"Western Digital admits 2TB-6TB WD Red NAS drives use shingled magnetic recording" from Blocks & Files

[Johnnie Black]

Well, after a quick google search I see the WD40EFAX with 256MB cache in a WD pdf, so there's a new SMR 4TB.

 

[Yorick]

AFAIK WD40EFAX isn't yet available, and the WD40EFRX is CMR, but wouldn't be surprised if one is/was launched recently.

Newegg claims these are in stock: https://www.newegg.com/red-wd40efax-4tb/p/N82E16822234409

 

[Johnnie Black]

Newegg claims these are in stock

Yes, like posted above I found a WD PDF with that model, there's also the equivalent Blue line WD40EZAZ, you can add both to the SMR list.

 

[mistermanko]

https://geizhals.de/western-digital-wd-red-2tb-wd20efax-a1988912.html - listed since 13.02.2019, 18:40
https://geizhals.de/western-digital-wd-red-4tb-wd40efax-a2213233.html - listed since 23.01.2020, 10:48
https://geizhals.de/western-digital-wd-red-6tb-wd60efax-a1988910.html - listed since 13.02.2019, 18:31

 

[Yorick]

Yes, like posted above I found a WD PDF with that model, there's also the equivalent Blue line WD40EZAZ, you can add both to the SMR list.

Oh they've been in there since a little earlier this morning :).

The good news is that the only NAS drives in that list are WD Red 2TB through 6TB, EFAX models. Which means the majority of "SOHO NAS" drives remain safe to use. Desktop drives should be considered off-limits, I think we'll just see more DM-SMR there over time. It makes sense for a desktop use case.

 

[elorimer]

I'm a little confused by the discussion here on the 4TB. I received a WD Red 4TB EFAX from Amazon yesterday, returned it and ordered the EFRX for a little more money. This morning both are showing, but the EFAX is now cheaper. So the EFAX version is most definitely in the market.

 

[Johnnie Black]

Oh they've been in there since a little earlier this morning :).

Not thre 4TB Blue.

 

[Yorick]

Added. It's not in the Blue Data Sheet yet. Do you have a link to it?

I think we need a guinea pig to buy an WD101EFAX and confirm whether that one is 5-platter SMR or a re-badged 6-platter HGST. Note 101, the 100 is known to be CMR.

 

[Johnnie Black]

Do you have a link to it?

No yet, but you can find it for sale, you can also add the 3TB models WD30EFAX and WD30EZAZ

I think we need a guinea pig to buy an WD101EFAX and confirm whether that one is 5-platter SMR or a re-badged 6-platter HGST. Note 101, the 100 is known to be CMR.

Don't known about that one, basically depends on the number of platers, if it's a 5 platter model it's SMR, 6 platters would be a HGST rebadge.

 

[FJep]

and the WD40EFRX is CMR

So it seems I am safe.

Here is the output of the first of my four WD40EFRX:

Show : camcontrol identify, smartctl -x

Code:

# camcontrol identify /dev/ada2
pass2: <WDC WD40EFRX-68N32N0 82.00A82> ACS-3 ATA SATA 3.x device
pass2: 600.000MB/s transfers (SATA 3.x, UDMA6, PIO 8192bytes)

protocol              ACS-3 ATA SATA 3.x
device model          WDC WD40EFRX-68N32N0
firmware revision     82.00A82
serial number         WD-
WWN                   50014ee2644fe006
additional product id
cylinders             16383
heads                 16
sectors/track         63
sector size           logical 512, physical 4096, offset 0
LBA supported         268435455 sectors
LBA48 supported       7814037168 sectors
PIO supported         PIO4
DMA supported         WDMA2 UDMA6
media RPM             5400
Zoned-Device Commands no

Feature                      Support  Enabled   Value           Vendor
read ahead                     yes      yes
write cache                    yes      yes
flush cache                    yes      yes
Native Command Queuing (NCQ)   yes              32 tags
NCQ Priority Information       yes
NCQ Non-Data Command           no
NCQ Streaming                  no
Receive & Send FPDMA Queued    no
NCQ Autosense                  no
SMART                          yes      yes
security                       yes      no
power management               yes      yes
microcode download             yes      yes
advanced power management      no       no
automatic acoustic management  no       no
media status notification      no       no
power-up in Standby            yes      no
write-read-verify              no       no
unload                         yes      yes
general purpose logging        yes      yes
free-fall                      no       no
sense data reporting           no       no
extended power conditions      no       no
device statistics notification no       no
Data Set Management (DSM/TRIM) no
Trusted Computing              no
encrypts all user data         no
Sanitize                       no
Host Protected Area (HPA)      yes      no      7814037168/7814037168
HPA - Security                 yes      no
Accessible Max Address Config  no

smartctl 7.0 2018-12-30 r4883 [FreeBSD 11.3-RELEASE-p5 amd64] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-18, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Western Digital Red
Device Model:     WDC WD40EFRX-68N32N0
Serial Number:    WD-
LU WWN Device Id: 5 0014ee 2644fe006
Firmware Version: 82.00A82
User Capacity:    4,000,787,030,016 bytes [4.00 TB]
Sector Sizes:     512 bytes logical, 4096 bytes physical
Rotation Rate:    5400 rpm
Form Factor:      3.5 inches
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   ACS-3 T13/2161-D revision 5
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.1, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Fri Apr 17 08:35:44 2020 CEST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled
AAM feature is:   Unavailable
APM feature is:   Unavailable
Rd look-ahead is: Enabled
Write cache is:   Enabled
DSN feature is:   Unavailable
ATA Security is:  Disabled, frozen [SEC2]
Wt Cache Reorder: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x00)    Offline data collection activity
                    was never started.
                    Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status:      (   0)    The previous self-test routine completed
                    without error or no self-test has ever
                    been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection:         (44400) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities:              (0x7b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
                    Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
                    Suspend Offline collection upon new
                    command.
                    Offline surface scan supported.
                    Self-test supported.
                    Conveyance Self-test supported.
                    Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities:            (0x0003)    Saves SMART data before entering
                    power-saving mode.
                    Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability:        (0x01)    Error logging supported.
                    General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time:      (   2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time:      ( 471) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time:      (   5) minutes.
SCT capabilities:            (0x303d)    SCT Status supported.
                    SCT Error Recovery Control supported.
                    SCT Feature Control supported.
                    SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAGS    VALUE WORST THRESH FAIL RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     POSR-K   200   200   051    -    0
  3 Spin_Up_Time            POS--K   195   181   021    -    5208
  4 Start_Stop_Count        -O--CK   100   100   000    -    19
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   PO--CK   200   200   140    -    0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         -OSR-K   200   200   000    -    0
  9 Power_On_Hours          -O--CK   069   069   000    -    23123
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        -O--CK   100   253   000    -    0
 11 Calibration_Retry_Count -O--CK   100   253   000    -    0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       -O--CK   100   100   000    -    19
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count -O--CK   200   200   000    -    9
193 Load_Cycle_Count        -O--CK   200   200   000    -    59
194 Temperature_Celsius     -O---K   123   113   000    -    27
196 Reallocated_Event_Count -O--CK   200   200   000    -    0
197 Current_Pending_Sector  -O--CK   200   200   000    -    0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   ----CK   100   253   000    -    0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    -O--CK   200   200   000    -    0
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate   ---R--   100   253   000    -    0
                            ||||||_ K auto-keep
                            |||||__ C event count
                            ||||___ R error rate
                            |||____ S speed/performance
                            ||_____ O updated online
                            |______ P prefailure warning

General Purpose Log Directory Version 1
SMART           Log Directory Version 1 [multi-sector log support]
Address    Access  R/W   Size  Description
0x00       GPL,SL  R/O      1  Log Directory
0x01           SL  R/O      1  Summary SMART error log
0x02           SL  R/O      5  Comprehensive SMART error log
0x03       GPL     R/O      6  Ext. Comprehensive SMART error log
0x04       GPL,SL  R/O      8  Device Statistics log
0x06           SL  R/O      1  SMART self-test log
0x07       GPL     R/O      1  Extended self-test log
0x09           SL  R/W      1  Selective self-test log
0x10       GPL     R/O      1  NCQ Command Error log
0x11       GPL     R/O      1  SATA Phy Event Counters log
0x30       GPL,SL  R/O      9  IDENTIFY DEVICE data log
0x80-0x9f  GPL,SL  R/W     16  Host vendor specific log
0xa0-0xa7  GPL,SL  VS      16  Device vendor specific log
0xa8-0xb6  GPL,SL  VS       1  Device vendor specific log
0xb7       GPL,SL  VS      56  Device vendor specific log
0xbd       GPL,SL  VS       1  Device vendor specific log
0xc0       GPL,SL  VS       1  Device vendor specific log
0xc1       GPL     VS      93  Device vendor specific log
0xe0       GPL,SL  R/W      1  SCT Command/Status
0xe1       GPL,SL  R/W      1  SCT Data Transfer

SMART Extended Comprehensive Error Log Version: 1 (6 sectors)
No Errors Logged

SMART Extended Self-test Log Version: 1 (1 sectors)
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     23000         -
# 2  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     22832         -
# 3  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     22665         -
# 4  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     22498         -
# 5  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     22331         -
# 6  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     22162         -
# 7  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     21994         -
# 8  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     21827         -
# 9  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     21659         -
#10  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     21491         -
#11  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     21323         -
#12  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     21155         -
#13  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     20987         -
#14  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     20820         -
#15  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     20652         -
#16  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     20484         -
#17  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     20316         -
#18  Short offline       Completed without error       00%     20148         -

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
 SPAN  MIN_LBA  MAX_LBA  CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
    1        0        0  Not_testing
    2        0        0  Not_testing
    3        0        0  Not_testing
    4        0        0  Not_testing
    5        0        0  Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
  After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

SCT Status Version:                  3
SCT Version (vendor specific):       258 (0x0102)
Device State:                        Active (0)
Current Temperature:                    27 Celsius
Power Cycle Min/Max Temperature:     25/34 Celsius
Lifetime    Min/Max Temperature:     22/37 Celsius
Under/Over Temperature Limit Count:   0/0
Vendor specific:
01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

SCT Temperature History Version:     2
Temperature Sampling Period:         1 minute
Temperature Logging Interval:        1 minute
Min/Max recommended Temperature:      0/65 Celsius
Min/Max Temperature Limit:           -41/85 Celsius
Temperature History Size (Index):    478 (184)

Index    Estimated Time   Temperature Celsius
 185    2020-04-17 00:38    27  ********
 ...    ..( 92 skipped).    ..  ********
 278    2020-04-17 02:11    27  ********
 279    2020-04-17 02:12    28  *********
 ...    ..( 74 skipped).    ..  *********
 354    2020-04-17 03:27    28  *********
 355    2020-04-17 03:28    27  ********
 ...    ..( 67 skipped).    ..  ********
 423    2020-04-17 04:36    27  ********
 424    2020-04-17 04:37    28  *********
 ...    ..( 51 skipped).    ..  *********
 476    2020-04-17 05:29    28  *********
 477    2020-04-17 05:30    27  ********
 ...    ..(184 skipped).    ..  ********
 184    2020-04-17 08:35    27  ********

SCT Error Recovery Control:
           Read:     70 (7.0 seconds)
          Write:     70 (7.0 seconds)

Device Statistics (GP Log 0x04)
Page  Offset Size        Value Flags Description
0x01  =====  =               =  ===  == General Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x01  0x008  4              19  ---  Lifetime Power-On Resets
0x01  0x010  4           23123  ---  Power-on Hours
0x01  0x018  6     63675461816  ---  Logical Sectors Written
0x01  0x020  6      1716944626  ---  Number of Write Commands
0x01  0x028  6    152539196115  ---  Logical Sectors Read
0x01  0x030  6       943465611  ---  Number of Read Commands
0x01  0x038  6      1638421376  ---  Date and Time TimeStamp
0x03  =====  =               =  ===  == Rotating Media Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x03  0x008  4           23012  ---  Spindle Motor Power-on Hours
0x03  0x010  4           23010  ---  Head Flying Hours
0x03  0x018  4              69  ---  Head Load Events
0x03  0x020  4               0  ---  Number of Reallocated Logical Sectors
0x03  0x028  4               2  ---  Read Recovery Attempts
0x03  0x030  4               0  ---  Number of Mechanical Start Failures
0x03  0x038  4               0  ---  Number of Realloc. Candidate Logical Sectors
0x03  0x040  4               9  ---  Number of High Priority Unload Events
0x04  =====  =               =  ===  == General Errors Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x04  0x008  4               0  ---  Number of Reported Uncorrectable Errors
0x04  0x010  4               0  ---  Resets Between Cmd Acceptance and Completion
0x05  =====  =               =  ===  == Temperature Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x05  0x008  1              27  ---  Current Temperature
0x05  0x010  1              27  ---  Average Short Term Temperature
0x05  0x018  1              26  ---  Average Long Term Temperature
0x05  0x020  1              37  ---  Highest Temperature
0x05  0x028  1              22  ---  Lowest Temperature
0x05  0x030  1              34  ---  Highest Average Short Term Temperature
0x05  0x038  1              22  ---  Lowest Average Short Term Temperature
0x05  0x040  1              31  ---  Highest Average Long Term Temperature
0x05  0x048  1              25  ---  Lowest Average Long Term Temperature
0x05  0x050  4               0  ---  Time in Over-Temperature
0x05  0x058  1              65  ---  Specified Maximum Operating Temperature
0x05  0x060  4               0  ---  Time in Under-Temperature
0x05  0x068  1               0  ---  Specified Minimum Operating Temperature
0x06  =====  =               =  ===  == Transport Statistics (rev 1) ==
0x06  0x008  4             156  ---  Number of Hardware Resets
0x06  0x010  4              93  ---  Number of ASR Events
0x06  0x018  4               0  ---  Number of Interface CRC Errors
                                |||_ C monitored condition met
                                ||__ D supports DSN
                                |___ N normalized value

Pending Defects log (GP Log 0x0c) not supported

SATA Phy Event Counters (GP Log 0x11)
ID      Size     Value  Description
0x0001  2            0  Command failed due to ICRC error
0x0002  2            0  R_ERR response for data FIS
0x0003  2            0  R_ERR response for device-to-host data FIS
0x0004  2            0  R_ERR response for host-to-device data FIS
0x0005  2            0  R_ERR response for non-data FIS
0x0006  2            0  R_ERR response for device-to-host non-data FIS
0x0007  2            0  R_ERR response for host-to-device non-data FIS
0x0008  2            0  Device-to-host non-data FIS retries
0x0009  2           42  Transition from drive PhyRdy to drive PhyNRdy
0x000a  2           43  Device-to-host register FISes sent due to a COMRESET
0x000b  2            0  CRC errors within host-to-device FIS
0x000d  2            0  Non-CRC errors within host-to-device FIS
0x000f  2            0  R_ERR response for host-to-device data FIS, CRC
0x0012  2            0  R_ERR response for host-to-device non-data FIS, CRC
0x8000  4     43295282  Vendor specific

 

[Tempted]

Hi,

I'm currently piecing together my shopping list for a FreeNAS build and had already received 6x WD 4TB (WD40EFAX) drives. I don't fully understand the issue, but I gather that basically these drives are not suitable to be used in a RAIDZ configuration?

If that is the case, I can hopefully return them, but what acceptable alternatives are there?

Many thanks

 

[Yorick]

> I don't fully understand the issue, but I gather that basically these drives are not suitable to be used in a RAIDZ configuration?

That is correct, due to a firmware issue in these drives that WD does not acknowledge as a firmware issue. Currently, the drives fail out of a resilver, because they return errors when confronted with ZFS access/write patterns during resilver.
If this issue was resolved, the drives could be used for an archival raidz1/2/3, that is, write once read many, with the understanding that resilver may take 5 days or longer.

Since CMR drives are readily available and not any more expensive, your best bet is to go with CMR, not SMR, drives for ZFS.

From what I can see, safe bets right now that fit the "SOHO NAS" category are:

WD Red 8TB and larger
WD Red Pro
HGST Ultrastar HE, including shucked ones (WD Elements 8TB and up, but check drive type inside before shucking)
Seagate Ironwolf / Pro
Toshiba N300 / X300

Also, if you can find some WD40EFRX drives, those will be fine, as they are CMR.

Edit: Food for thought - the WD40EFAX is 120 bucks, the WD Elements 8TB is 130-140 bucks. The Elements is likely to contain a HGST 8TB HE10 (Helium) with firmware that restricts it to 5400rpm and 8TB. The one caveat with going for shucked drives is that WD will not honor the warranty, and that you'll need to make sure not to deliver 3.3V to the drive. Whether that tradeoff is worth the extra capacity is for you to decide. Note that Backblaze is using a large quantity of shucked drives, which they simply replace when they fail.
Edit 2: Newegg still sells WD40EFRX, at https://www.newegg.com/red-wd40efrx-4tb/p/N82E16822236599

 

[Tempted]

Thanks Yorick.

This is most frustrating. The WD Pro drives are significantly more expensive than the ones I already have in what was already nearly 50% of the build cost.

Does anyone have much experience of the Seagate drives? Having had some failures of other manufacturer drives over the past 20 years, I've almost exclusively used WD and would have preferred to continue.

 

[mistermanko]

@Tempted German website geizhals has a CMR category for drives:

Festplatten & SSDs Hard Disk Drives (HDD) mit Eignung: NAS, Einzelkapazität: 4TB, Aufnahmeverfahren: Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR) Preisvergleich Geizhals EU

Preisvergleich und Bewertungen für Festplatten & SSDs Hard Disk Drives (HDD) mit Eignung: NAS, Einzelkapazität: 4TB, Aufnahmeverfahren: Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR)

geizhals.eu

WD40EFRX

is atm the cheapest option for 4TB in EU (€/TB), shipping excl.

 

[Tempted]

Thanks for the info guys.

Luckily I've been able to arrange a return for the original drives and purchased the WD40EFRX mentioned. Cost more than originally paid, but just happy I didn't find this out after installing them all and likely not being able to return them.

Thanks again :)

 

[Tempted]

I had an article appear on my newsfeed just now about this subject and after reading that, decided to check my order containing the replacement EFRX drives I ordered yesterday and it seems this debacle has become an ordeal. Despite asking the customer services rep to repeat the SKU over the phone and it being as expected, they've added the EFAX model to my order. Not sure what their game is here, but since making this amendment, their website no longer shows the EFRX model at all. Quite disappointed to see this, as I'm adamant what we spoke about was 100% correct

This cloud has a silver lining though, as I started Googling EFRX drives and ended up on the WD website (I never even knew they sold direct) where I was able to order my drives, along with a spare (7 drives) for £80 LESS than the 6 drives I'd previously ordered. The only caveat being that they're on back order, so I really hope they aren't discontinued...

 

[elorimer]

Fingers crossed here. I ordered an EFRX Wednesday and it hasn't shipped yet. I think there might be huge confusion in the market.

 

[proto]

The only caveat being that they're on back order, so I really hope they aren't discontinued...

it's 2-3 weeks all over EU for EFRX from WD Shop.

My local B2B store (italy) 4TB EFRX disappeared some times ago and now it proposes EFAX only as an alternative product, but they are in limited quantity and they are in promo.
3TB EFRX are still available.

 

[Tempted]

it's 2-3 weeks all over EU for EFRX from WD Shop.

My local B2B store (italy) 4TB EFRX disappeared some times ago and now it proposes EFAX only as an alternative product, but they are in limited quantity and they are in promo.
3TB EFRX are still available.

I ended up cancelling my order as it looked a lot like they were becoming harder to get hold of and I had enough problem getting other parts for my build in the current climate. I've now re-ordered 3TB drives, which for the sake of £70 is a real shame I didn't manage to get the extra capacity, but I don't need the extra stress of waiting 3-4 weeks and potentially still having to source an alternative. At least the 3's are in stock, as mentioned.

 

[Matt_G]

This ticket/thread at smartmontools should be of interest here.
Beware of SMR drives in CMR clothing