Hi Everyone!

 

I have been working on upgrading my unRAID server (motherboard/cpu) and have received some great advice in another thread (Thanks everyone!). Today I was researching Western Digital hard drives and was planning on going with a couple WD10EARS (1TB) - Which I have found at Amazon for $64.99 shipped (http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Intellipower-Desktop-WD10EARS/dp/B002U1N95K/).  I am currently using a WD 1TB Caviar Black as my parity disk, and want to replace another (data drive) with a low power drive.

 

On NewEgg and the Western Digital site I am seeing a couple alternatives and was wondering if anyone had any experience with these:

 

Possible *Alternatives* for unRAID?:

Western Digital AV-GP WD10EVDS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s  (Popular with TiVo users - recommended for video streaming)

Western Digital Caviar Green WD10000CSRTL 1TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s  (Not familiar with this one )

 

*Standard* for unRAID:

Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s  (Popular for unRAID users)

Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EARS 1TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s  (Popular for unRAID users)

 

The AV-GP WD10EVDS looks very interesting as Western Digital suggests it is a "Cool, quiet, reliable AV drive with WD GreenPower Technology - Designed for PVR/DVR, Media servers, Video surveillance."  From what I have read, TiVo users prefer this drive to the other "Green" options.  I see that Tom is listing these drives (well, 2TB variant) as for sale on this site - in addition to the EADS drives.  Would these be a solid option over the standard EADS/EARS drives?

 

I don't know much about the Caviar Green WD10000CSRTL drives - any experience in the forum?

 

PS - I have searched the forum and haven't found much regarding the WD10EVDS or WD10000CSRTL drives but couldn't find much information.  I figured I would start a new thread to hopefully shed light on these for myself and other users.

 

Thanks for your comments!

 

I'm not certain if these have been posted in the forum - figured it might be worth sharing as far as reviews/comparisons:

 

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/storage/display/15-2tb-hdd-roundup.html

 

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/storage/display/1tb-2tb-roundup-2.html

I would just go for the EADS or the EARS drives.  Remember that all advanced format drives need jumpers (all EARS, and select newer models of EADS).

 

The AV drives are meant to run in hotter environments, such as in a cramped TiVo box with poor airflow.  As long as you give at least a bit of thought to airflow in your server, the AV drives are unnecessary.  The EADS and EARS drives are plenty fast enough for media streaming as well.

 

I also don't know much (or anything) about the 10000CSRTL drives.  However, the EADS and EARS models are well vetted in this community, so they get the points for reliability.  I wouldn't take a chance on the unknown drives.

Thanks for your suggestions Rajahal.  After doing some further research I learned that the AV drives don't perform quite as well as the EARS or EADS.  I also don't know a thing about the 100000CSRTL drives - haven't heard a thing about them.  As a result I will definitely stick with the EADS or EARS - it's nice to have a "stable" recipe.

 

Talking about stable...today I finally got my Corsair 400CX power supply in the mail.  Tonight I will be able to upgrade my unRAID goodness to full "Budget Build" specs (case, power supply, CPU, motherboard) - wild party at my house  .

 

Thanks again for the insight!

 

 

Great stuff vibe!  If you don't mind, I would appreciate if you added something about using the unRAID budget box to your sig.  The more people claim to use it successfully, the more newbies will trust it.

Great stuff vibe!  If you don't mind, I would appreciate if you added something about using the unRAID budget box to your sig.  The more people claim to use it successfully, the more newbies will trust it.

 

I've completely forgotten about doing that. I wlll myself.

Thanks kizer.

I just ordered a 2tb Ears drive for parity

Rajahal - Great idea, I have updated my signature.

 

For anyone "on the fence" about building an unRAID server ... The budget build was the EASIEST build/migration I have performed.  I had everything together and drives moved from my old Dell SC440 in no time at all.  To put it simply - Everything "just worked."  With the budget build I am able to transcode DVD rips using PS3MediaServer without any issues.  As a newbie to unRAID - I highly recommend it.

 

 

Thanks vibe!  I appreciate your comments, and I'm glad you found the Budget Build helpful.

I updated my sig too. Thanks for posting that!