WD Red Pro 20/22TB - qualified?

[Perry The Cynic]

[Is there a separate forum for IX's own hardware? I couldn't find one, but then I'm new around here.]

I see that the official hard drive compatibility list for Mini R contains all Red Pro drives up to 18TB capacity, but not the 20 and 22s. Is this just a case of the list getting updated once in a while, or are the 20+ capacity drives in some way more risky than their smaller siblings? The specs all look similar enough, though the 20+ drives have the shiny new "OptiNand" feature.

Anyway, I was going to reach for the 20TB drives in my build. Should I stick with 18TB for some reason?

Thanks
-- perry

 

[Ericloewe]

You should be fine on a Mini R. The tower-style Minis are pretty tight in terms of thermal headroom, which necessitates more careful selection of disks.
That said, all these helium drives tend to use less power than typical air-filled drives, thus running cooler. 18, 20 and 22 TB should all be helium, given current density constraints, and the datasheet does suggest as much.

 

[morganL]

[Is there a separate forum for IX's own hardware? I couldn't find one, but then I'm new around here.]

I see that the official hard drive compatibility list for Mini R contains all Red Pro drives up to 18TB capacity, but not the 20 and 22s. Is this just a case of the list getting updated once in a while, or are the 20+ capacity drives in some way more risky than their smaller siblings? The specs all look similar enough, though the 20+ drives have the shiny new "OptiNand" feature.

Anyway, I was going to reach for the 20TB drives in my build. Should I stick with 18TB for some reason?

Thanks
-- perry

Not qualified yet.

They use different firmware and have a different power profile, so we prefer to qualify properly. 18TB is better $/TB right now.

 

[morganL]

You should be fine on a Mini R. The tower-style Minis are pretty tight in terms of thermal headroom, which necessitates more careful selection of disks.
That said, all these helium drives tend to use less power than typical air-filled drives, thus running cooler. 18, 20 and 22 TB should all be helium, given current density constraints, and the datasheet does suggest as much.

I don't disagree with the logic, but we operate on the basis that if it isn't tested, it may not work as expected....

 

[Ericloewe]

That, of course, is fair and correct. Especially since WD can be full of surprises.

 

[Perry The Cynic]

How long does it usually take to qualify a new drive of this kind?

I did buy the Mini R with a firm plan to stay within its qualified envelope. Hey, I've even ordered your genuine RAM upgrade kit.

(I love tinkering as much as the next geek, but this one will run my home, and my wife isn't amused when things go wobbly while I'm out of town...)

Cheers
-- perry

 

[morganL]

How long does it usually take to qualify a new drive of this kind?

I did buy the Mini R with a firm plan to stay within its qualified envelope. Hey, I've even ordered your genuine RAM upgrade kit.

(I love tinkering as much as the next geek, but this one will run my home, and my wife isn't amused when things go wobbly while I'm out of town...)

Cheers
-- perry

Typically in 3-6 months ... the hardware group is quite busy.

 

[morganL]

Typically in 3-6 months ... the hardware group is quite busy.

Actually, testing is mostly complete.. with no known issues. We'll report formally in next 4-8 weeks.