I just full format and check smart, seems like a lot of work for each drive…

Get an enterprise class hdd, externals aren’t meant to be ran 24/7. Any brand.

Duct tape and a sharpie maybe?

Yeah gonna need the power-on hours to make a determination

I love the “which will last longer” questions. It’s like asking what’s tomorrow’s winning lottery numbers

Samsung T7 shield

Try the internet archive wayback machine. Might have the page archived.

Screen record as a last resort

I’ve never had my carry on bag weighed.

Carry up to 20 with this baby:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0714BK6RX?ref_=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_8YFKNZTZM6RWSXCKMRM5&starsLeft=1&language=en-US

Not sure what you’re going for exactly but this is a good thunderbolt tape drive, quite expensive though:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1704636-REG/magstor_trb3_hl9_thunderbolt_3_lto9_desktop.html