Speaking of 3TB drives: I purchased the Western Digital "Green" drives for this setup. My initial observations of them are that (1) they are as mechanically quiet as the 2TB drives, BUT (2) they do vibrate more than the 2TB ones, and this may make them audible in some cases. I also wonder about endurance with all of that vibration.
The vibration from the extra platter is not bad -- less than a typical 7200rpm drive -- but it is noticeable when compared with the 2TB versions.
Well, almost a year later now, and I need more space. WD still haven't released a 4TB "Green" drive yet
(roadmap says 2013Q3, sometime in the summer), and the Black ones are too hot, noisy, and expensive.
So.. I discovered that Seagate, having abandoned "Green" drives, have actually come out with
a new 4TB model. They call it a "Desktop" drive rather than a "Green" drive, but it spins cool/quiet at 5900rpm just like the earlier Seagate "Green" series did.
I'm wary of Seagate from an incredible string of past (3-4 years ago) firmware and mechanical failures, but this drive is pretty much all new technology compared with those. Only 4 platters (current WD 4TB drives require 5 platters), and it really is nearly silent and vibration free -- much better even than the WD 3TB (5 platter?) drives I have.
Time will tell, but meanwhile I'll just continue to keep full backups.
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