Recently, I was looking to transfer my existing data to another server to augment my current backup standards of Raid 1. In doing that I was looking at the various types of 3 Terabyte hard drives that were available to minimize future need to shuffle around massive quantities of data to minimize loss in the transactions. With relatively few options in the hard drive game I opted to go with the Seagate Barracuda 7200 3 TB ST3000DM001 which unfortunately retails for $50/terabyte similar to smaller 1/2 TB drives.

Being the internet deal hawk that I am I held off on making the purchase until I was able to buy the drive in an external enclosure as a daily deal for $120 making it probably the least expensive/ most affordable drive for mass storage. Unfortunately, the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk 3 TB setup as an external hard drive is terrible with no fans being incorporated into the drive causing frequent failures with questionable functioning of the built in adapter. So what are my options? Use them as Seagate indented, or tear them a part probably violating any warranty.

Of course, I was looking for them to be internal drives so I opted to tear them apart after doing extensive hard drive testing to maximize the chances of detecting a defect before my warranty was violated. Using only a knife and a Philips screwdriver I was able to take apart the external enclosure without doing any damage. Even though the enclosure is the weakest part of the drive it is nice to have for emergencies.

I saved $60 on 2 – 3 TB drives and received 2 free external hard drive enclosures as a bonus at the expense of a 1 year warranty. Worth it? So far.