyway.....

You may want to consider hybrid drives too.  They are really fast, great capacity and prices.  Be sure to read the reviews.  http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7750549

MelodicJimmy
The only problem with solid state hard drives is that they get worn out way quicker than regular hard drives.  So, if you record, delete, record, delete, etc.  (I'm like this, I'll record/ delete many times until it's perfect), after a while, the drive gets worn out.  From what I've read, anyway.....

I haven't found a definitive answer, but most manufacturers warranty them for 5 years, so they should last at least that long. I use mine mainly for streaming data like sample libraries (and I never write to them after the initial library installation), so I'm expecting mine to last forever.
 
Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com - SONAR X2 Power! - http://garrigus.com/?SonarX2Power
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://digifreq.com/?DigiFreq
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://newtechreview.com/?NewTechReview

Djspahead

,,, I am looking at buying either the Seagate back-up plus Descktop 3TB or the WD my book essential 3TB for the back up drive. ...
 
For my home office computer I have 3 "my book 3 TB drives." (For my engineering consulting business, I can't afford to lose any data.) My Lab computer has one WD 3TB drive.
 
For my Play Pen (music room). I share one of the office backups and will by buying another WD drive as a dedicated backup drive.
 
I've had very good luck with WD drives (I helped design them!) and would highly recommend them. This week we had a large forest fire in Prescott, AZ 3 miles from our house. I packed up all the hard drives in the car (among other things) and was ready to go in case of an evacuation.
Walt