Which 4 TB drive should I buy?


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 131
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Just curious, WD came out with a firmware update / patch for that specific model, around Nov 2013.  Did update your drives?  I think it had to do with how the heads park or something, could cause read write errors.  However, the update fixed the issue for those who had issues.

Link to comment

Just curious, WD came out with a firmware update / patch for that specific model, around Nov 2013.  Did update your drives?  I think it had to do with how the heads park or something, could cause read write errors.  However, the update fixed the issue for those who had issues.

Never updated anything and haven't had any issues.
Link to comment

Mine all have over 12,000 power-on hours, so were clearly made well before Nov 2013  :)

 

Not sure how accessible your drives are, but as I presume you know the manufacture date is on the drive.

Not very but I need to map out my drives anyway so will have to do that in the next few weeks.
Link to comment

There's actually another way to determine the manufacture date without looking at the drives.

Go to WD's site and do a Warranty Check -- you'll need to enter the serial number, and it will show you the warranty expiration date ... which will be 37 months after the manufacture date (3 year warranty plus they add 30 days to account for the distribution channel).

 

Link to comment

There's actually another way to determine the manufacture date without looking at the drives.

Go to WD's site and do a Warranty Check -- you'll need to enter the serial number, and it will show you the warranty expiration date ... which will be 37 months after the manufacture date (3 year warranty plus they add 30 days to account for the distribution channel).

True but I need to diagram where each drive is anyway.
Link to comment

Well I can now say I've gotten WD 4TB Red drives that are bad and not due to the packaging by the seller.  Out of the 5 drives I just got 2 of them are DOA and are clicking when they spin up.  The other three appear to be fine but I won't say they pass until the 3 preclear cycles I'm running (my normal run) complete.  Before this my DOA drives were most likely caused by bad packaging but even then I would estimate it was only 1 in 5 drives that was bad so only 20% so I'm not ready to stop buying them yet.

Link to comment

wow, I have never heard of that with WD drives.  The good thing is their RMA / replacement process is quick an easy.

 

Just curious, what is the manufacture date on those bad drives?  I wonder if they have the current firmware.

I'll look tonight but I just purchased them from Newegg on Apr. 18 2014 so unless Newegg had old stock it would be after Nov 2013 so should be current.

 

 

 

 

Edit:  Manufacture date is Feb 17 2014.

Link to comment
  • 2 months later...

Any other comments on these drives? I was thinking of picking up a few but now...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I got 3 from a dubious eBay source that all tested out perfectly and I am slowly adding them to the array.  I should be adding the 2nd of the three tonight as the parity check after the rebuild should have finished last night sometime (didn't remember to check this morning).

 

Good deals link for my eBay seller http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=33661.0

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 weeks later...

I see deals for the WD 4TB Red at $149.  Seems like a good price.  Is there a verdict on this drive?  Should I be concerned about the RPMs?  I am using 7200 RPM drives almost exclusively, I am concerned about going slower.  Thoughts?

 

I wouldn't be concerned.  The performance of the Reds is excellent.  In fact, if your 7200rpm drives are 4TB units they're almost certainly 5 platter, 800GB/platter drives ... whereas the Reds are 1TB/platter.    The higher areal density makes the difference much smaller than you'd think.    And they easily outperform your Gb network, so if you're using them in UnRAID it won't matter at all.

 

Note that the new 6TB units have even higher areal density -- 1.2TB/platter.    These will actually outperform 7200rpm units with 800GB platters.

 

Link to comment
  • JorgeB unpinned this topic

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.