Nice catch Gary, that explains it.

 

If you use one of the largest ones for parity there won't be any issues with unRAID.

 

You will have a problem if one of the Mybook units fails during warranty, WD probably won't replace it.

It had to have been the drives I ordered from Amazon.  My order says "sold by Global Silicon Electronics."  The other two came directly from Newegg.

 

Weird thing is, I thought I was ordering directly from Amazon too.

That's a good catch, garycase.  I wonder if there are other concerns I should have now based on this.  The "My Book for Mac" harvested drives passed their preclears just fine and I now have my array built after swapping drives; just waiting on the parity check.  I'm not really sure if I should take any action at this stage, other than the concern that this will possibly screw me if I need warranty coverage.

 

The size difference is really irrelevant as long as you remember which drives they are and never try to use them as parity.  If you KNOW which drives they were ... and if it hasn't been too long since you bought them ... you may be able to return them and get actual OEM drives.    Your order history on Amazon will show the "Sold by" info for all of your orders;  Newegg doesn't seem to show that, so it's a bit more difficult to tell after the fact who actually sold them.

 

Not sure what WD would do if you made a warranty claim and just returned the bare drive -- I suspect it may indeed be an issue.    The problem, of course, is identifying exactly which order resulted in the harvested drives.  I THINK, but am not certain, that Newegg retains the serial numbers of the drives they ship for each order ... so you may be able to ask for those, which would confirm that they were indeed the actual WD Reds.

 

I suppose I'd be inclined to simply leave well-enough alone and hope you don't have any warranty issues -- if you do, I suspect WD would honor the warranty anyway if you have the receipts for the drives that show you purchased them as internal OEM units.

 

 

 

I suppose I'll probably just let it go.  For what it's worth, my array up until now had drives that would never have gotten coverage because I bought most of them in Korea anyway. 

 

(I was stationed over there at the time, at a base that had known issues with mail theft on many packages, especially ones with Amazon or Newegg logos on the boxes.)

It had to have been the drives I ordered from Amazon.  My order says "sold by Global Silicon Electronics."  The other two came directly from Newegg.

 

Weird thing is, I thought I was ordering directly from Amazon too.

 

Since you KNOW which order was the harvested drives (I'm certain you're correct), I'd contact Amazon and tell them what you've found out about the drives, and request they be replaced with actual WD Reds.    Amazon's customer service is VERY good => they'll almost certainly send you pre-paid return labels and then replace the drives with actual WD Reds.

 

I suppose I'll probably just let it go.  For what it's worth, my array up until now had drives that would never have gotten coverage because I bought most of them in Korea anyway. 

 

(I was stationed over there at the time, at a base that had known issues with mail theft on many packages, especially ones with Amazon or Newegg logos on the boxes.)

 

Up to you.  I'm sure Amazon would get you bonafide internal drives; but on the other hand, the hassle of removing the drives; returning them; waiting for the replacements; etc. is a consideration as well.  If you just bought these, and don't mind the hassle, I'd return them and get actual OEM units just for the warranty coverage.    In any event, I'd let Amazon know that their reseller is selling harvested drives (post a comment).

 

 

... Weird thing is, I thought I was ordering directly from Amazon too.

 

I learned a few years ago about the distinction, and when possible always buy things that are noted as "Ships from and sold by Amazon.com" on the product pages.    You get notably better service for any issues with these, although Amazon DOES intervene with their 3rd party sellers if you're having any issues with returns or defects.

 

It's clearly shown on the product pages -- you just didn't notice it when you ordered the drives.

 

daggah => Just out of curiosity, what did you decide to do about the smaller drives (if anything) ??