Fish VS Wolf - higher capacity hdd questions

[Overread]

So I'm looking to upgrade my current 4TB drive to a 6TB as the data I've got stored on there is hitting the limit, even with putting all the files into 7zip compression.

So far I'm looking at Seagate Barracuda and Ironwolf which both offer 6TB options, however I'm curious which one would be the more suitable for my situation.

In general what I'm storing is STL data in zipped folders for 3D printing in my general PC. So it gets daily on-off cycles, generally used throughout the day. Folders can be a few 100 to a few GB in size (varies a lot). So there's a decent amount of reading and writing.

That said I'm currently looking at the 5400 RPM drives, both because of cost and because in general I'm not moving data at super-speedy amounts that it really should make a difference between 5400 and 7200



I know that the Barracuda are generally aimed at regular use like gaming whilst the Ironwolf are aimed at NAS storage. Now considering I've already got a decently full tower and other drives, I do wonder if some of the features of the Ironwolf might be superior since they are built to cope with more stuffed containers (NAS). However I'm led to understand from some googling that the Barracuda are potentially going to handle more on-off cycling and general random use more so than the Ironwolf. However in reading around I do notice a lot of places mostly parroting the same "one is for regular one is for NAS" level of commenting without going much further.

So has anyone here any thoughts - or alternatives I could consider



PS I know that building a NAS system would likely be the best all round in terms of data protection, reliability and all, however its just not possible at this point in time.

 

[Philtor]

Do not buy Seagate lol

Just look at the Western Digital range.. I think the reds are the go to drive here for your purpose.

Do the research but avoid Seagate imo.

 

[Overread]

What's the problem with Seagate?

 

[Snapshot]

What's the problem with Seagate?

Probably nothing these days. Some people have non-upgradeable memories of when they did have problems. The Ironwolf range seems as good as WD Red Plus and Pro and I've had a good number of the 6TB which have performed solidly in a couple of NAS. Do avoid the standard WD Reds as they're SMR rather than CMR.

 

[SpellowHouse]

So I'm looking to upgrade my current 4TB drive to a 6TB as the data I've got stored on there is hitting the limit, even with putting all the files into 7zip compression.

So far I'm looking at Seagate Barracuda and Ironwolf which both offer 6TB options, however I'm curious which one would be the more suitable for my situation.

In general what I'm storing is STL data in zipped folders for 3D printing in my general PC. So it gets daily on-off cycles, generally used throughout the day. Folders can be a few 100 to a few GB in size (varies a lot). So there's a decent amount of reading and writing.

That said I'm currently looking at the 5400 RPM drives, both because of cost and because in general I'm not moving data at super-speedy amounts that it really should make a difference between 5400 and 7200



I know that the Barracuda are generally aimed at regular use like gaming whilst the Ironwolf are aimed at NAS storage. Now considering I've already got a decently full tower and other drives, I do wonder if some of the features of the Ironwolf might be superior since they are built to cope with more stuffed containers (NAS). However I'm led to understand from some googling that the Barracuda are potentially going to handle more on-off cycling and general random use more so than the Ironwolf. However in reading around I do notice a lot of places mostly parroting the same "one is for regular one is for NAS" level of commenting without going much further.

So has anyone here any thoughts - or alternatives I could consider



PS I know that building a NAS system would likely be the best all round in terms of data protection, reliability and all, however its just not possible at this point in time.

The main thing you should look at is noise.

Generally this is why NAS drives are a poorer choice for a PC.

Barracuda are of course very good, as are WD Blue. As an exception to the rule, WD Red Plus are also very quiet.

Also, another trick that I learnt from this forum a week ago, you can just expand your existing hard drive by purchasing a 2TB Blue (for example) and then using Windows Manage Storage Spaces to turn it in to one single drive. Yeah, I didn't know Windows could do that either! The disadvantage of this is that the process wipes the drive so it needs to be restored from a backup. I am assuming you DO have a backup? Anyway, that would reduce your cost to as low as £60.