Skip to main content

Need input on using extarnal USB hard drives for backup

Thread needs solution

I use BR10 to back up my servers. Long, long ago I decided to switch to external USB hard drives for backup. It has worked really, really well. Now that USB 3.0 has come out I need to do a little sole searching. What I found long ago was the Seagate FreeAgent Go external USB HD and with it a docking station. Very slick operation and swapping drives nightly has been very easy for my users to do because of the docking station. I have searched the work over for a similar USB 3.0 solution and there isn't one that I can find. Seagate does have the GoFlex Pro but the docking station is horrid. Very difficult to swap drives and as of yet you cannot buy just the drives without getting a docking station with each drive. I can't help but feel someone is really, really missing the boat. Here is what I like about the FreeAgent Go with Dock:

1) The hard drives have a modicum of protection. Granted not much but the thought of users handling bare drives just scares me to death.

2) The docking station offers the user a "guide" to seat the drive. When I just left a USB cable laying on the desk and went to swap the drive I would more times then not get a little spark when the cable mated to the drive. Sparks scare me too.

So far I have tried searching for a USB cable with an on/off switch to avoid the spark. No joy. I haven't found a USB 3.0 solution with a good dock and I still want some kind of clamshell so the users don't have to handle bare drive. Does anyone have a sloution, comments or input?

0 Users found this helpful