Question WD43PURZ vs WD40EFAX

[daggs1]

Greetings,

my backup hdd git fried, I need a new one, from the two models mentioned in the title, which is best for my needs? why?

Thanks

 

[Seba]

WD43PURZ is CMR (Conventional Magnetic Recording).
WD40EFAX is SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording).

I would skip WD40EFAX, because it uses SMR.

Normally I would chose the CMR one (WD43PURZ), but WD43PURZ is marketed as a surveillance drive (and some bad sectors on such drives is not seen as a big deal). So unless you need it for a surveillance system, I would skip it, too.

Look for other models. WD Blue or WD Red, but CMR type.

 

[fzabkar]

Normally I would chose the CMR one (WD43PURZ), but WD43PURZ is marketed as a surveillance drive (and some bad sectors on such drives is not seen as a big deal).

These drives support the ATA Streaming command set in addition to the regular ATA commands that are supported by desktop drives. DVR applications need to record the file system metadata with the same integrity as desktop drives (using regular ATA reads and writes), but they are allowed, by the DVR's firmware or operating system, to drop frames when reading video files (using ATA streaming commands). That's the only significant difference.

In short, there should not be a problem using a surveillance model in a desktop application because the OS will never use streaming commands.

 

[daggs1]

thanks for the input, as said, the hdd will be served for backup

 

[daggs1]

I've found a WD40EZAZ in the same price range but it has less warranty time
is Toshiba MD04ACA400 any good? also similar price range

 

[Seba]

WD40EZAZ is SMR.

The WD Blue 4TB CMR variants are WD40EZRZ (64MB cache) and WD40EZAX (256MB cache).

Toshiba MD04ACA400 seems to be a CMR drive.

 

[daggs1]

WD40EZAZ is SMR.

The WD Blue 4TB CMR variants are WD40EZRZ (64MB cache) and WD40EZAX (256MB cache).

Toshiba MD04ACA400 seems to be a CMR drive.

both WD40EZAX and MD04ACA400 are at the same price range, which should I prefer?

 

[Seba]

Up to you. I prefer WD hard disk drives, but that is just my choice.

WD40EZAX is 5400 rpm with a 256 MB cache (buffer), while MD04ACA400 is 7200 rpm with 128 MB cache.

 

[Seba]

I forgot to check something.

WD40EZAX is 2 platters /4 heads.
MD04ACA400 is 4 platters /8 heads.

Based on this criteria, I would choose WD40EZAX between these two HDDs.