Can additional HD be added to Directv DVR for more recording space?

[texdtv]

I was at my local Best Buy and while I was browsing through he Hard Drive section. I found a hard drive kit (approved for Tivo) that could be added to a Tivo system.

My question of course, does anyone know if an additional external hard drive be connected to my hr21-100 receiver to increase my dvr storage? I've noticed that the receiver has 2 usb connections and a sata connection in the back.:up

I haven't called Directv yet on this question but I felt I could probably get a better answer here.

Please Help....

 

[goaliebob99]

You can add a larger drive using the sata connection to increase your space yes, but the internal drive will be disabled. No way that im aware of to have both running at the same time to have more space. If im wrong Im sure someone will chime in

 

[dfergie]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys!, you can add a eSATA drive, there is a connection on the back of your dvr, but this drive will take the place of your internal drive... unplug your receiver, hook up the drive then plug back in and once the receiver is through booting you will be good to go.

 

[Big Dawg 23]

When you say it disables the internal do you mean completely or just that no additional data will be saved there? Can I assume all of what I have on there now is still viewable just not space to add any more? Or is the HD partitioned to have programming and the VOD files on one and recorded data on the other?

 

[cfb]

Make sure to write down your series links, settings and individual recordings from your to-do list, as once you're on the new drive it'll be blank. You can still shut down, remove the esata, and restart the receiver to go back to the internal drive. Its a hassle but that means you can go back and watch old recorded shows.

The Seagate Showcase and Western Digital DVR Expander both work very well, are exceptionally quiet, and according to my sources will be the two drives that directv supports when they officially support the esata connection. A little more expensive than rolling your own drive/enclosure but improved certainty that it'll continue to work.

It'd be beneficial from a performance perspective to use both the internal and external at the same time, as tivo does when you add a drive to the tivo HD. The internal is used for system stuff/small recordings and the external just for recordings.

The downside is that if either drive fails, you're hosed. Since disk drive failure rates are a fat upside down bell curve with a lot failing quickly or not at all for many years, you've doubled your chances of an early failure. Therefore your failure potential is far higher than half of the MTBF of the drive.

So its appealing to some degree to have both drives in use, in practice you're much better off with a single drive implementation.

What would work great is if they could set it up so the internal drive took on the system files, databases, directv pushed content and other stuff that can be easily regenerated and all the recordings on the external, and allow the external to be moved to a replacement receiver.