# iTunes data on external storage? Mine failed for the 2d time **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 30, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-data-on-external-storage-mine-failed-for-the-2d-time/583757 "2011-05-30T15:05:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-data-on-external-storage-mine-failed-for-the-2d-time/583757/1 "2011-05-30T15:05:23Z")
I have nearly 1T of data in my ITunes files, about three times larger than my MacBook hard drive capacity. So for a while now I’ve been keeping my iTunes data on an external storage device – a WD – Western Digital. (With a Time Machine backup on a second external drive.) The external device failed once last year and WD replaced it. It just failed again and I don’t know whether it’s still under warranty. I am wondering what might be a better option. I asked an Apple genius about using a wireless Time Capsule but he said that he has seen a few people having trouble when they try that. I looked into getting a bigger internal hard drive, but themaximum available seems to be 1T and obviously that wouldn’t make much sense. So any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-data-on-external-storage-mine-failed-for-the-2d-time/583757/2 "2011-05-30T15:20:40Z")
Backups. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-data-on-external-storage-mine-failed-for-the-2d-time/583757/3 "2011-05-30T15:50:57Z")
Any response to my actual question? I’d like to avoid having to buy a new external drive every 18 months or so. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-data-on-external-storage-mine-failed-for-the-2d-time/583757/4 "2011-05-30T19:39:49Z")
I don’t understand the question. Hard drives fail - that’s a given. 18 months seems a little soon, but if it’s still under warranty, get them to replace it. You might want to consider getting an “[enterprise](http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/portable/229100249)” rated hard drive, which will come with a longer warranty. It will still fail, though. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-data-on-external-storage-mine-failed-for-the-2d-time/583757/5 "2011-05-30T19:44:55Z")
I’d invest in [network attached storage](http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=124&IsSingle=1&Category=24&name=Network-Storage-NAS) with drive redundancy. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/itunes-data-on-external-storage-mine-failed-for-the-2d-time/583757/6 "2011-05-30T19:51:50Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Any response to my actual question? I’d like to avoid having to buy a new external drive every 18 months or so. I don’t really understand the question, either. It’s almost certainly not iTunes that’s making the drives fail; it’s much more likely to be something about your local power situation, or you’ve just gotten unlucky. If you don’t have a UPS on the external drive, get one before you replace it. And buy the drive from someone else. Or get a USB/Firewire/e-sata SATA drive dock: they’re cheap, and you just feed in bare drives, which are also cheap, so you can afford to have multiples of things.