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#371324 - 16/10/2018 14:20 Using a NAS/enteprise hard disk as a desktop drive
BartDG
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/05/2001
Posts: 2616
Loc: Bruges, Belgium
Hi Guys,

In my PC I use an SSD for the OS, and a regular HD for storage. The current storage drive, a 6 TB Western Digital (green) model drive is getting cramped again so I guess it's time for an upgrade.

In the last couple of years I always did this like so : I bought a newer and bigger model, copied everything from the old storage drive onto the new one, replaced the drive and put the old drive on the shelf, as a sort of backup in case the new drive would fail in the first couple of months of use.

This modus operandi has worked fine for years, but now I'm facing a problem : it seems most manufacturers stop making desktop drives at 6 TB. They do have NAS drives or enterprise drives that are bigger, but I'm not sure if I can use one of those drives in my desktop PC without problems.

The only manufacturer that seems to have desktop drives bigger than 6 TB is Seagate, in their Barracuda series. But it's Seagate, you know... I've been burned by that brand in the past (multiple times) and I don't know if I want to take that plunge again. On the other hand, I know one bad series does not make a bad brand... Oh, and there's Toshiba also, but reviews about these disks are scarce and users reviews on Amazon and other are not exactly comforting.

If I could choose, I would put a HGST Ultrastar 8 TB or 10 TB drive into my PC, but as said I'm still not sure if that's a good idea. I've heard about TLER and stuff like that and I'm not sure if this could end up in data loss because enterprise disks are not meant to be used that way?

So should I do it, or simply buy a Seagate drive?
(yes, I know I could also add a second 6 TB drive, but that's an option I would like to avoid... more noise etc...)
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#371326 - 16/10/2018 17:47 Re: Using a NAS/enteprise hard disk as a desktop drive [Re: BartDG]
canuckInOR
carpal tunnel

Registered: 13/02/2002
Posts: 3212
Loc: Portland, OR
My understanding of NAS drives is that they're supposed to have improved resiliency from heat and vibration, as their intended use is packing them into a chassis with a whole bunch of other spinning drives. IMO, you would be absolutely fine putting one in a desktop, if that's what you really want to do -- personally, I don't think the cost/TB for those drives is worth it, yet.

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#371327 - 16/10/2018 20:12 Re: Using a NAS/enteprise hard disk as a desktop drive [Re: BartDG]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
Yes, nothing wrong with putting a "NAS" drive into pretty much any situation, including a desktop system. The only difference there is that a "NAS" drive with TLER will not try as hard to recover data in the event of a "bad sector". In practice, I haven't really found the extra effort taken by a "desktop" drive to help at all, so go for it!

WD also has "Red" NAS drives in large sizes, plus their "Purple" drives labelled as "for surveillance systems". As near as I can tell from using one, the Purple drives are the same as the Red Drives, but with the addition of the ATA Streaming Command Set. Most software outside of a dedicated PVR/Camera recorder will just ignore the extra "Streaming" commands, and all of the normal capabilities are still there.

Cheers
-ml

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#371328 - 16/10/2018 20:35 Re: Using a NAS/enteprise hard disk as a desktop drive [Re: mlord]
BartDG
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/05/2001
Posts: 2616
Loc: Bruges, Belgium
Thanks Mark! That's comforting!
Mind if I ask you what your stance is on HGST drives? More in particular their new helium Ultrastar drives? I might be able to buy one of those at a very good price, but it's an OEM so I only get 3 months of warranty...
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#371330 - 16/10/2018 20:57 Re: Using a NAS/enteprise hard disk as a desktop drive [Re: BartDG]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14472
Loc: Canada
I don't have an informed opinion on HGST drives. Other writers seem to consistently rank some HGST drives as the most reliable out there, but no relevant experience here.

I do like their firmware -- very capable and standards compliant, and (at one time at least) they didn't play silly marketing games by picking and choosing different features to colour their lineup. smile

Cheers

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#371332 - 16/10/2018 21:14 Re: Using a NAS/enteprise hard disk as a desktop drive [Re: mlord]
BartDG
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/05/2001
Posts: 2616
Loc: Bruges, Belgium
Good enough for me! Cheers Mark!
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Riocar 80gig (010102106) - backup

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#371333 - 16/10/2018 22:11 Re: Using a NAS/enteprise hard disk as a desktop drive [Re: BartDG]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
Good timing, Backblaze just published their most recent report on hard drive reliability:

https://www.backblaze.com/blog/2018-hard-drive-failire-rates/

My anecdotal, non-scientific personal experience is that Seagate should be avoided, and the backblaze reports seem to continue to support that.
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Tony Fabris

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#371334 - 17/10/2018 01:22 Re: Using a NAS/enteprise hard disk as a desktop drive [Re: tfabris]
tanstaafl.
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/07/1999
Posts: 5539
Loc: Ajijic, Mexico
Originally Posted By: tfabris
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/2018-hard-drive-failire-rates/

My anecdotal, non-scientific personal experience is that Seagate should be avoided, and the backblaze reports seem to continue to support that.

Notes and Observations
The failure rates of all of the larger drives (8, 10, and 12 TB) are very good: 1.21% AFR (Annualized Failure Rate) or less. In particular, the Seagate 10TB drives, which have been in operation for over 1 year now, are performing very nicely with a failure rate of 0.48%.


tanstaafl.
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"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

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#371336 - 17/10/2018 09:20 Re: Using a NAS/enteprise hard disk as a desktop drive [Re: BartDG]
Roger
carpal tunnel

Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5680
Loc: London, UK
Your disks are going to fail. Use RAID. You are going to screw up. Make (and test) backups.
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-- roger

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#371338 - 17/10/2018 14:29 Re: Using a NAS/enteprise hard disk as a desktop drive [Re: tfabris]
BartDG
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/05/2001
Posts: 2616
Loc: Bruges, Belgium
Originally Posted By: tfabris
Good timing, Backblaze just published their most recent report on hard drive reliability:

Nice! This only strengthens my faith in HGST drives! smile

Originally Posted By: Roger
Your disks are going to fail. Use RAID. You are going to screw up. Make (and test) backups.


Very valid point, but trust me, I know. I have backups of all my important files. Next month, a new NAS will be installed also. This NAS will, amongst other things, be used to create backups of all the PC's in the house.

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