Ask HN: Robust HDD and enclosure for archiving and backup?
I get it that this questions seems rather superficial. But please hear me out:
Which HDD to buy?
I had a WD MyPassport fail on me once. I opened it but the connector was custom-made. Removing it from the enclosure was a rough adventure - I basically ended up “breaking free” the HDD from the plastic case. I had to connect a custom USB-A Connector to it to get my data back. Very bad experience. If possible the HDD should check the following boxes:
Solid, robust enclosure. The case should protect the HDD in case it might ever get dropped.
Long Term Drive Performance for the use-case of “only being turned on for backup syncing”, meaning roughly every two weeks / every month (if needed). So the drive is turned off most of the time.
Removable drive. If the case / connector fails, I’d love to be able to connect the drive to an SATA or whatever-default-connector it might have. WD burnt me.
So what’s your suggestion? Which HDD + which enclosure? Is buying a “complete” option, like e.g. the LaCie mobile drive or G-Technology G-Drive, even remotely viable?
Bonus question: I use macOS, Arch Linux & Windows. Which file system would you suggest?
Best wishes from southern Germany!