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Discussion on: Building my personal cloud after 4 years

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diego_boca45 profile image
Diego

So how does the RPi handle the hard drive in terms of electrical power? I've always looked for active USB hubs for connecting HDDs to RPis, only complicating the setup and having a mess of wires. Have you done some research in terms of available power at the USB 3 port of the RPi vs HDD power needs?

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roelofjanelsinga profile image
Roelof Jan Elsinga

I have looked at it, but the external hard drive that I'm currently using is powered separately. So it doesn't draw any power from the RPi. I do have a drive available that doesn't have its own power source, so I could test that for you!

I just wanted to be sure that the drive was available any time I needed it, so the external power source seemed to most logical solution to me.

It does add to the cable mess a little bit, but that's not something a few cable ties can't fix.