New to Unraid, which 2TB to use?


Recommended Posts

HI,

 

I'm about to build my first UnRAID server and have read some posts about compatibility issues with some 2TB HDD's.

 

So, my question is as I'll be doing a brand new install on the latest version (V5.0 I think?) can I use the WD/Samsung/Seagate/Hitachi 2TB HDD's without using the "jumpers" mentioned on other posts?

 

I hope that makes sense? And thanks for your help.

M

Link to comment

So, my question is as I'll be doing a brand new install on the latest version (V5.0 I think?) can I use the WD/Samsung/Seagate/Hitachi 2TB HDD's without using the "jumpers" mentioned on other posts?

 

You're asking a kind of broad question.  WD, Samsung, and Seagate have both Advanced Format (4K/sector) and regular (512/sector) drives out there, so it depends on the model.  Hitachi doesn't have any 2TB SATA AF drives out yet.

Link to comment

Thanks for the responses guys.

 

I guess you can tell I'm new to this  ;)

 

OK, so if I use 4.7 I can use HDD's with 4k sectors is that right? In essence I just want to buy whatever 2TB HDD's will work without jumpers etc that are reasonably priced. I'm from the UK and want to spend up to £90 max per HDD.

 

Thanks again,

 

M

Link to comment

Just to clarify a few things... As of yet there are NO consumer drives that present 4K sectors to the interface. The ones which use physical 4K sectors internally present themselves as logical 512b sectors on the interface. There is a huge effort that needs to take place before Linux itself and the various tools on it can deal with HDDs with physical and logical 4K sectors (internally and on the interface).

 

As of 4.7, yes you can use HDDs with physical 4K sectors that do logical 512b sector emulation (which as of today is all of the consumer AF drives) without performance concerns, save for one, if you elect to use the MBR 4K-Alignment (Sector 64) setting. The one situation where you will see a performance decrease is in using a JUMPERED WD EARS drive with the MBR 4K-Alignment (Sector 64) setting. You can even use the MBR 4K-alignment (Sector 64) setting on drives with physical 512b sectors without any performance concerns. The caveat in using the MBR 4K-Alignment (Sector 64) setting is not being able to readily downgrade to a previous version of unRAID.

 

Also, this is mostly covered in the proper "Which 2TB drive should I buy?" thread.

 

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.