HDDs for NAS

Forums › Desktop computing › HDDs for NAS

sonyxperiageek

2682 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

# 210274 20-Mar-2017 15:50

My Synology DS216Play just arrived today (will be unboxing tonight) and I also need to get HDDs. The WD Red drives are for NAS applications but I've been reading some reviews on Amazon that show it catching on fire?! Are there any other recommended HDDs to get for NAS or are the Red drives still the best despite one or two cases of it being faulty?

Sony

NZ TechBlog | Follow me on Twitter | My Geekzone blog | TransferWise (Free International Transfer up to $900 (Affiliate Link)

1 | 2

588 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

# 1744636 20-Mar-2017 16:50

Depends on your use case / need for reliability vs performance vs economy.

For home use (media, file store, backups..) I've had a pretty good run with economy drives ala lowest cost-per-GB on PriceSpy or PB Tech.

"Supposedly" green drives can cause issues with some RAID controllers detecting their power-saving modes as drive failures however I haven't experienced this with Synology or otherwise.

The incidents of WD Red's specifically spontaneously combusting is rather concerning. In this case if your preference is for a "NAS" drive I'd probably consider Seagate: https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/HDDSE8140/Seagate-IronWolf-4TB-64MB-Cache-SATA-60Gbs-NAS-Int

Sideface

5457 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

# 1744655 20-Mar-2017 17:36

One person supports this post

I am running four large (5- or 8-bay) Synology NAS units (which monitor HDD temperature).

All of them are populated with 6TB or 8TB WD Red HDDs.

None of these Red drives have ever overheated of failed.

Sideface

scetoaux

51 posts

Master Geek

# 1744702 20-Mar-2017 18:32

I have a 2-bay Synology NAS running WD Red's that we backup our home computers to without any issues. They're really quiet drives which is a definite plus in a NAS, and haven't missed a beat otherwise. Would definitely buy again.

Jase2985

8909 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

# 1744716 20-Mar-2017 18:43

ive been runnuing a couple of reds for 4+ years no issues

jonb

1495 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

# 1744720 20-Mar-2017 18:50

The 4TB Seagate one I've had in my DS212 for a couple of years has also been trouble free.

Seagate Desktop HDD ST4000DM000 4TB

jpoc

856 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1744735 20-Mar-2017 19:12

One person supports this post

I buy white label drives from amazon.

Half the price of drives in the shops here and they all seem to be WD reds. No troubles here but my drives are all well cooled.

deadlyllama

958 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1744748 20-Mar-2017 19:40

jpoc:

I buy white label drives from amazon.

Half the price of drives in the shops here and they all seem to be WD reds. No troubles here but my drives are all well cooled.

Half the price? How do you find them on amazon?

sbiddle

28346 posts

Uber Geek

Moderator

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

# 1744752 20-Mar-2017 19:47

deadlyllama:

jpoc:

I buy white label drives from amazon.

Half the price of drives in the shops here and they all seem to be WD reds. No troubles here but my drives are all well cooled.

Half the price? How do you find them on amazon?

Search for "generic" HDD's.

sbiddle

28346 posts

Uber Geek

Moderator

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

# 1744753 20-Mar-2017 19:48

Something like this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AAKF8HK

sbiddle

28346 posts

Uber Geek

Moderator

Trusted

Biddle Corp

Lifetime subscriber

# 1744754 20-Mar-2017 19:50

Or this for a 3.5" drive https://www.amazon.com/7200RPM-Cache-Desktop-Server-Warranty/dp/B00OS8YP9M

jpoc

856 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 1744842 20-Mar-2017 21:15

deadlyllama:

jpoc:

I buy white label drives from amazon.

Half the price of drives in the shops here and they all seem to be WD reds. No troubles here but my drives are all well cooled.

Half the price? How do you find them on amazon?

Search for wl 6tb on amazon and you will see the ones that I buy from the vendor go hard drive.

They only ship inside the US but I have had no problem going via youshop.

sonyxperiageek

2682 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

# 1744843 20-Mar-2017 21:16

Thanks for your responses guys. In that case, I might still go for the WD Red ones considering they have a 3 year warranty compared to the 1 year warranty for the generic ones. To be honest, the generic ones look pretty dodgy and I personally wouldn't trust them to store my important files/photos.

Sony

NZ TechBlog | Follow me on Twitter | My Geekzone blog | TransferWise (Free International Transfer up to $900 (Affiliate Link)

sonyxperiageek

2682 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

# 1744844 20-Mar-2017 21:16

I think the best drives are probably the WD SE or Gold drives (for datacenters), but the price of them kinda puts me off.

Sony

NZ TechBlog | Follow me on Twitter | My Geekzone blog | TransferWise (Free International Transfer up to $900 (Affiliate Link)

solutionz

588 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

# 1744897 20-Mar-2017 21:47

Amazon Review:

Based on the specs and other clues, this hard drive is the Western Digital Red. So, you saved a hundred dollars by buying a "White Label" from GOHARDDRIVE - a 40% savings.
.
Reading the 1-star reviews on the WD Red, many users complained on this hard drive's short life due to the "load count problem." I examined my purchase's firmware, and it is free of this defect. Just in case if your's has this, here is an explanation of the problem and solution.
.
Since this hard drive's introduction, users have consistently reported premature failures and data corruption. These complaints were well warranted, for the manufacturer has shorten the life cycle of this computer component by design.
.
The source of the problem is Western Digital's attempt to make the device "more green" - use less electricity. One way to accomplish this goal is to park the heads on a plastic pad after eight seconds of no read/write requests instead of allowing them to float over the spinning platters of the hard drive. This adds up to 10,800 cycles each day. The numerous scrapings gradually wears out the heads. According to some literature, 250,000 to 1,250,000 cycles will result in damage that will lead to read/write errors. If you do the math, data corruption will begin within 23.148 to 115.741 days if you are employing the hard drive on a heavily used server. Regular consumers will not notice read/write problems until later. Some WD drives reported 3,000 to 5,000 cycles per day. At this rate, the first instances of data corruption will begin within 83.33 to 250 days.
.
From my experience, early data loss will not be noticed by the average user. There are no signs of trouble if work files are not accessed, edited, and save. With numerous usages, lost sectors on the hard drive appear and indexes become corrupted. Then, damages become apparent. During bootup, Windows OS will begin employing Check Disk (chkdsk/f) to repair errors. Chunks of bad information get deleted and corrupted indexes are re-corrected during the process. Eventually, 50%-to-60% drive gets wiped out before the user realizes the problem. He accesses a file, and there is none. Using a file manager, further examinations reveal other missing data. This degradation takes time - months to a year depending on computer usage.
.
Nevertheless, six years of complains have forced the manufacturer to do something - provided a firmware fix. WDIDLE3.EXE software is used to reset the parking cycle to as high as five minutes. For normal users, this change brings down the parking cycle to 133 per day. This is within the industrial average. Most drives experience 10 to 200 per day and are rated around 600,000. WDIDLE3.EXE can also turn off head parking. Unfortunately, this is not recommended. Users have reported that drive speed was reduced to a crawl or exhibited read/write problems.
.
This solution is a masterpiece in public relations. Instead of deactivating or eliminating the eight second head parking cycle on newly manufactured drives, WD forces the user to make the firmware change after the sale. The process is not easy, and the company's website does not explain or provide any information - it provides just the software. The procedure requires unplugging all other devices that are connected to SATA ports and numerous resets to the BIOS. The computer must boot in DOS via a CD or USB 2.0 thumb drive and typing the required codes. Just finding the necessary software to create the booting device is a pain.
.
As a result, non-technical consumers will not do anything and allow their hard drives to malfunction. For the "techkies," it will take hours of research, internet searches, and trial-and-error. Hopefully, they will also be discouraged. In one stroke, the company has placated the critics and still maintain high sales volume.
.
I have already done the necessary work. So, here is the easiest procedure using a booting USB 2.0 drive.
.
.
GO TO GOOGLE AND DOWNLOAD THE FOLLOWING PROGRAMS. . . . I can not provide links because the Amazon server automatically deletes their location.
. . . . . HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool
. . . . . Z-Zip
. . . . . wdidle3.exe
. . . . . FreeDOS (fd11src.iso)
.
DO THE FOLLOWING IN THIS ORDER TO CREATE A BOOTING USB 2.0 FLASH DRIVE.
. . . . . 1. Install Z-Zip
. . . . . 2. Use Z-Zip to extract HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool and FreeDOS iso.
. . . . . 3. Install the HP software.
. . . . . 4. Install a USB 2.0 flash drive on one of computer's USB 2.0 ports.
. . . . . . . Right-click the HP icon.
. . . . . . . Go to COMPATIBILITY/PRIVILEGE LEVEL.
. . . . . . . Check RUN THIS PROGRAM AS AN ADMINISTRATOR.
. . . . . . . Exit the program.
. . . . . 5. Activate the HP program by clicking its icon.
. . . . . . . Select FAT for FILE SYSTEM
. . . . . . . Place a check mark on CREATE DOS STARTUP DISK
. . . . . . . Go to USING DOS SYSTEM FILES LOCATED AT and point to the
. . . . . . . . . . subdirectory of the FreeDOS files. It is \FREEDOS\SETUP\ODIN
. . . . . 6. Format the USB 2.0 flash drive. Depending on the size, it will take time.
. . . . . 7. Use WINDOWS EXPLORER to copy WDIDLE3.EXE to your formatted USB 2.0 flash drive.
.
SHUT OFF YOUR COMPUTER.
. . . . . 1. Deactivate all devices connected to your SATA ports by pulling out their two cords. You do not want WDIDLE3.EXE to corrupt their firmware settings.
. . . . . 2. Connect your Western Digital Red Hard Drive.
.
RESTART YOUR COMPUTER.
. . . . . 1. Go into your PC's BIOS setting.
. . . . . 2. Turn AHCI off. This will enable your flash drive to be recognized.
. . . . . 3. Set the thumb drive as the first bootable drive.
. . . . . 4. Save your BIOS settings and exit.
.
RESTART YOUR COMPUTER. Your thumb drive should boot the computer and go into MS-DOS.
. . . . . 1. Type "wdidle3.exe" without the quotes and press ENTER. This will activate the program.
. . . . . 2. Type "wdidle3.exe /r" without the quotes and press ENTER. This will show the current timeout. The factory default is eight seconds.
. . . . . 3. Type "wdidle3.exe /s300" without the quotes and press ENTER. This changes the autopark timer to 300 seconds or five minutes - the maximum allowed.
. . . . . 4. Type "wdidle3.exe /r" without the quotes and press ENTER. This will check that the hard drive has accepted the change.
. . . . . 5. Shut off your PC.
.
IF YOU NEED TO PROCESS ANOTHER HARD DRIVE, pull out the two connecting cables, attach them to the next Western Digital Red drive, and repeat the above process.
.
ONCE FINISHED, TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER AND PLUG YOUR SATA DEVICES BACK.
. . . . . 1. Turn on your PC
. . . . . 2. Go back into your PC BIOS setting.
. . . . . 3. Turn AHCI on.
. . . . . 4. Change your boot order.
. . . . . 5. Save your settings and exit.ff.

sonyxperiageek

2682 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

# 1744906 20-Mar-2017 21:59

That is ridiculous. If I buy a product, I expect it to work well without having to do a multitude of steps to "fix" an error because of a manufacturing defect.

Sony

NZ TechBlog | Follow me on Twitter | My Geekzone blog | TransferWise (Free International Transfer up to $900 (Affiliate Link)

1 | 2