The external hard drive occasionally fails to function.
The external hard drive occasionally fails to function.
I must have been really unlucky then. I owned a drive at 500 GB (brand not specified, but definitely not a low-end model) that gradually slowed down over time until it became nearly unusable after about a year. Another 2 TB (WD, probably) began failing during data transfers around two years later. I also had an 800 GB 2.5 drive that was only a few weeks old when I accidentally dropped it while placing my PC on its side—just about 5 cm. When I tried to use it afterward, it made loud clicking noises and stopped working quickly. I’ve seen internal drives withstand much worse damage over the years.
It really depends on the quality. For example, a WD "Green" or a Kinston A400 might fail after just one year, which isn’t surprising. I understand it’s possible, but it’s not something I’ve experienced personally. I don’t recall ever having a hard drive completely fail in my time—around 40 years ago, a Kingston A400 came close. Usually, the issue is user error. I no longer buy Kingston; I still have working CDs at 30 years old. People complain about CDs breaking quickly, but that’s mostly due to carelessness. If you handle CDs properly, they can last a long time, just like hard drives—especially mechanical ones. SSDs might have different problems, but we don’t have much data yet because the technology is still developing.
I rarely opt for the most inexpensive options, except maybe the first one. I handle my equipment carefully over time, since accidents do happen. The other two drives have never faced any damage, just functioned normally on my desk. With WD Green, my 3 TB internal drive has held up well—about ten years old, it’s taken a few knocks but remains in good shape. The same goes for a couple of older 1 TB Seagate Barracudas. This suggests internal drives might be more reliable than external ones at similar or better prices. I’m also cautious with optical media, only touching the edges when possible. So far, I haven’t found any that are completely non-functional.
i get it... but generally there's no difference, except often external drives are actually better, ie enterprise grade instead of consumer grade*. Spoiler here's my "wd black" which is actually some fancy high end enterprise/server grade drive, which runs a lot hotter than consumer drives, and is also about twice as fast, in practice, the thing even has a fan, since its obviously not in a server rack how its originally designed for! pretty much silent btw, also has some other advantages over normal consumer grade stuff however, personally i think it makes no sense to distinguish between external and internal since they're basically the same product. anyways, sorry for "off topic"... still curious what "hub" op actually uses... i don't understand how hub = hard drive...
The item is called "Hub" and it's a product available at the specified link.