{"version":"1.0.0","segments":[{"startTime":0.08,"endTime":3.84,"body":"Welcome to the tech tip podcast with Greg Doig, where we filter out the"},{"startTime":3.84,"endTime":7.359,"body":"noise and serve up the week's essential tech news, tips, and"},{"startTime":7.359,"endTime":11.04,"body":"guides. Today, we're pouring a perfect blend of tech topics and"},{"startTime":11.04,"endTime":13.7,"body":"digital innovations that matter to you."},{"startTime":16.705,"endTime":20.545,"body":"Let's talk about something that might sound boring at first, but trust me,"},{"startTime":20.545,"endTime":23.904,"body":"it could save your precious photos, documents, and memories from"},{"startTime":23.904,"endTime":27.685,"body":"disappearing forever. We're talking about hard drive reliability."},{"startTime":28.67,"endTime":32.189,"body":"You know that sinking feeling when your computer won't start up or when that"},{"startTime":32.189,"endTime":35.63,"body":"external drive with all your vacation photos suddenly stops"},{"startTime":35.63,"endTime":39.39,"body":"working? Pretty awful. Right? Well, today, we're gonna look at some"},{"startTime":39.39,"endTime":42.93,"body":"really interesting data that might help you avoid that nightmare scenario."},{"startTime":43.725,"endTime":47.245,"body":"Every three months, a company called Backblaze releases what they call"},{"startTime":47.245,"endTime":51.085,"body":"their drive stats report. Now Backblaze is"},{"startTime":51.085,"endTime":54.845,"body":"a cloud storage company that uses thousands, actually, tens of"},{"startTime":54.845,"endTime":58.6,"body":"thousands of hard drives in their data centers, And they do something"},{"startTime":58.6,"endTime":62.2,"body":"pretty amazing. They share detailed information about which drives are"},{"startTime":62.2,"endTime":65.88,"body":"failing and which ones are holding up well. Their latest"},{"startTime":65.88,"endTime":69.64,"body":"report just came out for the first quarter of twenty twenty five, and I've"},{"startTime":69.64,"endTime":73.284,"body":"got some interesting takeaways to share with you that might help you when you're buying"},{"startTime":73.284,"endTime":76.884,"body":"your next computer or external drive. First,"},{"startTime":76.884,"endTime":80.325,"body":"let's talk about what they found. Overall, the failure rate"},{"startTime":80.325,"endTime":84.005,"body":"across all their drives was about one point four two percent for the"},{"startTime":84.005,"endTime":87.77,"body":"quarter. That might not sound like much, but when you're running a business"},{"startTime":87.77,"endTime":91.61,"body":"or storing your precious family photos, even a small chance of"},{"startTime":91.61,"endTime":95.369,"body":"failure is too big a risk. Right? Here's what I found"},{"startTime":95.369,"endTime":99.21,"body":"fascinating. Some of the most reliable drives weren't the newest, biggest,"},{"startTime":99.21,"endTime":102.945,"body":"most expensive models. The good old four terabyte drives,"},{"startTime":102.945,"endTime":106.625,"body":"which are relatively small by today's standards, were actually"},{"startTime":106.625,"endTime":110.065,"body":"some of the most dependable performers. It's kinda like how that"},{"startTime":110.065,"endTime":113.49,"body":"reliable old car in your driveway just keeps going while your"},{"startTime":113.49,"endTime":117.33,"body":"neighbor's fancy new model is always in the shop. On the other end"},{"startTime":117.33,"endTime":120.85,"body":"of the spectrum, Backblaze is also testing some monster sized"},{"startTime":120.85,"endTime":124.37,"body":"drives. We're talking 20 terabytes and above. That's enough"},{"startTime":124.37,"endTime":128.155,"body":"storage to hold about 5,000,000 photos or ten thousand hours"},{"startTime":128.155,"endTime":131.834,"body":"of HD video. And surprisingly, these huge drives are"},{"startTime":131.834,"endTime":135.515,"body":"performing really well with less than a 1% failure rate over the"},{"startTime":135.515,"endTime":138.415,"body":"year. That's pretty impressive for such new technology."},{"startTime":139.39,"endTime":143.069,"body":"Now not all the news was good. Some specific models didn't do so"},{"startTime":143.069,"endTime":146.69,"body":"well. There were particular 10 terabyte Seagate drives"},{"startTime":146.909,"endTime":150.67,"body":"and 12 terabyte HGST drives that had higher"},{"startTime":150.67,"endTime":154.115,"body":"failure rates than average. This is why it's so important to"},{"startTime":154.115,"endTime":157.875,"body":"research specific models before buying. Not all drives of"},{"startTime":157.875,"endTime":161.635,"body":"the same size are created equal. So what does this all mean for"},{"startTime":161.635,"endTime":165.395,"body":"you and me? Well, I've got a few practical takeaways. First,"},{"startTime":165.395,"endTime":168.879,"body":"if reliability is your top priority, maybe you're storing"},{"startTime":168.879,"endTime":172.56,"body":"irreplaceable family photos or important documents, those four"},{"startTime":172.56,"endTime":176.4,"body":"terabyte drives are still a solid choice. They've been around longer, and"},{"startTime":176.4,"endTime":180.159,"body":"manufacturers have worked out most of the kinks. Second, if you need"},{"startTime":180.159,"endTime":183.805,"body":"massive storage and were worried about reliability, those"},{"startTime":183.805,"endTime":187.265,"body":"big 20 terabyte plus drives are actually looking pretty good."},{"startTime":187.565,"endTime":190.705,"body":"Technology is advancing faster than we might think."},{"startTime":191.245,"endTime":195.005,"body":"Third, and this is really important, the specific model matters more"},{"startTime":195.005,"endTime":198.59,"body":"than just the brand or size. Do a little research before"},{"startTime":198.59,"endTime":201.81,"body":"buying any drive. A quick Internet search for reliability"},{"startTime":202.03,"endTime":205.73,"body":"reviews could save you from a data disaster down the road."},{"startTime":206.11,"endTime":209.95,"body":"And finally, remember that any drive can fail. The"},{"startTime":209.95,"endTime":213.745,"body":"question isn't if, but when. That's why backups are so"},{"startTime":213.745,"endTime":217.425,"body":"important. Even the most reliable drive in Backblazes study"},{"startTime":217.425,"endTime":221.185,"body":"still had some failures. The three two one backup rule is"},{"startTime":221.185,"endTime":224.865,"body":"still king. Three copies of your data on two different"},{"startTime":224.865,"endTime":227.8,"body":"types of media with one copy off-site."},{"startTime":228.5,"endTime":231.94,"body":"And before I wrap up, I should mention that Backblaze does something really"},{"startTime":231.94,"endTime":235.7,"body":"cool. They make all their data publicly available. So if"},{"startTime":235.7,"endTime":239.46,"body":"you're curious and wanna dig deeper, you can download the complete dataset from"},{"startTime":239.46,"endTime":243.295,"body":"their website and look at it yourself. Just remember to give them"},{"startTime":243.295,"endTime":246.815,"body":"credit if you use it for anything, which I am doing right now. Thank you,"},{"startTime":246.815,"endTime":250.655,"body":"Backblaze. And that's all for this episode. I hope this helps you"},{"startTime":250.655,"endTime":254.275,"body":"make better decisions about where you store your digital life. And remember,"},{"startTime":254.65,"endTime":258.41,"body":"the most boring purchase you make, a reliable hard drive, might end up"},{"startTime":258.41,"endTime":262.089,"body":"being the most important one. And until next time, it's Greg Doy"},{"startTime":262.089,"endTime":265.45,"body":"reminding you, back up your data and keep your tech talk"},{"startTime":265.45,"endTime":269.095,"body":"positive. Thank you for"},{"startTime":269.095,"endTime":272.935,"body":"tuning in to today's episode of Tech Tips with Greg Doig. If you found"},{"startTime":272.935,"endTime":276.775,"body":"this information helpful, be sure to subscribe so you never miss future"},{"startTime":276.775,"endTime":279.75,"body":"episodes where we'll continue breaking down complex technology"},{"startTime":280.23,"endTime":283.83,"body":"into simple, actionable advice. You can also follow us at"},{"startTime":283.83,"endTime":287.67,"body":"gregdoig.com for more tech insights and quick solutions to"},{"startTime":287.67,"endTime":291.37,"body":"common tech problems. This has been Tech Tips with Greg Doig"},{"startTime":291.51,"endTime":295.017,"body":"proudly brought to you by WBBI, the voice of Beaver Island."},{"startTime":295.657,"endTime":299.417,"body":"Until next time, stay curious and keep your technology working for"},{"startTime":299.417,"endTime":301.517,"body":"you, not against you."}]}