BUILD WD Hard Drives - Need Advice

[DangerIsGo]

I'm entering the FreeNAS arena shortly after many years with Windows Home Server upgraded to Windows 7/Drive Bender as my primary NAS. That is a Norco 4020 case filled with Western Digital 3TB Reds with an occasional green or smaller capacity Red. (Yeah I know the greens have to go, but they will be gone soon enough)

I came across this guy on eBay for $699:
https://www.supermicro.com/products/system/4U/6047/SSG-6047R-E1CR36N.cfm?parts=SHOW
from a post on Reddit and could absolutely not pass it up. Once I saw the specs, I knew I had struck gold, especially considering the price. 24x HDDs in the front and 12x in the rear. (I think its the same system as the iX 4236Q from ixSystems...Jupiter 4200 family to be honest)

Do I go with WD RE hard drives or will the WD Reds suffice? WD claims that the Reds are not meant for > 8 bay solutions unless you get the pros which are not meant for > 16 bays. I've heard of people across the web and on here that the Reds work just fine regardless. Are the REs worth the extra $ or should I stick with the Reds? As an added plot twist, a local guy on CL has 9 brand new RE (SATA) unopened for $130 each.
I want 4TB of course and as far as RAM goes, currently there is 96GB of DDR3 ECC Registered installed so RAM isn't an issue until I populate the rear drives.

 

[anodos]

I'm entering the FreeNAS arena shortly after many years with Windows Home Server upgraded to Windows 7/Drive Bender as my primary NAS. That is a Norco 4020 case filled with Western Digital 3TB Reds with an occasional green or smaller capacity Red. (Yeah I know the greens have to go, but they will be gone soon enough)

I came across this guy on eBay for $699:
https://www.supermicro.com/products/system/4U/6047/SSG-6047R-E1CR36N.cfm?parts=SHOW
from a post on Reddit and could absolutely not pass it up. Once I saw the specs, I knew I had struck gold, especially considering the price. 24x HDDs in the front and 12x in the rear. (I think its the same system as the iX 4236Q from ixSystems...Jupiter 4200 family to be honest)

Do I go with WD RE hard drives or will the WD Reds suffice? WD claims that the Reds are not meant for > 8 bay solutions unless you get the pros which are not meant for > 16 bays. I've heard of people across the web and on here that the Reds work just fine regardless. Are the REs worth the extra $ or should I stick with the Reds? As an added plot twist, a local guy on CL has 9 brand new RE (SATA) unopened for $130 each.
I want 4TB of course and as far as RAM goes, currently there is 96GB of DDR3 ECC Registered installed so RAM isn't an issue until I populate the rear drives.

The main difference between WD Red and Red Pro is 5x00 RPM vs 7200 RPM. Lower RPM means less heat and lower power, but less IOPS as well. The 8bay vs 16bay thing is marketing drivel. RE drives are 7200 RPM and have a longer warranty. Between the options you've listed, I'd probably go with HGST NAS drives. :D

 

[DangerIsGo]

Then what about the difference between the Red Pro and the RE? Is there a real difference?

 

[anodos]

Then what about the difference between the Red Pro and the RE? Is there a real difference?

I believe the primary difference is a URE of 10^15 vs 10^16 (whatever that really means) and an associated price tag bump. In the real world, I'm not sure if there's much of a difference. I'm sure there's some technical reasons behind these but it all sounds like deconstructionist tech-voodoo to me. :) Plus RE drives are your only option if you want a SAS drive from the lineup you've listed.

 

[tvsjr]

Funny, you probably bought from the same seller I did. I got the exact same box.

Keep in mind, you also have the option for SAS drives. Before I go any further, what I state will be risky. ENSURE you burn your drives in, have a spare (that you've also burned in), and have good backups! I picked up 7 HGST 4TB 7200RPM SAS drives off eBay for an average of $60/drive (that's 6 drives in a RAIDZ2 plus a spare). All burned in fine, and the oldest one had about 2,000 hrs of power-on time (that's less than 90 days). Half the price of buying new SATA drives, a bit better speed thanks to SAS vs. SATA, and a few more IOPS thanks to the higher rotational speed.

I'm giving away my secrets for cheap drives, but, in general, SAS drives go for way cheaper than SATA. Even in the SSD space. The market is just a lot smaller.

 

[DangerIsGo]

Was the guy that you bought from located in Woburn, MA? If so, yes. Since that's where I work, I drove on over to his warehouse and picked everything up there.

 

[Fuganater]

You can't go wrong with WD Reds for home use. Red Pros are not worth the money IMO. If you want something 'Pro' level than get WD SE drives.

 

[tvsjr]

Was the guy that you bought from located in Woburn, MA? If so, yes. Since that's where I work, I drove on over to his warehouse and picked everything up there.

Yep, same dude. Quite a nice box for the price!