Can I Hot swap

[Atgni]

These are just USB hubs really so even if your motherboard has the header for it, it will still be at USB 2.0 speed as thats all your motherboard has.

That's brilliant - thank you
But if I have a spare slot on the back and plug in a usb 3.00 card - wont that be the same scenario.

 

[omega015]

Yeah if the card has an internal header then yes you can combine the card with a front media slot / hub.

example card with internal header (random search, not endorsing): Card

for the hub / front panel I/O you can get ones with sd card readers etc.. if you needed that for anything (just double check that its usb 3.0 as many of the smaller hubs with sd readers are usb2.0)

 

[omega015]

Example of the front panel with sd/usb etc... (in both 3.5 and 5.25 width) (again random search)
Link

EDIT: some ports might not work if you dont have all the required port for this panel.

 

[Atgni]

Right ok thanks. I will just stick to a USB 3.0 card

 

[Atgni]

I'm still half way through a project on it at the moment but as soon as its done and safe and backed up I will open up the case for pictures. It also needs a good clean inside. Although being careful with a soft brush and a vacuum cleaner I always have the chance of doing some sort of damage. I have an anti static wrist thing that I use when messing inside.

 

[robinbanks]

If this is for backup purposes it may also be worth considering a BAS, if your computer and home network are gigabit capable

 

[Atgni]

If this is for backup purposes it may also be worth considering a BAS, if your computer and home network are gigabit capable

Thanks robinbanks
My reason for wanting an external HDD is for occasional back up of vid and images. And then long term storage of the same. So its not a continuous everyday back system up needed. I have been using DVD for long term storage but the ones I trust (Verbatim DVD+R ) and have used for a long time are getting expensive and harder to find so I am moving to use HDD instead but I will also back up that onto the segate SSD to so I am backing up my back up.

( I googled BAS )

 

[robinbanks]

Ah, I meant NAS.. I distinctly remember correcting the phone's suggestion several times too :/, sorry.

Look at the cost of cloud storage: something like Amazon glacier might be cheaper than buying hard disks. I tend to buy some huge (2x the size of what I have) spinning rust drive every two years, copy all the data over and use the new drive, fill it, transfer it... I have a drawer full of old drives so my oldest data is backed up multiple times

 

[Atgni]

Ah, I meant NAS.. I distinctly remember correcting the phone's suggestion several times too :/, sorry.

Look at the cost of cloud storage: something like Amazon glacier might be cheaper than buying hard disks. I tend to buy some huge (2x the size of what I have) spinning rust drive every two years, copy all the data over and use the new drive, fill it, transfer it... I have a drawer full of old drives so my oldest data is backed up multiple times

Sounds like a solid process.
I dont trust cloud storage but I also have a samsung 256GB stick that is kept in a fire proof safe for stuff I really want to be safe.

 

[robinbanks]

I'd be wary storing important stuff on a USB stick..

Why not trust cloud storage? I can count on two hands the number of times my hard drive mechanisms have failed. I can count on zero fingers the number of times a cloud provider has permanently lost my data

 

[Atgni]

I have read that you need to have a USB stick plugged in for a while at least once a year to guard against data loss. Its this one as I thought it was shock proof waterproof temperature proof and a good quality.
I have this one
Which would you trust more my samsung stick or a samsung T7 ssd. I gues nothing spinning but ultimately you still have the actual disk.
Befor deciding on the WD elements I looked into a segate expansion but reviews said that the way its built you cannot get into it if one part fails - the USB interface or something so you cannot access the data , but you can with the WD

 

[omega015]

Flash Drives / SSD's or devices which essentially store data on memory chips can suffer bit rot over time (think we are talking years) Mechanical drives / dvds etc.. shouldn't be affected by this unless there were defects on the platter or materials. The reality is, how critical is the data your backing up? Do you plug in the devices regulary? Use a backup program that backs up the data and does a verification on that data to ensure its all good (plenty of free options for backups). As a side, us a free cloud tier to backup your data (encrypted) then you have best of everything.

 

[robinbanks]

SSD more reliable than USB stick, but they're generally treated better. Regardless the storage of choice, if the data is critical it should be stored multiple times in different ways, geographically separated

 

[Atgni]

I

Flash Drives / SSD's or devices which essentially store data on memory chips can suffer bit rot over time (think we are talking years) Mechanical drives / dvds etc.. shouldn't be affected by this unless there were defects on the platter or materials. The reality is, how critical is the data your backing up? Do you plug in the devices regulary? Use a backup program that backs up the data and does a verification on that data to ensure its all good (plenty of free options for backups). As a side, us a free cloud tier to backup your data (encrypted) then you have best of everything.

That the thing I back up and have a quick look at a couple of files or just check the total written is correct.

 

[Atgni]

SSD more reliable than USB stick, but they're generally treated better. Regardless the storage of choice, if the data is critical it should be stored multiple times in different ways, geographically separated

Good point USB drives get chucked about more - left in the car freezing or on a windowsill in the sun