Home server drives

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xpd

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#280158 30-Nov-2020 12:16

Some drives on my home "server" (aka desktop repurposed to run 24/7) are failing so need to replace them. The current drives are general desktop-oriented ones but would like to replace them with something a bit more suitable for a home server.

Seagate Ironwolf (4TB) be the better option rather than going desktop type ?

I really need to look at rebuilding the whole server with new gear....

XPD / Gavin

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#2613205 30-Nov-2020 12:24

Have heard good things about Ironwolf drives for NAS/server use but personally using WD Reds. Regular Ironwolfs have a marginally faster platter speed @ 5900 RPM vs. the 5400 on WD Reds, so will be a little faster for reads/writes

Could also step up to Ironwolf Pros for the 7200 RPM platter speed and even better read/write performance

Steer clear of Seagate Barracuda drives, have had all but 1 of my 5 Barracudas throw SMART errors and die after a few years of 24/7 NAS usage

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#2613207 30-Nov-2020 12:26

I've been running shucked 8TB Seagate Backup Hub Plus drives in mine 24/7 for years at this point. They've really been rock solid. I'm not sure the NAS designation is worth the extra.

michaelmurfy

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#2613229 30-Nov-2020 12:36

I use shucked drives out of the WD Element external: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X4V2M3B

Just note - purchase the 8tb drives or above to ensure you get the "WD Whites" which are essentially helium filled WD Reds. Use something like UnRaid on your server to raid them nicely.

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rb99

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#2613338 30-Nov-2020 13:11

michaelmurfy:

I use shucked drives out of the WD Element external: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X4V2M3B

Just note - purchase the 8tb drives or above to ensure you get the "WD Whites" which are essentially helium filled WD Reds. Use something like UnRaid on your server to raid them nicely.

Ordered one of those last Friday. Do you need to do that Kapton tape thing with these. Am guessing yes but thought I saw somewhere its not necessary if you have a fairly new PC / power supply. Thanks.

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rb99

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#2613354 30-Nov-2020 13:47

rb99:

Ordered one of those last Friday. Do you need to do that Kapton tape thing with these. Am guessing yes but thought I saw somewhere its not necessary if you have a fairly new PC / power supply. Thanks.

I use them in my HPe Microserver and no tape is required there. Have also used them in Synology NAS's without the need for tape.

Depends on where you're installing it I suppose.

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#2613471 30-Nov-2020 16:25

Ive used both WD Red's as well as Seagate IronWolf.

The NAS type drives are designed to be on all the time or at least a lot of the time.

Ive not had any fail, only reason i changed from the WD Red's to the ironwolfs was the Reds i had were 2TB and i needed more space and the ironwolf's were cheaper at the time.

Its too hard to say if either is better than the other.

Im running my Ironwolfs in my unraid setup but they were in my QNAP nas, ive got about 24000 hours of runtime on them so far.

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#2613544 30-Nov-2020 18:48

I've got a mix of WD Reds and IronWolfs and Barracudas in my unraid box. They are not 24x7 anymore I get them to spin down after 4 hrs if no read/writes and with a 500gb SSD cache drive that empties daily to the array it keeps the runtimes very low. Only downside is sometimes plex will throw a playback error that requires a quick refresh until the drive is spinning.

4x Barracudas are rubbish but cheap had 2 of 4 replaced under warranty already

3x WD NAS drives just be careful some are SMR which don't play well with any NAS

2x IronWolfs are solid so far only had them a year no issues yet

This is just my experience others will be different

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#2613548 30-Nov-2020 18:54

If you go the shucking route make sure you know what you're buying. Certain models/sizes will be SMR drives which are not ideal in a server. I'm another convert to the 8TB WD whites, but at the moment the larger 10TB and 12TB models feel like better value.

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#2613567 30-Nov-2020 20:06

The most important thing is to avoid anything with shingled technology in a server setup.

You can easily lose data as shingled drives are failed by the raid controller (hw or sw) when they need to rewrite a shingle block.

This includes most WD reds and Seagate Barracudas but also a load of other drives from both of those manufacturers and others.

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#2655786 13-Feb-2021 19:31

So I've finally got round to the odd bit of shucking WD 12TB drives. Obviously, one doesn't need Kapton tape and the other one does (assuming I didn't bugger it up during the shucking process).

So, am wondering, anyone know anywhere good to supply a bit of Kapton tape, or anyone got a spare bit, preferably Whakatane area ?

Thanks ever so...

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#2655792 13-Feb-2021 19:40

Jaycar sells it.

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#2655793 13-Feb-2021 19:44

Thanks. That would be that polyimide stuff ?

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rb99

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#2655796 13-Feb-2021 19:46

rb99:
Thanks. That would be that polyimide stuff ?

Yeah that stuff. In the description says it’s similar to kapton tape.

rb99

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#2655798 13-Feb-2021 19:57

Ta. I might try a place called MakerShop - postage is half as much and the tape is cheaper as well.

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#2655804 13-Feb-2021 20:21

I use 10 tb WD reds in my unraid server. Zero issues with them since I have had them.

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