best place to buy high capacity hard drives for the low/cheap?

In the past like a year or two ago I used serverpartdeals and goharddrive and got crazy deals on 14 TB and 12 TB drives that were manufacturer refurbished or recertified, now that I'm back in the market, I checked out their websites for the first time in a year and it seems that their prices have gone up way high. A year ago from goharddrive I was able to get a 12tb Ironwolf with 3 years warranty for like $110.

Are there any alternatives?

https://redd.it/1pxxggj
@r_DataHoarder

What Software Tools are we using?

I saw a comment on a post talking about how automation tools are getting better, and so I ask you, what do you use? I use musicbrainz Picard and renamemytvseries (I think?). But I find myself vibe coding tools to do specific things and I wonder if there isn't a better, safer way.. or at least a more mainstream tool that already exists. And if not, what Software tools do you use that you or someone you know have made? I'm thinking like renamers, audio level normalizers, artwork fetchers, API checkers, folder structure normalizers, dedupers, etc.

https://redd.it/1pxyfzy
@r_DataHoarder

Fractal Design Define 7 drive capacity

Spec'ing a new system and copilot is telling me that this case can easily hold 5 3.5" SATA drives. I don't see it. I'm confused. Is it hallucinating or am I missing something. Just don't want to trust it blindly but despite looking over the product information it looks to me like it will hold at most two drives (without getting creative) Can anyone confirm?

https://redd.it/1pxzgjg
@r_DataHoarder

Two basic 1tb external HDD storages for family media longterm?

Anyone have any suggestions here please?

Will be storing the media copied across both drives if that's recommended.

https://redd.it/1py1zyf
@r_DataHoarder

Audio converting guide (ffmpeg, powershell 7, windows, parallel and recursive)

Hi,

Just wanna share my simple work flow for handling audio converting, maybe someone will find it useful.

Also it's parallel - uses all cores of CPU, so it's much faster.

Parallel works only in powershell version 7 and up, so you need to get that before running the noscript.

cd to directory where you have files, converts recursively every file in every folder bellow.

copy-paste from notepad (to clear formatting) to run it


## .wav to .flac:

    Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Filter *.wav | 
    ForEach-Object -Parallel {
        $outfile = Join-Path $_.DirectoryName "$($_.BaseName).flac"
        ffmpeg -y -i $_.FullName -c:a flac -compression_level 12 $outfile
    } 

## .flac to .opus (160K is enough for "transparency" XD)

Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Filter *.flac | 
ForEach-Object -Parallel {
    $outfile = Join-Path $_.DirectoryName "$($_.BaseName).opus"
    ffmpeg -y -i $_.FullName -c:a libopus -b:a 160k $outfile
}

## .wav to .opus (160K is enough for "transparency" XD)

Get-ChildItem -Recurse -Filter *.wav | 
ForEach-Object -Parallel {
    $outfile = Join-Path $_.DirectoryName "$($_.BaseName).opus"
    ffmpeg -y -i $_.FullName -c:a libopus -b:a 160k $outfile
}

After that you can use Everything (Void Tools) to clean up source files.

I'm sure there is a way to make in neater, but I need some flexibility it this works for me :D

https://redd.it/1py2hoz
@r_DataHoarder

Need advice for preserving subreddit posts/subreddit data

Hello,

I'm the founder of r/AcademicQuran, an academically based subreddit which explores the Quran, early Islamic history and Islamic Studies in general from an historical critical perspective. Our sub is nearly 5 years old and there are many high quality posts discussing a variety of academic topics that have been made over the years, and I am interested in finding a way in preserving the content of these posts , if not the data for the entire subreddit.

What steps would need to be taken in order to preserve some of the better posts on the sub in a way that would be legal and not in violation of any Terms of Service on Reddit? What would have to be done in order to preserve the data of the entire subreddit (even though if I had my choice it would be the higher quality posts whose data would be preserved only)?

https://redd.it/1py2ze9
@r_DataHoarder

$6 external drive from Goodwill shucked. $1.33/TB isn't too bad!

https://redd.it/1py63y7
@r_DataHoarder

Largest amount of storage I can fit in my DeskMini 310w?

Currently i'm running 2x 2tb SSDs as a mirrored NAS in my ASRock DeskMini 310w, and its serving me well. Only half used so far. I don't go out of my way to get as much media as possible, only ones Id like to either rewatch or do watch and maybe eventually delete.

But then I looked into 4K, which is... alot would be an understatement... not that I am looking to change it anytime soon, but I am curious to know in MY use case where I do not want to invest in an external NAS (for now anyways), what do you guys think I am able to go up to max if (and a big if) I wanted to upgrade storage within the PC?

Please humor me and suppose I used 2 drives to combine them instead of mirror them.

https://redd.it/1py6gy1
@r_DataHoarder

A Holiday Miracle - My CD-RW Works Again!

I have this old CD-RW that I used to backup my files when I was a kid. It had stories I wrote, homework, photographs of family and friends, and music. Life got busier as I got older and I forgot all about this backup.

It wasn't until a few years ago, I remembered it and tried to view the files, but it took my computer a long time to read it and sometimes not all files would appear. When I took the disc out and tried again, File Explorer couldn't read it at all. If I right-clicked and viewed the properties, it showed the disc contents as 0 bytes. Multiple, subsequent attempts all failed.

I think I might have actually posted a thread here or maybe a tech support forum about this problem. I learned that different brands of CD-RW have different lifespans, that humidity, temperature, the dyes, all played a role, and eventually the disc would degrade. As it was unreadable, I was certain it was dead. Despite this, I couldn't throw away something that had once held so many memories so I put it in a box in my closet.

Fast-forward some more years to this Christmas; I was going through my belongings in preparation for an upcoming move and came across my CD-RW. Maybe it was some lingering hope, or maybe just dealing with grief motivated me to make another attempt at recovering something from my past. For whatever reason, my CD-RW is working normally again! I haven't done anything or installed any special software to read it, it just works somehow. I've copied all the files to an HDD just in case the CD-RW fails again.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this story here. I'm so happy to have those old files back.

https://redd.it/1pyaj1o
@r_DataHoarder

Which of these two external drives should I use for "cold" storage while I work towards affording a proper NAS?

tldr; Brand new 2.5 external 4 TB Seagate Expansion HDD vs 3.5 external 4 TB Seagate Expansion Desktop Drive from 2021. Which is better to use for storing some stuff I don't want to lose and keeping it (mostly) unplugged? More info below.

____________

Hello,

I'd like to get a big storage solution in the future but it's not going to happen overnight (due to the cost, research etc). I've always kept my stuff on a variety of external drives which I am sure is something this community balks at. Sorry, haha, I'm hoping to change that.

My short term goal is to put some important (not life critical) stuff on a few of these drives until I can get a proper NAS or similar running hopefully in a year or two. At the moment I have two available HDDs to use. I won't need access to it frequently so I was going to just have it on a drive which I will spin up a few times I year but otherwise keep unplugged (in a cool dry place etc).

The drives are both the sort of thing you just get off the shelf in a PC shop so I suspect neither would be great but I'd like to know which one would be the more reliable for saving, storing and being unplugged for a decently long period.

Drive 1: \~4 year old, 4TB "Seagate Expansion desktop drive" and based on the enclosure size a 3.5 inch drive with a USB and separate power cable . Had it since 2021 and it's done some storage but mostly backing up videos, photos and other random bits and pieces. (model no. STKP4000400)

Drive 2: Brand new, unused 4TB "Seagate Expansion drive" which is one of the smaller 2.5 HDDs with just a USB cable. (model no. STKM4000400)

I did enough reading before posting this to see that the general consensus is that 3.5 drives are better (although factors like CMR are more important). However in this case where it's an older 3.5 vs a brand new 2.5 and also in a situation where they won't be spinning all the time has me unsure which is the better one to use.

Thanks for your patience in dealing with what is probably an obvious question to an expert, but please do let me know.

Thanks!

https://redd.it/1pya18l
@r_DataHoarder

Looking for cloud storage to share videos with password protection (view-only, no download)

Looking for a cloud service where I can upload a video and share it with a password protected link.

View only access, no download option, just watch/stream. Free or paid, both are fine. Any suggestions?

https://redd.it/1pycuhn
@r_DataHoarder

What are these flat black circles for?
https://redd.it/1pydc6d
@r_DataHoarder

Best way to take daily snapshots of various subreddits?

Basically noscript. I'd like something I could set up to run automatically that will take a snapshot of a subreddit, and archive the threads and comments from the first page of that subreddit at that moment in time (sorted by "hot" or whatever the default reddit sorting method is), then puts it into some kind of browsable archive.

Any suggestions?

https://redd.it/1pyfeqh
@r_DataHoarder

The faceseek proving that deleted sites never actually die.

i just ran a faceseek myself and it was a massive wake up call for why we hoard data locally. it found photos of me from a defunct hobbyist forum that i thought was wiped from the web years ago.

it proves that even if a site goes dark, the crawlers have already indexed the biometric data and linked it to your current identity. it made me realize that unless your data is on a cold-storage drive in your desk, it’s basically public metadata for any ai to find. is anyone here working on a local facial-recognition index for their own archives?

https://redd.it/1pyhaib
@r_DataHoarder

Storage strategy

Hi guys,

A few years ago, I started to build a nice homelab for my own use that I wanted quiet as hell and as low power as possible. I invested in a JCVD 12S4 case with 12 slots that I populated over time with 8TB SATA SSDs and been using them with TrueNAS Scale (passed to a VM through Proxmox and a dedicated HBA). It made me very happy on every aspect of it. Everything is backed up on a 2nd NAS with mechanical HDDs.

But yesterday, I ordered the 12th SSD meaning the enclosure is now full. Data has grown up quickly since I opened my Plex server to my family and friends as I wanted to please them with content they ask for. Videos are basically 90% of my storage use.

Since I don't see 16TB SATA SSD being sold at large scale and no hint that they will in the future, I am questioning myself about how to continue adding storage to my homelab while keeping my initial quiet+lowpower quest in sight (budget is less of a problem).

My future data strategy could take many paths:
- Invest in a 24 slots chassis and dedicate such box for TrueNAS and continue hoarding until I get to the same point later. Basically, pushing the problem to later.
- Start to delete useless data and recover some free space. This will be a continuous job. This will be exhausting and not rewarding as much as expected.
- Begin to do some tiering with a dedicated slow/mechanical vdev for data that I nearly never access. In other mean, expect such mech disk to be powered off most ofnthe time.
- As SATA might not be futureproof, start to migrate to M.2 storage on PCIe cards (i.e. 8x8TB NVMe on one) and fill a server with such cards. This would be a radical move with lot of possible problems (compatiblity, heat, etc.).

Which route would you take?

https://redd.it/1pyh60w
@r_DataHoarder