I'm typically not the type to shy away from buying anything that is refurbished...especially if I can save a nice chunk of change.  However, I seem to view HDs a little differently probably because of the potential loss of data.

 

Just wondering...what is the general perception of "Manufacturer Refurbished" HDs?  Do you trust them...not trust them?

 

My thought is that I can get a 1TB WD Black drive for ~$30 less than OEM that would make a nice cache drive.  As long as I get it from a reputable company (RMA) and I run the drive through multiple cycles of pre-clear, do you all think that would suffice in providing peace of mind?

 

TIA for opinions!

 

John

I've considered using a refurb for my cache drive.  After all, it only has to hold data for a short time, so failure's unlikely to affect me in a major way.  I would not trust a refurb in the array.  My only experience with refurbs has been as replacements for RMA'd drives.  In every instance, they were Western Digital, and in every instance, for some reason, the returned drives always ran considerably hotter than the original.  Mind you, this was a decade ago, so things may have changed considerably, but I don't want to be the one who tests the waters.

 

I don't look at a hard drive like a used car- where you stand a chance of getting a diamond-in-the-rough if you're willing to put a little TLC into it.  To me, a hard drive has two components- (1) The controller board and (2) the sealed drive portion.  IF the drive was returned for the controller board, then yes, you may have a great deal, but I don't think the controller is very likely to be the failure point for a relatively new drive.  And I don't want a drive that's been re-opened to access the internals, in my array.

 

Nope- just isn't worth it to me....UNLESS its function is as cache drive.

I've considered using a refurb for my cache drive.  After all, it only has to hold data for a short time, so failure's unlikely to affect me in a major way.  I would not trust a refurb in the array.  My only experience with refurbs has been as replacements for RMA'd drives.  In every instance, they were Western Digital, and in every instance, for some reason, the returned drives always ran considerably hotter than the original.  Mind you, this was a decade ago, so things may have changed considerably, but I don't want to be the one who tests the waters.

 

I don't look at a hard drive like a used car- where you stand a chance of getting a diamond-in-the-rough if you're willing to put a little TLC into it.  To me, a hard drive has two components- (1) The controller board and (2) the sealed drive portion.  IF the drive was returned for the controller board, then yes, you may have a great deal, but I don't think the controller is very likely to be the failure point for a relatively new drive.  And I don't want a drive that's been re-opened to access the internals, in my array.

 

Nope- just isn't worth it to me....UNLESS its function is as cache drive.

 

That was exactly the purpose for this drive...cdache drive.  For some odd reason, I was completely set on getting a WD Black drive for this purpose.  I had myself convinced that it would be a better performer than any other 32MB 7200 RMP drive in the same category.  After doing some reading, I think I was wrong.  At least the performace would not be glaring.

 

So...I jumped on teh Segate that is in the good deals forum right now.  $49.99 shipped.  Works for me.

 

Thanks!

 

John

I've considered using a refurb for my cache drive.  After all, it only has to hold data for a short time, so failure's unlikely to affect me in a major way.  I would not trust a refurb in the array.  My only experience with refurbs has been as replacements for RMA'd drives.  In every instance, they were Western Digital, and in every instance, for some reason, the returned drives always ran considerably hotter than the original.  Mind you, this was a decade ago, so things may have changed considerably, but I don't want to be the one who tests the waters.

 

I don't look at a hard drive like a used car- where you stand a chance of getting a diamond-in-the-rough if you're willing to put a little TLC into it.  To me, a hard drive has two components- (1) The controller board and (2) the sealed drive portion.  IF the drive was returned for the controller board, then yes, you may have a great deal, but I don't think the controller is very likely to be the failure point for a relatively new drive.  And I don't want a drive that's been re-opened to access the internals, in my array.

 

Nope- just isn't worth it to me....UNLESS its function is as cache drive.

 

Refurb drives do go through a more rigorous testing process than do "off the assembly line" drives.  But, given the option, I'd still rather have factory fresh than refurb.  I am not sure of the warranty implications on a refurb if you were not the one getting the refurb from the manufacturer.

 

I did want to question this logic of using a less reliable (I'm not saying refurbs are less reliable but that seems to be the premise here) for storing your cache data.  Your cached data is the most recently added data in your array.  Sometimes the newest data is the data that you will need to access the soonest, and in general, may represent the highest value data (byte for byte) in your array.  And the cache drive is the weakest link in the unRAID chain, as it has no redundancy on it.  If you put a bad drive in your array, and it died, you could recover.  But put a bad disk in cache and it fails, your most recent data is lost forever.

 

I would therefore never suggest that anyone use a cache drive that they did not have full confidence in.  In fact, if you can live with about 2/3 of the performance, I recommend writing directly to the array rather than using the cache for normal day to day activity.  The peace of mind is well worth it IMO.

I did want to question this logic of using a less reliable (I'm not saying refurbs are less reliable but that seems to be the premise here) for storing your cache data. 

 

My simple answer is that he cache drive will be used ONLY for non-critical data (movies, music, etc.)

 

John

My OCD tendencies won't allow me to let data sit on my cache drive- hence my seemingly relaxed stance on its fitness.  Add to that, my current cache drive is only 80Gb.  That forces me to empty it frequently if I'm loading a lot into the array.  When I do copy data over, I verify that it's correctly copied.  The only step I leave to faith- is the movement from cache INTO the array.  My data is never in ONE location only.  At worst, I'm faced with re-transferring 80Gb.  Still, I [do] watch my cache drive's SMART figures, and it IS showing its age- hence my recent interest in refurb candidates. 

 

I've always been suspicious of the 90-day warranty on refurbished products.  THAT says volumes [to me] regarding vendors' return experiences or manufacturer's lack of confidence in their refurbished goods.  It's bad enough that drive manufacturers reduced warranties from 5 years to 3, but 90-days!?

I've always been suspicious of the 90-day warranty on refurbished products. 

 

The refurb drive I was eyeing is listed as having a 6 month manufacturer warranty.  Liek I said, I went a different direction but here is the link if anyone else is interested:

 

http://3btech.net/seataiis30we4.html

 

John

 

 

That's not worth it in my eyes considering you can get a brand new one for the same price or a little bit more.

 

The only REFURB drive I will use are those I get directly from an RMA as the original warranty policy of 3 or 5 years still applies.

why use a refurb drive to hold data that is _NOT_ protected ?

 

I would use a refurb drive to hold data that IS protected however.