does anyone have a recommendation regarding an external back-up disk for the NextBox? I could see how Nitrokey does not want to give any official recommendation, but maybe there are inofficial ones or some other users might have some?
I know, “any externally powered disk” will do! But thought I’ll ask around for some disks that are already in use successfully!
Wanted specs are:
USB-C connectivity (or at least USB-A 3)
0.5-1TB space
preferably SSD (my NextBox has SSD as well)
externally powered (duh!)
Alternatively, I would be grateful for hints regarding manufacturers that have stuff like that on offer. I am lousy at researching these things, only find disks which break one of those specs (e.g. this one - it’s nice and has an external power supply, but 4 TB is way too much)… and I really should start backing up!
Best
Tencel
p.s.: Could it be a problem if the external drive could draw power via USB-C (like the one linked above) when it has an external supply? Like could it still then draw power from the NextBox port which is something Nitroykey explicitly recommends to avoid?
@all NextBox users, let’s make a list of external harddrives we all use for backup, shall we? It would be so cool to have everyone post her/his backup harddrive with a few evaluative words (e.g. whether it’s loud/warm/perfect whatnot) and if you’d buy again. Could be a useful resource!
I’d love to start but must shamefully admit that I don’t have a backup disk yet…
There was a related question the other day, including an answer: Finding a Backup Device
AFAIK, they also sell drives with less space (but frankly, you can hardly have “way too much” ).
My setup is a UNITEK (model “Y-3035”) 3,5" externally powered hard drive enclosure case with a 4TB Seagate Constellation ES.3 HDD hard drive placed inside.
As a new user here, I’m limited in number of links and photos I can include in a post, so I’ve included links below to PDF and photos just to give an idea what it looks like.
I used the free AOMEI Partition Assistant software to initialize the disk and create a Linux ext4 partition.
Use the cable that comes with the UNITEK to connect with the NextBox, mount the ext4 partition via the NextBox admin “Storage Management” section and you’re ready to go.
The result for my needs is perfect. There’s slight noise from the spinning drive (but you can always go for an SSD instead of HDD), it does get lukewarm but there’s decent heat dissipation with the enclosure case. On a desk, you’ll probably need to place some padding underneath the UNITEK so the drive doesn’t vibrate your desk if you plan on extended use.
I’m using a Icy Box IB-123CL-U3, and two harddisks (10TB Seagate IronWolf). Next- and Icybox are in my office, as well as one of the harddisks. I’m occaissonaly doing backups, and every month or two, I’ll swap disks from home/office, just in case one of the locations is burning down.
I’m using the nextbox professionaly, so, the extra caution
It would be so cool to have everyone post her/his backup harddrive with a few evaluative words (e.g. whether it’s loud/warm/perfect whatnot) and if you’d buy again. Could be a useful resource! 
).