New RAID5 fileserver setup

[FP]

I had planned on using some WD 1TB Black drives in a RAID5 setup until I started reading about TLER and how the desktop drives aren't recommended for RAID usage due to the deep recovery process causing them to fall out of the array.

So I started looking at the enterprice class WD drives which are about 50% more. However then I found the new Seagate 7200.12 drives and was excited when I saw this...

This versatile drive family, also available in capacities of 750-GB with 32-MB cache, 500-GB with 16-MB cache, and 320, 250 and 160-GB?all with 8-MB cache, is ideal for desktop applications such as workstations, desktop RAID, gaming PCs, high-end PCs, mainstream PCs and USB/FireWire/eSATA external storage.

Fantastic, the drives are cheaper and Seagate recommends them for RAID. Then as I was re-reading the Wiki article above I noticed it said that Seagate also employs a TLER-like technology called ERC in the enterprise class drives. Sure enough their descriptions of ERC says it works better in a RAID environment.

So now I am completely confused. I need a reliable RAID setup but am not sure which drives to buy. Does ERC really make that much of a difference if Seagate even suggests their non-ERC drives for "desktop RAID"?

 

[fleshconsumed]

I have had 8 1TB WD Green drives in RAID 5 array for about 6 months. I set TLER to 7 seconds on all of them. Haven't had a problem yet.

Mostly HDD manufacturers use BLACK and ENTERPRISE labels to get you to buy basically the same hard drive but which has much higher margin for them.

 

[FP]

I did read about the WD utility to change the TLER of the drives but their websites explicitly states that the utility is not available anymore. I am not terribly comfortable possibly voiding my warranty on my array but I guess if the price is right 🙂

 

[fleshconsumed]

AFAIK it never officially was. Some guy got it from WD tech support after having problems and leaked it on the web.

 

[elconejito]

they're a little small for your use, but I've got several WD Green 500GBs in RAID5 seem to be working just fine.