I am planning on using these drives in my new build and they come in various flavours. They are all similar prices, so it’s really what’s supported best and if there are any advantages.

 

firstly it is SATA or SAS, and for simplicity I would choose SATA as that’s what the motherboard supports.

 

then there is ISE (instant secure erase) or SE (secure erase). ISE looks useful for eol but are they compatible?

 

finally there is 512e or 4kn. 4kn is the most modern, but again is this supported in Unraid?

 

many thanks.

 

 

2 hours ago, Ockingshay said:

but are they compatible?

Yes.

 

2 hours ago, Ockingshay said:

but again is this supported in Unraid?

Yes.

Thanks for the reply;

 

Having unraid support it, will this impact anything else on the system? Dockers, vms etc?

Edited May 26, 20197 yr by Ockingshay

6 minutes ago, Ockingshay said:

Would you happen to know if supermicro aoc-sas2lp-mv8 are compatible?

Don't know, but they aren't recommended anyway, SAS2 and newer LSI HBAs do support them, and those are recommended.

21 minutes ago, johnnie.black said:

Don't know, but they aren't recommended anyway, SAS2 and newer LSI HBAs do support them, and those are recommended.

Thanks, 

 

Having unraid support it, will this impact anything else on the system? Dockers, vms etc?

 

for simplicity shall i all I just stick with 512e?

 

 

also, reading dell’s white paper on it they say;

 

Quote

Mixing drives
If you decide to use a mix of drive types, but do not resolve these issues, the overall storage performance may be lower than expected. To mix drives, you must have a good understanding of the operating system, applications, and the configuration such as RAID, volumes, and so on. 4Kn drives cannot be mixed with 512e within an array. To ensure compatible drive mix, check with your Dell team.

 

I plan on using 3tb WD red that I already have in the system. As this is not true raid, will 4kn be ok? Seems like I’m trying to mix things up too much.

Edited May 26, 20197 yr by Ockingshay

10 minutes ago, Ockingshay said:

will this impact anything else on the system? Dockers, vms etc?

No that I know of.

Sorry, I keep editing posts and you are being incredibly kind and helpful!

 

With ref to dell’s white paper, I plan on using 3tb WD red that I already have in the system. As this is not true raid, will 4kn be ok? Seems like I’m trying to mix things up too much.

Edited May 26, 20197 yr by Ockingshay

Yes you can mix 512e and 4kn drives without negative effects. Unraid treats every disk as an independent drive, unlike a true raid system.

19 hours ago, Ockingshay said:

finally there is 512e or 4kn. 4kn is the most modern, ...

But, is newer actually better? Is there really any "upside" to choosing 4kn (vs 512e)?

There is (at least) one actual "downside" -- when the drive(s) purchased today are ultimately re-purposed, the 512e drives are guaranteed compatible (by the ATA specifications).

 

I've been pondering this 512e vs 4kn thing, and the above is my current "state of mind". What am I missing?

 

Edited May 26, 20197 yr by UhClem

Both 512e and 4kn disks work internally with 4k blocks, but a 512e model presents this as 512 blocks externally, to maintain compatability with 'older' controllers.

 

46 minutes ago, bonienl said:

Both 512e and 4kn disks work internally with 4k blocks, but a 512e model presents this as 512 blocks externally, to maintain compatability with 'older' controllers.

 

and at the cost of performance (from what i'm reading), as the hdd has to process that.

 

What that means in real terms i don't know, but if 4kn is the future and 512e a transitional stop gap why not run with it?

Edited May 26, 20197 yr by Ockingshay