I think this kind of conversation always needs to highlight the use case/cost. Like, if you just want to cache some content that you could re-download, aren't attached too emotionally, and get a used hard drive for a steep discount? I'd say go for it. Especially since there are generally better chances of indicating failure with hdds.

SsDs have an annoying habit of just dying, at least on me. No warning and no chance of recovering data. Maybe there a good use case out there where you would be willing to run that risk, especially if they are cheap enough, but most of the ones I can think of I'd just grab a new drive anyway, would have to be a hell of a discount .

This might be of interest to you https://youtu.be/_w6PCHutmb4?si=vNgyCSdDcEVVmHdY

If you upload your stuff to torrenting sites, you could consider that a free back up.

The problem is even if there was some sort of free cloud storage, it would be unreliable. If you've been around, Google cloud used to offer a lot more but has since cracked down- sometimes with relatively little warning.