Green HDDs

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mm1352000

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#73331 11-Dec-2010 22:49

Hi everyone

I'm in the market for some bigger HDDs - at least 1.5TB, but preferably 2TB - to replace some of my HTPC's 750GB 7200rpm drives which are chock-a-block full. The problem is that most of the HDDs that are larger than 1TB are only 5400rpm "green" drives. I know 5400rpm drives aren't exactly known for being trouble-free when it comes to timeshifting and recording so I thought I'd ask for advice before I pull the trigger...

Can anyone recommend some drives that would meet the following requirements:
Cost <= $150 per drive
Quiet is good
Size >= 1.5TB per drive
Suitable for timeshifting/recording 2 HD channels at once

I'm particularly looking at the Samsung F4 and WD EARS 2TB drives. I know both of these drives have 4kB sectors - any gotchas to be aware of, bearing in mind that I'll be using them with XP for the moment?

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#416003 11-Dec-2010 23:02

The WDs seem to be permanently stuck on the quiet profile, with no way to change to performance. As a result they suck at seeking.

Still, they are a lot cheaper than other drives and seem to be fault free for storing media on, just dont expect to see them saturating a gigabit lan anytime. Perhaps if you have 3 striped they might.

Richard rich.ms

Nety

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#416251 12-Dec-2010 20:05

I would stay way from green drives. Several people on GZ have had performance issues if you are doing anything more then streaming stuff from them.
Sorry have not looked at drives recently so not sure what are good ones in those sizes.

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nzkc

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#416255 12-Dec-2010 20:11

I use a 500GB 7200 RPM disk for my OS and timeshifting needs and a 2TB 5400 (WD Green as it happens) for everything else (AVIs, ripped DVDs etc).

I wouldn't use the green drive for recording - it could probably cope with a single recording but nothing else.

That setup works well for my needs. The 5400 is certainly quick enough on playback, but write performance is so so. I expected this so no worries for me.

mm1352000

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#416267 12-Dec-2010 21:01

Thanks for the advice folks

So if I kept at least one (or actually, preferrably two - separate OS and timeshift/record drives) 7200rpm in the setup for OS, timeshifting and recording I should be okay?
At present I have 7 drives, all of which are 7200rpm:
4 x 750GB Samsung HD753LJ
1 x 640GB WD WD6400AAKS
1 x 250GB WD WD2500KS
1 x 160GB Hitachi

I can only plug in 6 at once, which is annoying enough. I was thinking I would sell/retask at least the 160, 250 and 640 and throw in 2x2TB... until I realised that the 640GB has my OSs on it. Looks like I might be best to just bite the bullet and reinstall my OSs...

JimmyH

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#416271 12-Dec-2010 21:25

What about - keep the 640 (for OS) and either one of the Samsungs (or the WD, whichever is the better in raw performance terms) as a staging drive for recording to and editing files.

Remove the rest, and replace with cheap large 2TB units (for 8TB in total). Record to the drive you kept, them shift to one of the larger/slower units for longer-term storage & playback when the machine is idle.

Buy one of the USB->SATA or ethernet->SATA adapters that Jaycar and other sell for tens of dollars. Use this to connect the drives you removed. Firstly to transfer files to the newer drives, then to use the older drives (of which you will have several TB) for backup of important files. Keep on shelf when not in use.

richms

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#416276 12-Dec-2010 21:37

If the files are important, then the shelf is no place for them to be kept.

Safe deposit box, friends garage etc.

just encrypt it well incase your friend is unfortunate enough to have a search warrant served against them.

Richard rich.ms

Biggles69

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#416380 13-Dec-2010 09:10

Stay away from Western Digital's if you are running XP, the 1.5 green ones do not work well with XP (they hardly work at all)

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blur

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#416383 13-Dec-2010 09:15

Hi there

I had a terrible time with a Western Digital Green 1TB drive about a year ago. I just had it as a single drive in my HTPC setup and I had all sorts of issues with stutternig while not just recording, but also during playback. I have stayed away from green drives ever since. I ended up replaced my green drive with a Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, and although it was a little noisy, I think the performance more than makes up for this.

Since then I have replaced the 1TB Caviar Black with a 2TB Caviar Black drive. This has worked well and I sold the 1TB to subsidise the purchase.

Given the little bit of extra noise, I am happy to only have one drive in my system. I also like the simplicity that having a single volume offers.

The trade off is that I need to upgrade a little more frequently. I actually don't have a problem with this as I just sell the old drive and buy the new. I've done this when I upgraded to a 500 to a 1TB, a 1TB to a 2TB and I expect in 6 - 12 months I'll be selling my 2TB drive to buy a 4TB.

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nakedmolerat

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#416388 13-Dec-2010 09:32

I bought 4x2TB WD green drives for my NAS. 1 DOA. So far, no further issue and extremely quiet (NAS is in the lounge next to where I sit)

fahrenheit

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#416396 13-Dec-2010 09:49

Head parking is something to be aware of with WD Green drives.

I have a WDEARS 2TB in my NAS and out of the box it was set to park the heads every 8 seconds. It can however be disabled/adjusted but you can kiss the warranty goodbye.

magu

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BitSignal

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#416400 13-Dec-2010 09:59

nakedmolerat: I bought 4x2TB WD green drives for my NAS. 1 DOA. So far, no further issue and extremely quiet (NAS is in the lounge next to where I sit)

Got a similar set, but 4x1TB in RAID5. Streams HD content fine. Don't do any recording, though.

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openmedia

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#416422 13-Dec-2010 10:56

nzkc: I use a 500GB 7200 RPM disk for my OS and timeshifting needs and a 2TB 5400 (WD Green as it happens) for everything else (AVIs, ripped DVDs etc).

I wouldn't use the green drive for recording - it could probably cope with a single recording but nothing else.

That setup works well for my needs. The 5400 is certainly quick enough on playback, but write performance is so so. I expected this so no worries for me.

I'm using a WD 1TB Green as the primary recording volume in a myPVR mythTV box. I regularly record 5 or 6 shows at the same time with no I/O issues.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

mm1352000

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#416500 13-Dec-2010 13:19

Thanks for the comments folks.
@openmedia: are you recording SD channels, or HD channels? Your situation seems at a total contrast to most of the comments I have read around the web. How full and/or fragmented is your drive?
@blur: I'd love to buy 7200rpm 2TB drives, but considering that they start at around $240 (I wouldn't buy the Hitachi - 5 platters!) they're out of my price range. Significantly more expensive than 5400rpm drives. 1TB just isn't enough of an upgrade and the only 1.5TB 7200rpm is a Seagate, which I don't really trust these days. I'm somewhat restricted in my choices...

Considering the number of warnings both here and elsewhere about WD greens, the favourable comparisons with Samsung F4s, and my excellent experience with my current Samsungs... I think what I'm going to do is just buy 2 x 2TB Samsung F4s. I'll do some data juggling and see if I can't hook up an extra drive via eSATA.

Thanks once again...

openmedia

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#416543 13-Dec-2010 14:31

mm1352000: Thanks for the comments folks.
@openmedia: are you recording SD channels, or HD channels? Your situation seems at a total contrast to most of the comments I have read around the web. How full and/or fragmented is your drive?

Usually a mix of SD recordings from DTT and DTH, but on my test rig I was able to record 2 HD plus a bunch of SD recordings with no errors.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

mm1352000

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#416817 13-Dec-2010 22:50

@openmedia
Interesting. You didn't mention how full/fragemented your drive is though. I would hazard to guess that it isn't that full or fragmented...

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