Arlo Pro 2 backup HD brand recommendation

[ckm705]

Looking to purchase a 2tb backup hd from Amazon.  I understand 2tb is max size and the need to format fat32.  However, during a chat with tech support, it was mentioned to me that other customers were having issue with WD branded units but rep couldn't endorse a particular brand.  Can anyone give a recommendation?  Seagate?  I searched but didn't really see any brand names mentioned nor did I see any complaints regarding a brand.  Thanks in advance.

[jguerdat]

2TB is generally gross overkill. Also, a hard drive is harder to remove and replace than a thumb drive. I have tried both and much prefer using a thumb drive. Choose the capacity for what you need - I use a 16GB one and it will typically not fill for 2-3 months with many recordings a day. 64-128GB would last a long time. If you really want to preserve all those videeos, pull it out on a schedule and copy them to a hard drive for permanent storage.

[ckm705]

Thanks for the recommendation.  I appreciate the quick respnose.  I have to be honest with myself knowing I won't want to remove and download that often, regardless of how minute a task it may be.  I kinda want to be able to forget about it.  With that much storage, I'm hoping it'll have a long enough history for almost any situation I'd need to look back on.  Also, at approximatley half the cost, a 128GB stick will not hold half the recordings that a 2TB drive will.

[Paul_FCCL]

Please note......you still need to “download” videos from any type of usb device you end up using. You will have to move it (hd or memory stick) to a pc in order to view video clips. You cannot access them directly from base station.

[ckm705]

Thank you for the response. Yes I am aware of the need to download the videos. I am just asking for brand recommendations.

[jguerdat]

I would expect any name brand hard drive that's externally powered would work fine.

[Paul_FCCL · Accepted solution]

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@ckm705 wrote:
Thank you for the response. Yes I am aware of the need to download the videos. I am just asking for brand recommendations.

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Just wanted to make sure you wouldn’t go for a large capacity hard drive for the wrong reason. I’m using a 32GB usb stick and it’s now storing over a year’s worth of 5 cameras videos.

Previously I had tried a seagate 1TB portable hd, worked fine too, but I thought it was an overkill and much wasted space.

[ckm705]

That's what I originally thought but as I stated in the OP, rep mentioned reported issues with WD.  Thanks for the reply.

[ckm705]

Got it, thanks.  Wow, you're getting a years worth with 5 cameras on 32GB?  With the amount of activity I have, I'm calculating approximately 300 days with 5 cameras on a 2TB drive.  I kinda just want to forget about it but be able to access them if the need were to ever arise.  Since there were no suggestions I ordered a Seagate so we'll see what happens.  Mahalo.

[Paul_FCCL]

Yeah......only two of the five cameras are somewhat busy, other three very low volume.😊