Considering Toshiba N300 series drive as a viable upgrade

[SlackerDude]

Hey guys, I am soliciting advise/opinions on what to eventually replace my current WD Red 4TB drives with. I'm in no hurry to do this, as my drives have been in service for only 3.81 years, and have exhibited no issues to date (see below).
ADA0
193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 001 001 000 Old_age Always - 1006577
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 055 055 000 Old_age Always - 33333
ADA1
193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 001 001 000 Old_age Always - 1023066
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 055 055 000 Old_age Always - 33333
ADA2
193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 001 001 000 Old_age Always - 1012305
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 055 055 000 Old_age Always - 33333
ADA3
193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 001 001 000 Old_age Always - 991441
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 055 055 000 Old_age Always - 33333
ADA4
193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 001 001 000 Old_age Always - 1012913
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 055 055 000 Old_age Always - 33333
ADA5
193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 001 001 000 Old_age Always - 1008988
9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 055 055 000 Old_age Always - 33334

I'm considering the Toshiba N300 8TB drive as a replacement drive for several reasons; Though they spin at 7200 rpm, they appear to run cooler than the WD Red or Seagate Ironwolf drives, they have a 3 year warranty and the price is comparable (see linked review). Reliability tops my "needs hierarchy", followed closely by operating temperatures. Speed falls somewhat lower, which I believe will be satisfied by these drives.

Having stated that, I would appreciate your thoughts and insights.

 

[Jailer]

no issues to date

Except for that insanely high load cycle count. You need to run wdidle3 in those asap to get that under control.

I would accelerate your plan to replace those drives if they contain important data.

 

[Johnnie Black]

Though they spin at 7200 rpm, they appear to run cooler than the WD Red

Are you sure, I never used the N300, but it seems unlikely as heat is usually a direct result of the power used:

WD Red 4TB: 4.5w active / 3.3w idle
WD Red 8TB: 6.4w active / 5.2w idle
Toshiba N300 8TB: 9.2w active / 6.2w idle

 

[Chris Moore]

I bought 7 Toshiba drives to replace a set of older drives in my system and after using them for only six months, I found that they ran hotter and had a higher failure rate. In six months, two out of seven of them failed and had to be replaced. Not a good sign, and they ran five to ten degrees hotter than the Seagate Desktop drives I had replaced.
If I were going to 8TB drives, I would go with these:
https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-External-Desktop-Storage-STEL8000100/dp/B01HD6ZLQ6/ref=dp_ob_title_ce
You can easily pop them out of the housing and the drives inside are great, you just don't get a warranty, unless you can keep the housing intact to put the drive back into.

 

[Jailer]

If I were going to 8TB drives, I would go with these:

I wouldn't. They are most likely SMR drives and you do not want to put them into a FreeNAS pool.

 

[SlackerDude]

Except for that insanely high load cycle count. You need to run wdidle3 in those asap to get that under control.

I would accelerate your plan to replace those drives if they contain important data.

Thanks for that, Jailer, I will. I guess I did not realize the LCC was to be taken quite so seriously. I've been reading elsewhere here that the LCC is not necessarily an alarming issue. I have determined that the WD40EFRX drives do not support APM, so adjusting through the FreeNAS GUI is not an option. It looks like I'll be creating a DOS boot stick with wdidle3 on it to make the changes.

 

[SlackerDude]

Are you sure, I never used the N300, but it seems unlikely as heat is usually a direct result of the power used:

WD Red 4TB: 4.5w active / 3.3w idle
WD Red 8TB: 6.4w active / 5.2w idle
Toshiba N300 8TB: 9.2w active / 6.2w idle

Thanks, Johnnie Black. I had not seen power comparisons yet. It appears the WDs will be the better route.

 

[SlackerDude]

I bought 7 Toshiba drives to replace a set of older drives in my system and after using them for only six months, I found that they ran hotter and had a higher failure rate. In six months, two out of seven of them failed and had to be replaced. Not a good sign, and they ran five to ten degrees hotter than the Seagate Desktop drives I had replaced.
If I were going to 8TB drives, I would go with these:
https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-External-Desktop-Storage-STEL8000100/dp/B01HD6ZLQ6/ref=dp_ob_title_ce
You can easily pop them out of the housing and the drives inside are great, you just don't get a warranty, unless you can keep the housing intact to put the drive back into.

Thanks for sharing that, Chris Moore. I think the Toshiba drives are essentially ruled out now. I am intrigued by your recommendation you linked, although I see no reference as to what drive is used in the enclosure. I wonder if either Amazon or Newegg would be able to divulge that information...

 

[SlackerDude]

I wouldn't. They are most likely SMR drives and you do not want to put them into a FreeNAS pool.

Good point, Jailer. I know I need to use NAS quality drives, but as stated earlier, I value the knowledge and experience of the collective, so to speak.

 

[Chris Moore]

Here are photos to show:
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...h-for-better-freenas-usage.59566/#post-421870