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I have an older 2TB USB 3 External HDD. I want to replace the drive with a 6TB HDD. Is it okay to open up an older enclosure and just swap out the drive, or can there be compatibility issues with drive enclosures and drives? In this case, the enclosure is a generic one I bought probably 8 or 10 years ago. The drive is working fine, I just want a bigger HDD.
Mac Studio
The enclosure I have is made by Velocity, which I can't find anywhere on the Internet now, so I suspect it's no longer made. This is what the connections look like. It's basically a black case, so how would I know if it has any issues? I suppose if I stick a 6TB drive in and it works, it should be okay, or do you think there is value in buying a new enclosure. Not like they cost that much, but just figured if I can use what I have, might as well.
Certain manufacturers decided to create a special drive for their house-brand External drive enclosures.
Inside one of those, there is no multi-interface paddle-board connecting to a commodity SATA drive. The drive controller card does both functions, and can Not be replaced as a simple swap.
This one is an external enclosure originally purchased to put an HDD in, so it opens by design. So what I want to know is if that means any HDD can go in it without issue, or can there be compatibility issues with an older enclosure? We know HDD's can wear out over time, but can an enclosure ever be worth replacing even if it is working fine right now?
ghr165 wrote:
All depends on the value of your data.
Does it though? My data is valuable, so that's really why I am asking here if there is any issue with using an older functioning enclosure with a brand new HDD. What reasons can you think of which would put my data at risk? What solution does not provide that risk?
So I used Blackmagic to do a speed test on all the drives I have (apart from SSD) and got very interesting results. As pictured from left to right, Lacie D2 3TB 7200rpm drive, 2TB 7200rpm in generic case and black 4TB Lacie 7200rpm. The first two connected by USB 3 and the black Lacie by USB-C. I get very, very different RW speed results from Black Magic. For reading, the first one gives me 170 MB/s. The second one gives me only 77 MB/s and the newer black Lacie gives me the fastest at just over 200. So this tells me NOT to reuse the old case and that the newer drive must have something in it which is faster than the older Lacie as well. So I think I will actually get a drive which comes ready to plug in instead of buying a case separately as there are too many variables.
Now, for back up, should I get 7200rpm or 5400? Faster is always nicer, but I also read they get hotter, use more power and do not last as long. Any truth to that?
black magic speed test's main window is large block transfer speed.
This depends very strongly on the EXACT model drive installed.
This depends almost not at all on the enclosure used or the connection method, because for rotating magnetic drives, any connection method you can think of using is already far, far faster than the drive. Stated the other way: The DRIVE is the limiting factor, NOT the enclosure or the connection Bus.
In most cases, even the use of USB-2 will barely slow down steady-state data transfer rates from rotating magnetic drives.
Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:
In most cases, even the use of USB-2 will barely slow down steady-state data transfer rates from rotating magnetic drives.
Indeed, I always wondered what the deal was with expensive Thunderbolt being used for a single HDD as the through speed far exceeds the speed of the disk anyway.
What's your take on 7200 vs 5400 for back up drive? If I can get 7200 for the same price, should I do that?
That is true, but I do find that when I want to restore a big file, or indeed transfer to a new machine via the Time Machine backup, having a really slow drive can be tedious, so if price is the same, then is there any downside to faster? I have read that faster can mean that it wears out sooner, uses more power and gives off more heat. Do you think that's true?
Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:
<< As pictured from left to right, >>
I did not get any pictures.
Sorry about that. Here's the picture.
Exactly what brand and model is the external drive?
Some external drives can be opened and some are sealed.
Most times, it is best to buy a larger external drive and repurpose the smaller one.
The enclosures that were limited to 2.2T Bytes are those issued before macOS 10.4, about 2005. Most enclosures issued after that can easily support any size SATA drive.
Right, so notwithstanding that, any enclosure should be universal and just work, right?
Generally yes, but there may be a lot of unusual enclosures that do not behave as you describe, so your statement as written is a little too broad.
All depends on the value of your data.
That one looks fairly ordinary. It is probably worth try.
Replacing the drive on an external HDD
