4TB NAS HDD

Sawbill · 9 Aug 2013 at 16:31

I'm looking for some large HDDs for a NAS. 4TB would be ideal. My first choice would be Western Digital Red drives, but they don't make 4TB (yet?).

Second choice would be Seagate ST4000DM000 4TB NASworks drives. But I keep hearing bad things about Seagate drives.

Third choice is 3TB WD Reds. Obviously only 75% the size.

Any thoughts about likely Seagate reliability? Any rumours about when the 4TB Reds will be available? Any other advice?

(I had hoped to put off this decision, but my existing, 8 year old, server has failed twice in the last week, so moving the data off sooner rather than later sounds like a good idea!)

Prophet · 9 Aug 2013 at 16:35

I wouldn't go for a WD Red drive. I've ordered two recently and both were DOA.

I know many people love them but getting two DOA's back to back must give some idea of their quality.

Sawbill · 9 Aug 2013 at 16:43

Prophet said:
I know many people love them but getting two DOA's back to back must give some idea of their quality.

Interesting to know. I have always found WD drives very reliable. (I have 12 1TB drives in the existing server - hence wanting large disks.) The only one that has failed was after a few years stuck in a hot space (40 degrees air temp) with poor air circulation in the case! Before using WD I had lots of drives fail after a year or two, from various manufacturers. (Usually replaced under warranty, but not what you want.)

Prophet · 9 Aug 2013 at 16:58

Yeah, I've had no issues with WD in the past and like you wanted the best available for my server. However, I just can't bring myself to order another one.

Shame really because on paper they're the drives to have.

Sawbill · 9 Aug 2013 at 17:15

Perhaps that is why there is a delay releasing the 4TB Reds, while they fix some Quality Control issues

Prophet · 9 Aug 2013 at 17:18

Sawbill said:
Perhaps that is why there is a delay releasing the 4TB Reds, while they fix some Quality Control issues

Yeah highly possbile.

When I returned the second one I got the feeling my case wasn't isolated. Could just be a bad batch but even so these drives are supposed to be built to last.