Recently I had the misfortune of my Seagate External HDD failing. One fine day it just stopped powering up. Initially I thought might be the cable but soon realized that it was a mechanical failure of the disk.
I had two years of photographs on that disk and I had not backed them all up.
Usually when a disk fails the first thing that comes to mind is that maybe a program like Recuva can recover the data. But, that needs the disk to spin and when it didn't, I realized that that I needed a higher level of help.
I asked around, researched online and found this company based in Pune called Data Care Labs. When I went there with my disk the main person there – a very capable guy called Amol – opened the disk cover and checked inside. So far only the outer cover was removed – the disk itself was still inside its manufactured cover looking pretty much like the disk in my computer. He was looking for the exact model number so that he could source a "donor disk".
I learned that his methodology – in fact it's the standard method everyone else apparently uses – was to identify the model, source an exact same new (donor) disk and mirror the existing data onto the new disk. Key here was that the model number needed to match.
A model mismatch meant that there would be small differences in the disk architecture that would prevent the software he used from proceeding with the mirroring process.
My faulty 4Tb Seagate was bought on Amazon, manufactured in Wuhan China and almost a year out of warranty. This was January 2020. As luck would have it my disk did not have a match in his stock of (nearly 4000) pre-bought disks. Wuhan was shut down and supply of this somewhat older disk model had stopped.
So, back to the internet we went, and he found a "match" on a listing on amazon.com (USA). Placed an order and waited ten days for its arrival. But, when it arrived it didn't match. By this time about 3 weeks had passed and I was losing hope of recovering any of the data. I had exhausted all the resources that Amol and Data Care Labs could provide.
Once again I went back online and discovered that consequent to a "Class action Lawsuit " due to a large number of Seagate Disk failures in the United States, Seagate has set up a Data Recovery Center at Amsterdam NL to service the US market. For US customers Seagate arranges free collection, transportation through UPS, repair/recovery, and delivery back to the customer if within warranty. Out of warranty cases need to pay for recovery but not shipping.
Seagate takes your faulty disk – copies the data on an identical new disk and ships it back to you.
I applied through the website, paid in advance, and sent my disk via their shipping invoice though DHL couriers. The DHL courier tracking showed delivery within a couple of days and I started monitoring the data recovery progress tracker that Seagate shared with me.
When after ten days the Seagate progress tracker still showed "disk awaited" I got concerned, wrote a couple of emails and finally got a human being on the phone. When I explained my problem to him (he spoke English) he asked for my UPS tracker ID. That's when it emerged that they deal only and exclusively with UPS – since this is primarily US market oriented. Finally, they got it sorted and my disk was recovered – about 99% - far higher than my expectation. I received my data on a new disk identical to the one I sent.
A few things I learned in this process: -
1. Goes without saying – backup, backup, and backup. It is a lot less stressful and cheaper to just discard a failed disk when you already have a backup.
2. External Hard Disk drives are (many times) more prone to failure than internal drives
3. Seagate External Disks are extremely prone to failure. So also, are Toshiba, Imation, and other similar Chinese brands. Amol showed me about 1200 failed disks
that he was currently working on. One thing he said that stayed with me "Seagate keeps me in business". He recommends Western Digital as more reliable, much
more reliable. Of the 1200 disks he showed me, only 11 were WD. That says it all.
4. If you have a Seagate disk, especially an external HDD, backup now! Just because it hasn't yet failed does not mean that it won't.
5. Most times your problem can be sorted by local resources like Data Care Labs at Pune. There are at least two other data recovery companies in Pune who do the
same thing. I am sure if you search you can find one close to where you live. However, if you find that they do not have a donor model number specific to your
disk, opt to take the Amsterdam route instead of spending your effort on more "hit or miss". The next point explains why.
6. When you source specific models of older disks from abroad, they fall into the OEM category which jacks up the price three times compared to a (say generic 4
Tb) regular commercially available disk. They know you are in trouble and will pay.
7. If you decide to send your failed disk to Amsterdam use UPS to courier it. Seagate has an agreement with them. Any other courier service may not be so reliable.
8. Once it reaches Seagate Amsterdam and is logged in, the process is transparent, fast, and very efficient, right up to delivery.
9. Seagate did not have a system for me to review my data for correctness, before shipping it to me. Its only after it arrived, and I checked it that I discovered it was a surprisingly good job.
10. Seagate has an office in India which supposedly assists you in this process, but I was not able to contact them.
11. Google "Seagate Data Recovery" for the recovery site.
And Finally,....
This thread is meant for those who may have failed Seagate disks and are wondering how to recover the data. Or, those interested in informing themselves before the event.
Please do not tell us about how important backing up is and so on. That lesson has been learned.
Also, this thread isn't about backup solutions that you follow, or think is necessary. If you feel an overwhelming urge to share that bit of information, please open another thread for the subject.
Very useful and informative. Thanks for sharing.
I'd say you are a lucky man. Thanks for the story.
Very often considerable amounts of data can be recovered from dead hard disks, but the service is expensive. I had cause to enquire, and the cost was waaaaay more than the value of the lost data to me. I forget how much, but multiple tens of thousands.
I wonder how much you paid Seagate?
Quote
Also, this thread isn't about backup solutions that you follow, or think is necessary. If you feel an overwhelming urge to share that bit of information, please open another thread for the subject.
If a broadcast and not a conversation is what you desire, please lock your thread.
Quote from: Krish Chandran on July 23, 2020, 06:03:16 PM
Also, this thread isn't about backup solutions that you follow, or think is necessary. If you feel an overwhelming urge to share that bit of information, please open another thread for the subject.
I was just about to share my experience with some information & got a notification of a new comment on this thread & upon refreshing it I saw this comment, hence thou shall pass.
Quote from: Bharat Varma on July 23, 2020, 11:02:09 PM
Quote
Also, this thread isn't about backup solutions that you follow, or think is necessary. If you feel an overwhelming urge to share that bit of information, please open another thread for the subject.
If a broadcast and not a conversation is what you desire, please lock your thread.
This topic is about failed disks and recovery. But it can easily spin off into a discussion on Backups. That would be off-topic. In my opinion.
How did you translate it to "If a broadcast and not a conversation is what you desire" . . I wonder ? Some bias in how you read this ?
Quote from: raul on July 23, 2020, 11:27:37 PM
Quote from: Krish Chandran on July 23, 2020, 06:03:16 PM
Also, this thread isn't about backup solutions that you follow, or think is necessary. If you feel an overwhelming urge to share that bit of information, please open another thread for the subject.
I was just about to share my experience with some information & got a notification of a new comment on this thread & upon refreshing it I saw this comment, hence thou shall pass.
That's too bad. Our loss I'm sure.
Quote from: Krish Chandran on July 23, 2020, 06:03:16 PM
Recently I had the misfortune of my Seagate External HDD failing. One fine day it just stopped powering up. Initially I thought might be the cable but soon realized that it was a mechanical failure of the disk.
I had two years of photographs on that disk and I had not backed them all up.
Usually when a disk fails the first thing that comes to mind is that maybe a program like Recuva can recover the data. But, that needs the disk to spin and when it didn't, I realized that that I needed a higher level of help.
I asked around, researched online and found this company based in Pune called Data Care Labs. When I went there with my disk the main person there – a very capable guy called Amol – opened the disk cover and checked inside. So far only the outer cover was removed – the disk itself was still inside its manufactured cover looking pretty much like the disk in my computer. He was looking for the exact model number so that he could source a "donor disk".
I learned that his methodology – in fact it's the standard method everyone else apparently uses – was to identify the model, source an exact same new (donor) disk and mirror the existing data onto the new disk. Key here was that the model number needed to match.
A model mismatch meant that there would be small differences in the disk architecture that would prevent the software he used from proceeding with the mirroring process.
My faulty 4Tb Seagate was bought on Amazon, manufactured in Wuhan China and almost a year out of warranty. This was January 2020. As luck would have it my disk did not have a match in his stock of (nearly 4000) pre-bought disks. Wuhan was shut down and supply of this somewhat older disk model had stopped.
So, back to the internet we went, and he found a "match" on a listing on amazon.com (USA). Placed an order and waited ten days for its arrival. But, when it arrived it didn't match. By this time about 3 weeks had passed and I was losing hope of recovering any of the data. I had exhausted all the resources that Amol and Data Care Labs could provide.
Once again I went back online and discovered that consequent to a "Class action Lawsuit " due to a large number of Seagate Disk failures in the United States, Seagate has set up a Data Recovery Center at Amsterdam NL to service the US market. For US customers Seagate arranges free collection, transportation through UPS, repair/recovery, and delivery back to the customer if within warranty. Out of warranty cases need to pay for recovery but not shipping.
Seagate takes your faulty disk – copies the data on an identical new disk and ships it back to you.
I applied through the website, paid in advance, and sent my disk via their shipping invoice though DHL couriers. The DHL courier tracking showed delivery within a couple of days and I started monitoring the data recovery progress tracker that Seagate shared with me.
When after ten days the Seagate progress tracker still showed "disk awaited" I got concerned, wrote a couple of emails and finally got a human being on the phone. When I explained my problem to him (he spoke English) he asked for my UPS tracker ID. That's when it emerged that they deal only and exclusively with UPS – since this is primarily US market oriented. Finally, they got it sorted and my disk was recovered – about 99% - far higher than my expectation. I received my data on a new disk identical to the one I sent.
A few things I learned in this process: -
1. Goes without saying – backup, backup, and backup. It is a lot less stressful and cheaper to just discard a failed disk when you already have a backup.
2. External Hard Disk drives are (many times) more prone to failure than internal drives
3. Seagate External Disks are extremely prone to failure. So also, are Toshiba, Imation, and other similar Chinese brands. Amol showed me about 1200 failed disks
that he was currently working on. One thing he said that stayed with me "Seagate keeps me in business". He recommends Western Digital as more reliable, much
more reliable. Of the 1200 disks he showed me, only 11 were WD. That says it all.
4. If you have a Seagate disk, especially an external HDD, backup now! Just because it hasn't yet failed does not mean that it won't.
5. Most times your problem can be sorted by local resources like Data Care Labs at Pune. There are at least two other data recovery companies in Pune who do the
same thing. I am sure if you search you can find one close to where you live. However, if you find that they do not have a donor model number specific to your
disk, opt to take the Amsterdam route instead of spending your effort on more "hit or miss". The next point explains why.
6. When you source specific models of older disks from abroad, they fall into the OEM category which jacks up the price three times compared to a (say generic 4
Tb) regular commercially available disk. They know you are in trouble and will pay.
7. If you decide to send your failed disk to Amsterdam use UPS to courier it. Seagate has an agreement with them. Any other courier service may not be so reliable.
8. Once it reaches Seagate Amsterdam and is logged in, the process is transparent, fast, and very efficient, right up to delivery.
9. Seagate did not have a system for me to review my data for correctness, before shipping it to me. Its only after it arrived, and I checked it that I discovered it was a surprisingly good job.
10. Seagate has an office in India which supposedly assists you in this process, but I was not able to contact them.
11. Google "Seagate Data Recovery" for the recovery site.
And Finally,....
This thread is meant for those who may have failed Seagate disks and are wondering how to recover the data. Or, those interested in informing themselves before the event.
Please do not tell us about how important backing up is and so on. That lesson has been learned.
Also, this thread isn't about backup solutions that you follow, or think is necessary. If you feel an overwhelming urge to share that bit of information, please open another thread for the subject.
The type of HDD is important too. Seems there are two types in most models.https://nascompares.com/2017/09/08/what-is-the-difference-between-nas-hard-drives-and-standard-hard-drives-is-it-all-a-big-con/ (https://nascompares.com/2017/09/08/what-is-the-difference-between-nas-hard-drives-and-standard-hard-drives-is-it-all-a-big-con/)
And you want to ensure CMR not SMR disks. read here. The HDD companies are sliding this through under the radar.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/04/caveat-emptor-smr-disks-are-being-submarined-into-unexpected-channels/ (https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/04/caveat-emptor-smr-disks-are-being-submarined-into-unexpected-channels/)
https://blocksandfiles.com/2020/04/15/seagate-2-4-and-8tb-barracuda-and-desktop-hdd-smr/ (https://blocksandfiles.com/2020/04/15/seagate-2-4-and-8tb-barracuda-and-desktop-hdd-smr/)
https://blocksandfiles.com/2020/04/16/toshiba-desktop-disk-drives-undocumented-shingle-magnetic-recording/ (https://blocksandfiles.com/2020/04/16/toshiba-desktop-disk-drives-undocumented-shingle-magnetic-recording/)
I had come across these articles a few months ago.
S*it you learn every day !
TFS
It seems cloud storage is only reliable way of backup.
Quote from: ISO on July 25, 2020, 09:19:02 AM
TFS
It seems cloud storage is only reliable way of backup.
Sometime I feel film is the best ! Shoot once & store for ever !
Quote from: krishnanv on July 24, 2020, 02:44:30 PM
The type of HDD is important too. Seems there are two types in most models.
https://nascompares.com/2017/09/08/what-is-the-difference-between-nas-hard-drives-and-standard-hard-drives-is-it-all-a-big-con/ (https://nascompares.com/2017/09/08/what-is-the-difference-between-nas-hard-drives-and-standard-hard-drives-is-it-all-a-big-con/)
And you want to ensure CMR not SMR disks. read here. The HDD companies are sliding this through under the radar.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/04/caveat-emptor-smr-disks-are-being-submarined-into-unexpected-channels/ (https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/04/caveat-emptor-smr-disks-are-being-submarined-into-unexpected-channels/)
https://blocksandfiles.com/2020/04/15/seagate-2-4-and-8tb-barracuda-and-desktop-hdd-smr/ (https://blocksandfiles.com/2020/04/15/seagate-2-4-and-8tb-barracuda-and-desktop-hdd-smr/)
https://blocksandfiles.com/2020/04/16/toshiba-desktop-disk-drives-undocumented-shingle-magnetic-recording/ (https://blocksandfiles.com/2020/04/16/toshiba-desktop-disk-drives-undocumented-shingle-magnetic-recording/)
I had come across these articles a few months ago.
S*it you learn every day !
How does one know what's inside while buying a disk? That remains an unknown. As far I know specifying CMR/SMR is not part of their documenattion
Quote from: Krish Chandran on July 25, 2020, 02:34:22 PM
Quote from: krishnanv on July 24, 2020, 02:44:30 PM
The type of HDD is important too. Seems there are two types in most models.
https://nascompares.com/2017/09/08/what-is-the-difference-between-nas-hard-drives-and-standard-hard-drives-is-it-all-a-big-con/ (https://nascompares.com/2017/09/08/what-is-the-difference-between-nas-hard-drives-and-standard-hard-drives-is-it-all-a-big-con/)
And you want to ensure CMR not SMR disks. read here. The HDD companies are sliding this through under the radar.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/04/caveat-emptor-smr-disks-are-being-submarined-into-unexpected-channels/ (https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/04/caveat-emptor-smr-disks-are-being-submarined-into-unexpected-channels/)
https://blocksandfiles.com/2020/04/15/seagate-2-4-and-8tb-barracuda-and-desktop-hdd-smr/ (https://blocksandfiles.com/2020/04/15/seagate-2-4-and-8tb-barracuda-and-desktop-hdd-smr/)
https://blocksandfiles.com/2020/04/16/toshiba-desktop-disk-drives-undocumented-shingle-magnetic-recording/ (https://blocksandfiles.com/2020/04/16/toshiba-desktop-disk-drives-undocumented-shingle-magnetic-recording/)
I had come across these articles a few months ago.
S*it you learn every day !
How does one know what's inside while buying a disk? That remains an unknown. As far I know specifying CMR/SMR is not part of their documenattion
After this mess up, it is. At least the websites list them now
Quote from: ISO on July 25, 2020, 09:19:02 AM
It seems cloud storage is only reliable way of backup.
This I do not believe. It is reliable as long as the internet works, the broadband is up, the supplier's system is up, etc etc.
All kinds of stuff can fail. Just that the company is huge is no guarantee.
I use cloud for some stuff: it is very convenient, but
never as primary backup. I want that to be in my physical hands ---except for the off-site copy, and there is one.
As a retired systems manager, I feel very strongly about this one. I really wanted on-line backups, for the convenience, but we would still have made tape backups. The "cloud" wasn't called that back then, and cost was too high. Over twenty years ago.
Quote from: Thad E Ginathom on July 25, 2020, 04:40:09 PM
Quote from: ISO on July 25, 2020, 09:19:02 AM
It seems cloud storage is only reliable way of backup.
This I do not believe. It is reliable as long as the internet works, the broadband is up, the supplier's system is up, etc etc.
All kinds of stuff can fail. Just that the company is huge is no guarantee.
I use cloud for some stuff: it is very convenient, but never as primary backup. I want that to be in my physical hands ---except for the off-site copy, and there is one.
As a retired systems manager, I feel very strongly about this one. I really wanted on-line backups, for the convenience, but we would still have made tape backups. The "cloud" wasn't called that back then, and cost was too high. Over twenty years ago.
Totally agree.
server side = cloud ( a more recent & fancier name ;-)
Shooting good old film is the safest going by the metric of an archival physical copy!
Seagate SMR/CMR info https://www.seagate.com/in/en/internal-hard-drives/cmr-smr-list/ (https://www.seagate.com/in/en/internal-hard-drives/cmr-smr-list/)
Western Digital SMR/CMR info https://blog.westerndigital.com/wd-red-nas-drives/ (https://blog.westerndigital.com/wd-red-nas-drives/)
Quote from: krishnanv on July 25, 2020, 08:47:44 PM
Seagate SMR/CMR info https://www.seagate.com/in/en/internal-hard-drives/cmr-smr-list/ (https://www.seagate.com/in/en/internal-hard-drives/cmr-smr-list/)
Western Digital SMR/CMR info https://blog.westerndigital.com/wd-red-nas-drives/ (https://blog.westerndigital.com/wd-red-nas-drives/)
This is very useful information !! Thanks.
Thanks for sharing.
Quote from: Krish Chandran on July 23, 2020, 06:03:16 PM
Recently I had the misfortune of my Seagate External HDD failing. One fine day it just stopped powering up. Initially I thought might be the cable but soon realized that it was a mechanical failure of the disk.
I had two years of photographs on that disk and I had not backed them all up.
Usually when a disk fails the first thing that comes to mind is that maybe a program like Recuva can recover the data. But, that needs the disk to spin and when it didn't, I realized that that I needed a higher level of help.
I asked around, researched online and found this company based in Pune called Data Care Labs. When I went there with my disk the main person there – a very capable guy called Amol – opened the disk cover and checked inside. So far only the outer cover was removed – the disk itself was still inside its manufactured cover looking pretty much like the disk in my computer. He was looking for the exact model number so that he could source a "donor disk".
I learned that his methodology – in fact it's the standard method everyone else apparently uses – was to identify the model, source an exact same new (donor) disk and mirror the existing data onto the new disk. Key here was that the model number needed to match.
A model mismatch meant that there would be small differences in the disk architecture that would prevent the software he used from proceeding with the mirroring process.
My faulty 4Tb Seagate was bought on Amazon, manufactured in Wuhan China and almost a year out of warranty. This was January 2020. As luck would have it my disk did not have a match in his stock of (nearly 4000) pre-bought disks. Wuhan was shut down and supply of this somewhat older disk model had stopped.
So, back to the internet we went, and he found a "match" on a listing on amazon.com (USA). Placed an order and waited ten days for its arrival. But, when it arrived it didn't match. By this time about 3 weeks had passed and I was losing hope of recovering any of the data. I had exhausted all the resources that Amol and Data Care Labs could provide.
Once again I went back online and discovered that consequent to a "Class action Lawsuit " due to a large number of Seagate Disk failures in the United States, Seagate has set up a Data Recovery Center at Amsterdam NL to service the US market. For US customers Seagate arranges free collection, transportation through UPS, repair/recovery, and delivery back to the customer if within warranty. Out of warranty cases need to pay for recovery but not shipping.
Seagate takes your faulty disk – copies the data on an identical new disk and ships it back to you.
I applied through the website, paid in advance, and sent my disk via their shipping invoice though DHL couriers. The DHL courier tracking showed delivery within a couple of days and I started monitoring the data recovery progress tracker that Seagate shared with me.
When after ten days the Seagate progress tracker still showed "disk awaited" I got concerned, wrote a couple of emails and finally got a human being on the phone. When I explained my problem to him (he spoke English) he asked for my UPS tracker ID. That's when it emerged that they deal only and exclusively with UPS – since this is primarily US market oriented. Finally, they got it sorted and my disk was recovered – about 99% - far higher than my expectation. I received my data on a new disk identical to the one I sent.
A few things I learned in this process: -
1. Goes without saying – backup, backup, and backup. It is a lot less stressful and cheaper to just discard a failed disk when you already have a backup.
2. External Hard Disk drives are (many times) more prone to failure than internal drives
3. Seagate External Disks are extremely prone to failure. So also, are Toshiba, Imation, and other similar Chinese brands. Amol showed me about 1200 failed disks
that he was currently working on. One thing he said that stayed with me "Seagate keeps me in business". He recommends Western Digital as more reliable, much
more reliable. Of the 1200 disks he showed me, only 11 were WD. That says it all.
4. If you have a Seagate disk, especially an external HDD, backup now! Just because it hasn't yet failed does not mean that it won't.
5. Most times your problem can be sorted by local resources like Data Care Labs at Pune. There are at least two other data recovery companies in Pune who do the
same thing. I am sure if you search you can find one close to where you live. However, if you find that they do not have a donor model number specific to your
disk, opt to take the Amsterdam route instead of spending your effort on more "hit or miss". The next point explains why.
6. When you source specific models of older disks from abroad, they fall into the OEM category which jacks up the price three times compared to a (say generic 4
Tb) regular commercially available disk. They know you are in trouble and will pay.
7. If you decide to send your failed disk to Amsterdam use UPS to courier it. Seagate has an agreement with them. Any other courier service may not be so reliable.
8. Once it reaches Seagate Amsterdam and is logged in, the process is transparent, fast, and very efficient, right up to delivery.
9. Seagate did not have a system for me to review my data for correctness, before shipping it to me. Its only after it arrived, and I checked it that I discovered it was a surprisingly good job.
10. Seagate has an office in India which supposedly assists you in this process, but I was not able to contact them.
11. Google "Seagate Data Recovery" for the recovery site.
And Finally,....
This thread is meant for those who may have failed Seagate disks and are wondering how to recover the data. Or, those interested in informing themselves before the event.
Please do not tell us about how important backing up is and so on. That lesson has been learned.
Also, this thread isn't about backup solutions that you follow, or think is necessary. If you feel an overwhelming urge to share that bit of information, please open another thread for the subject.
Thanks for sharing...
Very helpful and detailed solution, thanks a lot ,
It will surely help many others
Thanks for sharing
Great post. Useful info.
In my career of 20+ years on multiple platforms (SGI, Unix, Apple and Windows), I have learned that never go with mechanical external hard drives sold by companies as mostly they are not performance driven drives. They are designed for storage not on continuous basis, work slower (data transfer speed) with 5400 RPM, cheaper to manufacture and with 1 or 2 year warranty.
I have been buying the best possible internal laptop hard drives from Seagate with 7200 RPM and with largest cache memory and put it in a good quality enclosure [USB 2/3 etc.] (Transcend or OWC if you travel to the US) to make it external.
So far this has been proved to be the best dependable approach for me, not a single failure yet. Touch wood.
Going forward 3D Nand based SSD is the way looks like...
If anyone wish to know more details, feel free to ping me anytime - andyjosh3d@gmail.com
Hope this helps !
I also observed the same thing long back and shifted everything to Western Digital. No failures since (Touch Wood).
I can also suggest to go for their enterprise class HDD (called black/gold) which has lot more endurance and reliability (cost amost 2.5 time regular one). Due to higher price, I purchase two green or blue WD HDDs and use one as backup.
Over the time, I have learned to buy two identical hard disks at a time that way recovery is more possible in case of failure of one disk. Something that could have been possible in your case. I had seen this approach very useful in my office.
Presently I am thinking to shift important backup to Blu Ray M-Disc but again that option is lot costlier but supposed to be lot more long lasting.
Quote from: anandjoshi on August 07, 2020, 11:33:24 AM
... ... ... I have learned that never go with mechanical external hard drives sold by companies as mostly they are not performance driven drives. They are designed for storage not on continuous basis, work slower (data transfer speed) with 5400 RPM, cheaper to manufacture and with 1 or 2 year warranty.
That's why we use them as
backup discs, and why we always have
more than oneQuoteI have been buying the best possible internal laptop hard drives from Seagate with 7200 RPM and with largest cache memory and put it in a good quality enclosure [USB 2/3 etc.] (Transcend or OWC if you travel to the US) to make it external.
So far this has been proved to be the best dependable approach for me, not a single failure yet. Touch wood.
What you are saying is that one of those discs hasn't failed. Yet. But eventually, they will, and they won't give you any notice.
I use similar discs, although my preference is Western Digital (Black). But I still take backups.
Agree. Thats my experience.
Few months back my WD hdd failed .. it did fall a couple of times ...local shops who would outsource quoted me 25 k .. but better to contact directly.. would contact the company as mentioned in pune ..TFS
Is SSD failure possible? What are the chances?
Quote from: Gajadi on March 16, 2022, 11:39:21 PM
Is SSD failure possible? What are the chances?
SSD death rate is quicker than HDD and as far as HDD's are concerned, external's die quick than the internals, lost 2 externals within a span of 3 years, 4TB worth of hard work :'(
Thanks for sharing. I will add few points based on my experience.
1. WD is more reliable. That's established but I would reiterate. As mentioned their Black/Gold ones are most reliable but quite costly. Their MTTF (Mean time to failure) is quite large compared to normal (Blue/green) disks.
2. I checked about Blu Ray M-disks but could not take plunge due to higher cost and doubts about availability of reader in future. But still thinking about it. However, they make very compelling case for them. So if you can afford it, go for it.
3. If you have External drive, use it once in couple of months for at least some GB level data transfer (R/W) to avoid mechanical failure. I did that mistake and lost three disks at a time.
4. WD drives gives you access to free Acronis True Image (https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?lang=en&p=502) Software. It is one of the best solutions for disk level backups. You need at least one WD drive connected.
5. SSD are not as reliable as they are thought out to be. Backup is only way. At present, SSD costs so much that we can buy extra HDD just for backup of that disk.
Thanks for sharing. Very useful information
Thank you. I have two external backup drives. One is written to every time I do any work or photo stuff. With increasing file sizes, that is often "GB level data transfer." And evry week or so, they get swapped, so the other drive has multiple GBs to catch up.
I guess I'm one of the fortunate ones. I can't remember when my last HDD failure was (I guess more than 15 years ago, TOUCHWOOD!!)
Thanks to the OP + others for sharing about HDD failures and (painful) recovery journey.
I'd like to add that for the last 7 years or so, I've been using an internal Seagate Archival 8TB HDD (in an external enclosure) as my master backup. Yes, it has SMR technology but I wanted large backup capacity. Sure, its a slow drive but considering its primary usage is for backup, I can start the incremental backup process and do other things. And this drive has had a fall of 2 feet from a table. So, I have 2 more exact backups on a number of smaller capacity drives (seagate + hitachi) that I've accumulated over the years. I wont go into my backup process as the OP clearly mentioned not to.
Quote from: manoj on March 03, 2024, 02:43:13 AMI guess I'm one of the fortunate ones. I can't remember when my last HDD failure was (I guess more than 15 years ago, TOUCHWOOD!!)
Thanks to the OP + others for sharing about HDD failures and (painful) recovery journey.
I'd like to add that for the last 7 years or so, I've been using an internal Seagate Archival 8TB HDD (in an external enclosure) as my master backup. Yes, it has SMR technology but I wanted large backup capacity. Sure, its a slow drive but considering its primary usage is for backup, I can start the incremental backup process and do other things. And this drive has had a fall of 2 feet from a table. So, I have 2 more exact backups on a number of smaller capacity drives (seagate + hitachi) that I've accumulated over the years. I wont go into my backup process as the OP clearly mentioned not to.
Backup processes are quite critical to all computer users today, so please add your inputs to the one I've just started here -
https://forum.jjmehta.com/index.php/topic,68400.0.html
I just had a Sandisk Extreme 500GB SSD fail on me.
While speaking to the recovery tech , he said easier to recover data from HDD than SSD.
Stellar data was able to recover my data from the crashed SSD. Very expensive proposition but had to be done.
So anything can fail anytime, do have working backup strategy :-)
True, there are many statistics online which shows seagate HD's have much more failure but also to take it into account that they are more used earlier so higher percentage comes from there too. I use mostly WDs but because of this donor disk issue I always buy two HDs from the same batch so atleast I have a donor disk when it is required.