What are the best 2.5" HDD models and brands for long-term archiving?

I think in 2.5" You will get SAS hard disks. If you want SATA then Enterprise SSD's are only option.

Dear SonicMario,

isn't one user name enough for you?

the ones that work best are those which don't park. just google it, you'll get your own results.

All disks park heads except for very early models in desktops.

2.5" disks were designed for brutal conditions so they tend to be fine in USB enclosures. Combined with a USB hub many disks can be powered at once to check integrity and to allow disks to manage media issues.

One issue is the servo track which has to be maintained. This is usually not an issue.

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Orico DS500C3-US-BK 5-disk 3.5" SATA, iTGZ 4x M.2 2280 Thunderbolt enclosure NVMe/SATA, etc. etc.