Transportable HDD recommendations or warnings

[Michael ODonnell]

> The workstations are run-of-the-mill Dell Dimensions, fairly new,
> so USB 2.0 should be acceptable.

I haven't done much with USB storage devices so all I have
to go on is my current situation, which isn't much fun.
I've just started wrestling with some Dell boxes running RHEL3
(based on 2.4.21-ish kernels and patched to smithereens by
RHAT and, no - upgrading isn't an option for us at the moment)
that just randomly lock up when accessing their USB-connected
backup drives.

Looking through the comments in the source codes for the USB
drivers I gather that USB is a wild world where many of the OEMs
and interface-chip mfrs (ignoring nuisances such as standards
and specs) have thrown off the shackles of hidebound convention
and bravely struck off on their own, embracing and extending at
will and giving their creativity free rein.  In other words,
it's a fscking miracle that things work as well as they do.

Again, I'm not claiming to have authoritative knowledge here,
just intrepretting what I see in the driver sources, although
the fact that we seem to wedge up faster with some drives than
with others (all purchased very recently) seems to corroborate
the impression that things haven't yet converged...

> I see the local big boxes have regular promotions for Western
> Digitals, Seagates, Maxtors and SimpleTechs.  Any recommendations
> pro- or con- or are these pretty much commodity items?

I gather that recent kernels are much more robust that what I'm
saddled with but, before you commit to anything, I'd recommend
that you obtain one or more examples of the candidate drives
and beat the daylights out of them for an extended period with
the machines and software you intend to deploy.