external drive on Dell Opt. SFF, MFF, USFF

F

farnk

Getting the hang of it
Dec 31, 2018
132
10
New York
Hello,
May I use an external WD drive for the above form factors?

To my knowledge only DT and MT can have 2 internal HDD.

thanks,
Frank
 
I suppose it may depend on how many cameras you have (throughput issues), but I'm doing exactly that right now with my 4 test cameras without issue. My drive is in a USB enclosure and working fine. Now, I haven't experimented to find out what would happen if that enclosure lost power and Blue Iris could no longer see the drive. However, I assume it'd be no different than a normal internal drive failing.

To my knowledge, Windows used to disable write caching by default for external devices. If that's still the case, then your performance could suffer as a result.
 
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HelloAgain said:
I suppose it may depend on how many cameras you have (throughput issues), but I'm doing exactly that right now with my 4 test cameras without issue. My drive is in a USB enclosure and working fine. Now, I haven't experimented to find out what would happen if that enclosure lost power and Blue Iris could no longer see the drive. However, I assume it'd be no different than a normal internal drive failing.

To my knowledge, Windows used to disable write caching by default for external devices. If that's still the case, then your performance could suffer as a result.
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How long have you had your system with that configuration, external HD?
 
About a month... I'm still dipping my toes in the water. My Blue Iris PC is a Dell Optiplex 3020 SFF and my USB enclosure is a Antec MX-1. No special reasons for either; it's simply what I just happened to have laying around. I do plan to upgrade the HDD eventually, however I'm perfectly happy with the USB solution for now.
 
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HelloAgain said:
About a month... I'm still dipping my toes in the water. My Blue Iris PC is a Dell Optiplex 3020 SFF and my USB enclosure is a Antec MX-1. No special reasons for either; it's simply what I just happened to have laying around. I do plan to upgrade the HDD eventually, however I'm perfectly happy with the USB solution for now.
Click to expand...
Based on availabity and price on Ebay, I may go that way. Also, since this is my first custom setup, I will go with the less costly Dell form factor. I do plan on setting up another system next month if this works. The second one will be a little more expensive, and many more cameras.
 
I use a USB case with a WD 4 TB purple disk drive in it, connected to a ASUS router as a network drive. I have most of my cameras cloned to this drive as a backup. The Asus router is not my primary router it is configured as an access point. The Asus router access point is hardwired into the network. Have had it running for about 6 months, no problems.
 
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Curious why you wouldn't install a small ssd for os in the dvd slot and use the 3.5 HD slot for a purple?

I did this with the sff Dell.
 
NoloC said:
Curious why you wouldn't install a small ssd for os in the dvd slot and use the 3.5 HD slot for a purple?

I did this with the sff Dell.
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You mentioned that someone did a write up on this. Can you send the link on how to do it? Thanks.
 
@looney2ns did you ever do a thread on this?

I still have the pics you sent me.

It is fairly simple to do. I just used velcro to secure the ssd although I have seen caddies made for the purpose.
Also you need a sata power splitter.
 
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