HGST Deskstar NAS vs WD Black?

[bgc99]

How are the drives advertised as NAS drives different from drives like the WD Black? Can the NAS drives be used as a standard desktop drive or is there some reason it shouldn't?

Thanks
BGC

 

[dave_the_nerd]

http://www.storagereview.com/hgst_4tb_deskstar_nas_hdd_review

The Deskstar NAS does incorporate an unusual feature among consumer HDDs: a rotational vibration sensor. Vibration sensors are most often used for drives intended to be rack mounted in environments where vibration can interfere with consumer drive operation, which indicates HGST sees a higher ceiling for their NAS drive in terms of use cases. The Deskstar NAS also offers configurable advanced error recovery control to fine-tune RAID performance.

Most NAS drives are only 5400 rpm to save power in always-on systems. Hitachi's going for a little more performance.

There is no reason you can't use a NAS drive in a desktop system. The NAS features aren't particularly useful there, though, so you end up spending an extra few bucks on capabilities you're unable to use.

 

[phis6]

How are the drives advertised as NAS drives different from drives like the WD Black? Can the NAS drives be used as a standard desktop drive or is there some reason it shouldn't?
BGC

If you intend to use a NAS drive for a secondary storage then it should be fine but for a OS boot drive if you don't prefer going for an SSD then WD black is a viable option.

 

[bgc99]

but for a OS boot drive if you don't prefer going for an SSD then WD black is a viable option.

Boot drive will be SSD. I've got two WD Green drives for archival storage and am going to add another HDD as a working drive for things that you might not want on the SSD.

 

[snoylekim]

Some NAS drives have a slightly different SATA connection designed for a NAS backplane versus connection w/ a SATA cable , which can be problematic . There's also the different TLER ( Time Limited Error Recovery) processing for some NAS drives .
I use WD SE in my NAS, and WD Blacks in the workstation,. The Black would be a better choice for you , IMHO .

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Some NAS drives have a slightly different SATA connection designed for a NAS backplane versus connection w/ a SATA cable , which can be problematic.

Really? Don't mean to be confrontations, but do you have any links for that?

I've never heard of such things - unless you're referring to SAS drives?

 

[Topweasel]

Really? Don't mean to be confrontations, but do you have any links for that?

I've never heard of such things - unless you're referring to SAS drives?

He is referring SAS, there is SAS, SATA, and SATA express and SATA express is desktop only at this point. Cant think of any other tech he could be referring to.

 

[snoylekim]

Nope ..SATA . The connections for the power and data are slightly different on the SEs ..not from a general shape or pin, but the ability to 'lock' a cable in .. they're meant to slide cleanly into the connections on the NAS backplane . Very slight difference, but one could have an issue with not being able to 'lock' the cable firmly into the drive in desktop..

I don't have a spare SE to provide a picture .. it's been mentioned elsewhere in this forum a while ago ..

 

[snoylekim]

If you look at the underside comparison between a WD SE and a WD Red , about 5/8 down the page in the link :

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Western_Digital_Red_Se_4TB

The area around the SATA connection area is slightly different, so the watch out is that one might need to experiment with which type of cable ( horizontal , 90 degree, lock and no lock) will give the most secure fit for the SE . Now that i think about it , SATA connections have always been a little fickle .. If one had a 'hot dock' drive slot in the case, it should slide right in .. Wasn't suggesting that the RE wasn't following the SATA standard ..

 

[Topweasel]

Most of that is just messing with the eyes because one sinks the logic board in a bit and the other doesn't. What it is missing is the plastic top container around the connector which is needed for the clip on newer sata cables. That said anyone who has worked with Sata 1.0 has experience needed in this scenario, the best tip is never try to pull the cable off at an angle.

 

[bgc99]

I was just curious, I had seen a few deals on "NAS" drives. WD Black is what I'm leaning toward. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Topweasel]

Between the Black and the most recent Deskstar you are probably talking about the two fastest normal desktop drives. If its not SAS and its targeted for anything other then desktop performance (even reliability) then its slower. The VR is about the only thing sata faster than these but once again capacity is starting to hold it back again.

 

[snoylekim]

I've used WD Blacks as the non-ssds in my and various client machines since they've been available and have been very satisfied with the performance and no other issues .. Think they'd be a wise choice ..
Topweasel .. thanks for articulating that !! I was struggling to verbalize the watch-out I was thinking about .