Which is the best HDD >= 2TB for Home Server?

[BonzaiDuck]

So . . . As may be apparent from other threads, I have this WHS-2011 server box, and I don't intend to upgrade the OS for a couple years -- except from the auto Win Updates as usual. Not yet interested in NAS devices; I've leveraged an old LGA 775 mobo and C2D for this server duty. Been working fine pretty much for at least two years already.

I use StableBit DrivePool -- also apparent from another thread . . .

The pool has four 1TB drives. Duplicated or replicated data is maybe 200 to 300 GB; client-wkstation backups total maybe 500GB. The rest are video files which wouldn't be a cataclysmic loss with any catastrophic failure of the server. I can only play the encrypted DVR captures on the client machine that recorded them . . . There's about 2.5TB of free-space on the pool drive.

I'm thinking of expanding storage capacity -- slowly -- by adding 2TB drives one at a time. And I'm toying with the idea of reducing the number of disks so that the duplication/replication feature still provides a measure of security against data loss, but so I can also reduce power consumption -- a little.

Now I'm looking at these WD "Red" NAS drives, which seem to be equally applicable to server arrays or pools. The customer reviews at the Egg are terrible -- too many DOAs, too many early failures.

There's also the Seagate NAS HDD ST2000VN000 2TB, comparably priced, with a larger favorable rating and smaller "1-egg" DOA notices.

These were supposed to be HDDs that weren't "high-performance" but provided lower energy consumption and good reliability for 24/7 operation -- more accurately, 24/7/365 except for maintenance and down-time.

Are there other options? Any ideas? Right now, I'm just window-shopping, but I can see an "expansion path" for my server.

 

[smitbret]

Don't forget to take into consideration the environment the NewEgg buyers put them in. The WD Reds will inevitably be put into a higher usage environments where they will be stuck into a raid cage, sandwiched between 2 other Reds that are ostensibly being "cooled" by some 45mm fan at the back of the RAID cage. Not to mention the vibrations.

Online storage company Backblaze, recently posted their findings with consumer grade HDDs in their storage pods and found that outside of the 1.5TB Seagate Barracudas (Horrible) and the Hitachis (most reliable), there wasn't a ton of difference between Makes or even the different models.

http://blog.backblaze.com/2014/01/21/what-hard-drive-should-i-buy/

I put 4 of the 2TB Seagates ($79/piece a year ago) into my Server last year and haven't had a lick of trouble, yet. Nice, quiet and cool. The Reds may last a little longer. I dunno. In January I moved my 2TB WD Green that had been used as the parity drive into the array as a data drive and replaced it with a 3TB Toshiba that I broke out of an external enclosure (3TB for $94 was too good to pass up), and no problems, yet.

Quite frankly, if you are using StableBit instead of hardware RAID, you can probably just pick up the best value and be happy.

 

[Deders]

I managed to pick up a WD RE4 (enterprise class) fairly cheaply from ebay, it had only been used a month prior. Great performance but it does heat up quite a bit so it's well worth making sure it is next to a fan.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I just got a 3TB Toshiba. I'll let you know if it catches fire.

(the ACA300. The ACA200s in my current NAS box have been great.)

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Thanks for the insight, folks. I've used a lot of different makes of HDDs over the decades -- or at least quite a few.

These days, I always try to analyze the Egg's customer reviews. Obviously, the Deeply Disgruntled have an incentive to post reviews which would then bias the results as any QC sample. In that respect, 20 "one-Egg" reviews out of a hundred might really mean 5% in quality control. But I also look at those one-eggers to see if there are consistent problems ("DOA" etc.) Even the Tech Report lab review of the Red drives mentioned the Egg reviews, so one has to wonder . . .

The WD Reds apparently have the lowest idle power consumption, followed by the Seagate NAS units -- a difference of maybe 1 watt. And I'll take a closer look at the Toshiba drives.

 

[DaveJ]

I wouldn't put much stock in Newegg reviews. A lot of drive problems can attributed to poor packing and shipping, and I've never been thrilled with Newegg in that regard. The drives I've ordered from Amazon have all been well packed.

At the moment I have a mix of 4 Seagate 2TB drives and one WD Red 3TB in my WHS2011 box, and they've all been fine (knock on wood).

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I wouldn't put much stock in Newegg reviews. A lot of drive problems can attributed to poor packing and shipping, and I've never been thrilled with Newegg in that regard. The drives I've ordered from Amazon have all been well packed.

At the moment I have a mix of 4 Seagate 2TB drives and one WD Red 3TB in my WHS2011 box, and they've all been fine (knock on wood).

Well, they're supposed to consume less power. And they targeted a market niche prone to use them for 24/7 operation.

I generally take my time when it comes to $100+ items, and as much or more time trying to combine them into a single purchase. I have here on my desk six of the larger-sized 5.25" aluminum USB external boxes -- filled with old IDE HDDs that still work -- two of which are 500GB units. I probably won't run out of space to store stuff anytime soon.

But I'll feel better when 4TB with 4 drives can become 6TB with three. Of course, with 4TB models, I could double capacity with two drives and still have the file duplication where it counts.

Speaking of multiple disks, heavy system boxes and power consumption: There are also 2.5" drives -- Seagate makes them for enterprise server usage. There had been one "NAS-type" 3.5"-in-5.25" device by some outfit named Acorn, Acord -- something like that -- which used four laptop disks. Or maybe they weren't "laptop" drives, but "industrial-strength" 2.5" drives -- I can't remember.