On 1/11/23 06:58, Tom Browder wrote:
I plan to install a 4-bay, hot swappable SSD dock to replace the existing DVD in my only 5.5" externally accesible bay. To fill it, I will get up to four 2.5 inch SSDs of 1 Tb: MX500 by Crucial. My plan is to use the SSDs for backup, but not in a RAID configuration. I would appreciate opinions on my choice of SSD, as well as which brand of dock is recommended: ICY DOCK versus StarTech. On Amazon, the ICY DOCK mentions a lithium battery but the StarTech doesn't, and I'm not sure why it's needed. Thanks. -Tom
I have been using StarTech drive racks for many years. Out of two dozen or so 3.5" HDD racks over the past ~20 years, perhaps a half dozen fans wore out and one PCB died. All the other issues were drives, cables, HBA's, and/or PEBKAC.
As other readers have mentioned, failure modes of HDD's are reasonably well understood; as are recovery options. AIUI solid-state devices are all-or-nothing -- they work and then they become bricks. I use internal 3.5" HDD's in ZFS mirrors for live data, backups, archives, and images. I also use single 3.5" HDD's in StarTech DRW150SATBK racks for near-site and off-site duplicates. The speed of SSD's is appealing for remote site work, but I would want two SSD's for safety.
David