A hard drive fork in the road.

[Dirk]

Collecting hardware for my nas and now have.

Fractal 304.
16gb Crucial ECC server memory.
120GB Samsung SSD for cache.
32GB Supermicro DOM for boot.
ASRock E3C224D2I MB
Case fans changed out to 4 pin Noctua.
4 so far WD red 5200 2TB (got all 4 new in sealed box and static bag for $150, couldn't pass that up)
Sourcing Xeon processor.
Corsair 450 modular psu.

So, the question is what to do for the other 2 drives? I have read my eyes to bleeding on the subject, including Backblaze info, and Cyberjocks info on his luck with WD green and wiggle3. From that, my choices are...

2 more WD Red
2 WD green (why is it they are more expensive than the WD red? or did I miss Something?)
2 HGST HDS722020ALE (per Backblaze reliable, but also 7200 RPM and noisy)

Thanks in advance for your input, this is my first post (been in IT for 20 years though) and if there is any etiquette for posting I'm not aware of feel free to advise.

 

[Spearfoot]

The WD Reds are highly recommended here, and will run cooler than the HGST drives.

I ran 4 x 2TB WD Greens in a Synology NAS for > 25,000 hours before replacing them w/ 4TB drives and moving the survivors into my 'testbed' FreeNAS system. One of these is still spinning (at 36,000+ hours), but when the other gave up the ghost recently I replaced it with a Red.

This article suggest that the Green drives are being 'folded' into the Blue line.

 

[nojohnny101]

Some people on here advise to use different manufacturers and to buy at different times to avoid "bad batches". Others don't follow that.

If I were in your shoes I would just get 2 more REDS and be done with it. Set myself up a nice 6x2tb raidz2

 

[Mirfster]

Some here opt for diversity on drives to avoid any pitfalls with a particular brand/model. I am a HGST fanboy and pretty much run them exclusively. All in all it is personal preference IMHO. Just beware of some makes/models that may have a bad reputation; however even those are debatable.

/I saw nojohnny101 just posted pretty much the same thing, but was already done typing and going to post anyways... :P

 

[Dirk]

The WD Reds are highly recommended here, and will run cooler than the HGST drives.

I ran 4 x 2TB WD Greens in a Synology NAS for > 25,000 hours before replacing them w/ 4TB drives and moving the survivors into my 'testbed' FreeNAS system. One of these is still spinning (at 36,000+ hours), but when the other gave up the ghost recently I replaced it with a Red.

This article suggest that the Green drives are being 'folded' into the Blue line.

Thanks for the article, I was not aware of that so nix on the Green since for some reason they are also more expensive. Also, the reputation of the HGST is great, but the added RPM/heat/noise (noise from consumer reports) was a concern.

 

[Dirk]

Some people on here advise to use different manufacturers and to buy at different times to avoid "bad batches". Others don't follow that.

If I were in your shoes I would just get 2 more REDS and be done with it. Set myself up a nice 6x2tb raidz2

raidz2 was where i was going, and since the last two would be a separate purchase I should get a different batch. The first 4 in hand were all surface scanned and tested.

 

[Ericloewe]

his article suggest that the Green drives are being 'folded' into the Blue line.

"Renamed, in a completely consumer-hostile move designed to cause confusion and make some MBAs feel better about their marketing circlejerk" is a more apt description.

 

[Dirk]

"Renamed, in a completely consumer-hostile move designed to cause confusion and make some MBAs feel better about their marketing circlejerk" is a more apt description.

This kind of information is why I like DeadPool so much! No sugar coating, no BS, just tell it like it is!

I call upon all computer savvy people to rise up against the man and his over rated, over priced don't do what you told us it would do and for how long you said it would stuff, and say out loud!

"I'm sorry, you seem to think you're talking to the same people your dad was talking to in 1985. We've gotten a little smarter!"

Thanks to all that offered input, I'll go with 2 more WD Red. Just wish Newegg would put them on sale more often. They are now pushing the 4 and 6 and the 2 has been holding at $90 for some time.

One more thing, in regards to the fist post, anyone have any input on why the Green would be more than the Red for the 2TB? Maybe WD ran up the price so people would not balk at the Blue price when they drop the Green?

 

[Ericloewe]

One more thing, in regards to the fist post, anyone have any input on why the Green would be more than the Red for the 2TB?

Probably because it's getting "rare" (with a green label).

 

[jgreco]

One more thing, in regards to the fist post, anyone have any input on why the Green would be more than the Red for the 2TB? Maybe WD ran up the price so people would not balk at the Blue price when they drop the Green?

Pricing is largely artificial in the HDD market. For example, WD 8TB He8 enterprise drives had been showing up for awhile in WD MyBook's for ~$250/ea. Seagate sells their $200 ST4000LM016 drive for closer to $100 when it's part of their Seagate Backup Plus 4TB.