Best EHD For the Hopper 3

[Hunter Mackenzie]

Hi,
I would like to know what make and model of EHD is the best to use with the Hopper 3? Is 2TB still the limit?

 

[navychop]

2TB still the limit. Use a self powered or go thru a powered hub.

Most of us prefer WD.


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[comfortably_numb]

The spec says it needs to be a self-powered EHD. I used to use Western Digital "MyBook" 2 TB EHD's with them. You can get them at BB.

 

[Hunter Mackenzie]

i see lots of 3 TB for around 85 bucks...would that work and it just uses 2 TB?

Amazon product ASIN B01LQQHL2G

 

[comfortably_numb]

i see lots of 3 TB for around 85 bucks...would that work and it just uses 2 TB?

Amazon product ASIN B01LQQHL2G

Yep, only 2TB would be usable.

 

[Hunter Mackenzie]

Yep, only 2TB would be usable.

Thanks

 

[ekilgus]

When I get motivated enough, I'm going to try out an SSD. I have a spare 500g laying around to play with.
My thinking is that how often does one access the EHD? Yet it keeps on spinning (unless you have one of those that spin down until accessed). An SSD for a EHD would sit idle until accessed, so not much in the wear and tear area, and they're certainly cheap enough these days.

 

[navychop]

DO NOT use an SSD. The drive is written to a lot, and SSDs have a limited number of write cycles, especially compared to HDDs. You will not see a speed increase. Really nothing to be gained.

IMHO.


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[ekilgus]

DO NOT use an SSD. The drive is written to a lot, and SSDs have a limited number of write cycles, especially compared to HDDs. You will not see a speed increase. Really nothing to be gained.

IMHO.


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I have heard that before, but I have my main PC with two SSD's in a RAID 1 configuration that has been running for over 6 years without incident. This PC in on most of the day, every day. I don't expect any speed increase because of the USB speed limitation. Call it an experiment.

 

[KAB]

Call it an experiment.

Which will most likely fail.

 

[Bobby]

Which will most likely fail.

and if/when it does I would expect a report saying so.

 

[comfortably_numb]

and if/when it does I would expect a report saying so.

And it will be Dish's fault

 

[ekilgus]

Which will most likely fail.

You might want to revisit the reliability and failure rates of the newer SSD's vs HD's, then see if you still hold to your opinion.

Just one opinion:

SATA RAID 1 vs SSD + SATA, Which Makes More Sense? | Hivelocity Blog

 

[Cheddar_Head]

Unless Dish has implemented a way to detect it, an SSD should work fine on initial connection. The skeptics aren't worried about reliability but more the limited number of writes that an SSD will support compared to spinning rust.

Some bring up how the Hopper3 is continually writing to disk as a buffer to allow pause and REW but as an external drive that should not be a concern.

In the Hopper3 application the only benefits of an SSD are potential noise reduction and potential energy savings as the USB3 connection is more of a data throughput issue than the drives.

 

[navychop]

Nice article, but it ignores the number of write cycles and the inherent difference between databank and video recording uses.


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[dweber]

If he is only using the SSD as an external hard drive on a Hopper3 to archive shows, it is only being accessed when transferring a show or watching a transferred show.
But if you are using a SSD with a Dish Wally to make it into a DVR, you will eventually have problems because the drive is constantly being accessed to allow buffering.
I have 3 Western Digital external drives connected to my 2 Hopper3 receivers. One is a Raid. They are not constantly spinning. They start spinning when you access a show located on the external drive.


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[ekilgus]

If he is only using the SSD as an external hard drive on a Hopper3 to archive shows, it is only being accessed when transferring a show or watching a transferred show.
But if you are using a SSD with a Dish Wally to make it into a DVR, you will eventually have problems because the drive is constantly being accessed to allow buffering.
I have 3 Western Digital external drives connected to my 2 Hopper3 receivers. One is a Raid. They are not constantly spinning. They start spinning when you access a show located on the external drive.


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Exactly. Currently I have 3 EHD's connected to my HWS via a USB hub. They're all normally turned off, I only turn on one or more of them when I want to access/archive something. Using these HD's in this manner should allow for a very long lifespan. I suppose I only want to use an SSD just to see it work, and I have an unused port on my hub. And after this, I may look into a RAID configuration. I assume your RAID setup for your H3 uses an external enclosure. Could you tell me which enclosure you're using? Thanks.

 

[dweber]

I have the 4 terabyte Western Digital My Book Duo set up as a Raid 1. Thus it acts as a 2 Terabyte drive with protection. It is filled with a lot of archived programs that I do not want to lose.


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[joewhite57]

DO NOT use an SSD. The drive is written to a lot, and SSDs have a limited number of write cycles, especially compared to HDDs. You will not see a speed increase. Really nothing to be gained.

IMHO.


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Aren’t SSD’s a descendant of CMOS? If they are then yes limited on how many times to make a 1 a zero and a zero a one non power dependent. Hard to say what advances in quality can make. My first spinny drive was 85 mb. Died in like 18 months.

 

[joewhite57]

Aren’t SSD’s a descendant of CMOS? If they are then yes limited on how many times to make a 1 a zero and a zero a one non power dependent. Hard to say what advances in quality can make. My first spinny drive was 85 mb. Died in like 18 months.

Pre windows 95