HDD's - What are you using?

[flambot]

Hi everyone,

 

I've been flat out backing up DVD's to my unRAID server for the last couple of weeks.  Can't believe how quickly a 500Gb drive fills up.

 

I've been wondering what drives you are all using - any preferences, and why?

 

Myself, I've been using Seagate 500Gb SATA drives.  I've had a good run out of them over the years and they do have a 5 year warranty.  However, the trouble I had recently with one blowing up (and the lack of response from the manufacturer concerning a replacement) has made me start considering other options.

 

Currently, Western Digital are the cheapest drives per GB here in NZ.  I'm not sure I want to use the cheapest, but their cost is certainly alluring.  Not sure on their longevity, reliabilty etc.  Any input?

 

Another thing that has made me reconsider is that I'm seeing on average 5.1Gb per movie backup (movie only).  Calculating that out means I probably won't have enough space in my server using 500Gb drives - and I don't want to build a 2nd one - especially with the ongoing cost of power etc (hey Tom....when is sleep/WOL going to happen?? ). I've been considering stepping up to 750Gb or even a couple of 1Tb drives, but the cost of them is quite a lot more compared to 500Gb (320 currently is the sweet spot here).

 

Looking forward to some feedback.  Best

[RobJ]

I recommend taking a look at Samsung.  Below are my hard drive speeds and temps.  Temps are from unRAID web page.  Speeds are from 'hdparm -tT /dev/___', averaged over 3 to 10 runs.  My Samsungs seem to run quieter, faster, cooler, and were less expensive.  I don't necessarily trust temps, because we don't know for sure if they are measuring the same thing.  Seagates may have their temp sensors up against the hottest component, and Samsungs may have theirs off in a cool corner of the case, but they do seem cooler.  Power usage seems to me to be the same.  Reliability of course is the most important factor, and the jury is still out on Samsungs.  There have been quite a few DOA, but that seems more or less to be true of all drive makers currently.  Before they became so popular on Newegg, they were the cheapest, but no longer.  I'd like to hear others opinions, and see their speed data.

 

Samsung 500GB, SATA300,          on MB,  parity, temp=32C,  84.1 MB/sec

Seagate 500GB, SATA300, 7200.10, on MB,  disk1,  temp=38C,  74.4 MB/sec

Samsung 500GB, SATA300, on PCIe x1 card, disk2,  temp=32C,  84.5 MB/sec

Seagate 500GB, SATA300, 7200.10, on MB,  disk3,  temp=40C,  72.5 MB/sec

Seagate 250GB, SATA150, 7200.9,  on MB,  disk4,  temp=40C,  65.0 MB/sec

Maxtor  300GB, IDE133,          on MB,  disk5,  temp=37C,  60.9 MB/sec

Seagate 320GB, SATA300, on PCIe x1 card, disk6,  temp=40C,  77.4 MB/sec

 

 

[flambot]

I've heard some good things about Samsung drives.  They're a little cheaper than the Seagate ones,but not much.  Hope to get a few more perspectives.  Does anyone know why WD drives are so much cheaper?  Are they reliable?

[RobJ]

You might want to think about these: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=880.0.

 

[melechmet]

Cant wait for the sammy 1 gig-ers to come out. November?

[flambot]

Had an interesting chat to a local supplier couple of days ago.  He recommended WD HDD's - mainly because of the success he'd had with them in Oz.  Seems like the Australian supplier is trying to create a bigger market here in NZ so is pricing the drives aggressively (the reason they are cheaper).  He also suggested the Seagates are popular because of greater marketing / supplier presence.  There are three Seagate distributors in NZ compared to only one for WD.  He also said WD was big in Oz and was surprised people in NZ desired Seagate more.  (On a suspicious note - he could get a greater return for selling WD compared to Seagate).

 

I think I'll try a couple of WD drives next.  Means I'll have to replace the parity HDD with a bigger though  .  I guess at the end of the day it's all personal experience with a particular brand.

[Tybio]

I've had GREAT luck with the AAKS line, which the new $200 750gb drive is a member of.  I've never had as solidly preforming drives as these.  I'm currently using 7 of them in an unRAID box and LOVE it.

 

That said, the more consumer box-store based WD lines are VERY questionable.  I can't recommend the AAKS line enough, but if your not going to pay the small premium over the lower end line then I'd go with someone else.  All of this is from personal use, I'm not Tom or working for Anandtech...but I'll be filling out my unRAID box and desktops with the current AAKS line of WD drives until something better comes along.

[flambot]

I've had GREAT luck with the AAKS line, which the new $200 750gb drive is a member of.  I've never had as solidly preforming drives as these.  I'm currently using 7 of them in an unRAID box and LOVE it.

 

That said, the more consumer box-store based WD lines are VERY questionable.  I can't recommend the AAKS line enough, but if your not going to pay the small premium over the lower end line then I'd go with someone else.  All of this is from personal use, I'm not Tom or working for Anandtech...but I'll be filling out my unRAID box and desktops with the current AAKS line of WD drives until something better comes along.

 

Thx for your thoughts.  I just noticed the WD 750's I've been looking at are the AAKS line - so all very well and good.  The Seagates cost $65 more than the WD's - soon adds up on a box of HDD's.  Have to wait for my SATA expansion cards to arrive before I can mount any more.  Next week I hope.

[Koolkiwi]

Hi Flambot, fellow Kiwi here.

 

I started out using the Seagate 500GB SATA drives, and have just made the jump to 750GB in the form of the WD7500AAKS.

 

What triggered me was the price of the WD7500AAKS dropping below NZ$.50/GB.  Still more expensive than you can now get the 500GB drives (per GB), but considering I paid NZ$.50+ per GB for the 6x Seagate 500GB drives I have, I'm a happy camper!

 

Reading the various reviews, the WD7500AAKS appears to perhaps be an even better drive than the Seagate 500GB, in terms of noise level and performance.  The only negative comment I saw was the relatively higher start-up current, but if you have a decent Power Supply this shouldn't be any major concern.

 

I bought my first WD7500AAKS a couple of weeks ago and swapped out my parity drive (giving me only a 500GB additional data drive from the old parity), but looking forward to adding the next one with a huge 750GB capacity per drive.  Assuming I eventually add another 7 drives to my array, this will equate to an extra 1.75TB over what I would have had with the 500GB drives.

 

I don't have the screen in front of me at the moment, but from memory the 750GB WD was actually more than 150% of the formatted capacity of the Seagate 500GB drives. I can check this later, unless someone else has the numbers.