New WD Red NVMes?

[oguruma]

WD released Red NVMe drives, which they claim are for NAS use (whatever that means in terms of flash storage).

Anybody have any input on these? I am looking to build a fast NVMe-based pool for photo/video editing, and was previously set on getting Phison E12-based NVMes.

 

[NugentS]

Well NAS use with HDD's used to be about vibration, 24*7 and duty cycle. With SSD's its all about endurance. The Phison E12 is just the controller, its more about what the NAND is on the drive, is there any PLP and what is its endurance and of course its alleged transfer speed.

I don't have any of the drives in question - so can't comment on the specifics - but you need to compare the datasheets and hope that WD or the alternative haven't subbed in some inferior parts

 

[Arwen]

<sarcasm>
Since these NVMe are Reds, and not Red Pluses, do they use SMR under the hood?

Who would want a NVMe drive with SMR?
</sarcasm>

Back to reality, lots of vendors of SSDs have been caught recently changing out their components, some reducing performance, without changing the SKU or updating the data sheet / product guides.

It's understandable that vendors want to maintain their product lines. And when the desired component is no longer available, or has increased in price, a substitution has to be made. Except that it's not the same product as originally released & documented. If it were same performance, power and endurance, (or better), then their would be no problems. However, generally it's been the opposite.

 

[Etorix]

And here we see the impact of the SMR and "rpm-class" affairs… Two answers: Two warnings against any product from WD.
Congratulations to WD management and marketing for that!

I have no input on this specific product line but some general questions.
What is to be optimised in a "NAS SSD"? NAS HDDs are about vibrations in multi-drive enclosures and cut-off time for answering requests (timely admitting not to be able to retrieve data rather than trying hand and long to read anyway); none of that appear to apply to SSDs.

What is the purpose of, and requirements for, a "fast pool for editing"? What's the use case for ZFS on a scratch drive?
It seems easier to use fast local storage for editing and HDD pools for the long term, secure, storage of the valuable files. A single NVMe drive is quite fast already, and if that's not enough on can stripe two (or more) by software RAID 0 for even more throughput.