NAS Drive recommendation 8TB +

lawnpot

lawnpot

lawnpot

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20 Aug 2020
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18
Hi,

I am building a unraid server, using i3-10100 or i5-10400 as CPU. What are you recommendations for storage drives, want to keep it cheap and reliable.

also any recommendation on MB, i will be getting one with atleast 6 SATA ports and a M2 slot for OS

I will be having separate backup drive as well.

looking to build an array with 4TB HDD to start with (3 + 1 parity drive) and then extend later, depending upon, how much I can fill it up
 
What will you use the server for movies, photos etc or also as surveillance etc
For my server I tend to use WD reds, seem to be the most reliable and at reasonable prices I use mine for movies , photos, music and backups
 
Personally I think WD Red are a bit expensive after the SMR Scandal !! If you are not bothered about noise even the WD Gold are cheaper.
 
I use a Dell T20 for UnRAID. I'm sure the newer ones would be good too.

For drives, go with Seagate EXOS. I run these for work and they're amazing - let cost than reds, more reliable, quieter, longer rated lifespan ...
 
I have 10 Toshiba 3TB (CMR) P300 drives and for the money... more than happy.

I am comfortable with what I have and know they are not "NAS" drives but they are 7200rpm and get the job done but have had no total failures and after 2 years, a couple of drives are showing unreadable sectors but I am pushing them beyond their intended use so no biggie.

They are not SSD silent but they are not a tractor either, with 10 in a single case, I would expect more noise.

I always find these an interesting read...

An online backup company gets through its fair share of drives so the info they have is interesting...

Backblaze Hard Drive Stats

R7JcaqZ.png

For the most part, sticking with the big brands, despite what some may say about Brand X being ****, Brand X never failed me, there is always someone who will say the opposite.

The tech has just matured to such a point where it is as stable as anyone can make them.

Go with the drives you need for the price you can afford, just avoid SMR drives.

I would suggest looking at AMD as an option. Most people suggest "Go Intel, they are more stable" but the reality is, this is just a default, legacy mindset. AMD are making headway into the Enterprise market and it is becoming more accepted to use AMD in the server space once dominated by Intel.

It has to be remembered, companies do not refresh servers each year, it is a slow process but the numbers are climbing in AMD's favour.

I only mention this as I have seen consumer AMD boards with a shed load of SATA ports on them, the Intel chipsets always seem lite on SATA ports.

Ultimately though, something with a lower power draw the better while keeping optimum efficiency. Also, do not skimp on the heastink/fan. I would suggest Noctua for a 24x7 scenario but I am biased.

Sure, you can add seperate SATA controllers (can be pricey) but you need to factor that into how many expansion slots your board has and what your future (if any) upgrade plans are. You never have enough storage/backup space.

Some MATX boards have 2 SATA ports and worse, 2 DIMM slots.

Avoid MATX boards and go for a mid tier ATX motherboard with decent power management/components.

If your Mobo does not have an Intel NIC, BUY AN INTEL NIC.

Just my two cents. Have fun.
 
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As above it doesn't matter. When a large datacentre has 1-2% failure rate difference between thousands of drives it proves that for ANY home owner running at max 8-10 drives there really is ZERO difference, just stick to the main brands.

Look into shucking drives (the act of buying drives in external enclosures and removing the drive) as they are often cheaper than buying the drive straight up.

Also run a small SSD for your OS. Keep your data and OS separate where possible
 
I use Iron Wolfs. One died and it’s since been replaced. I’ll continue to use them, failures happen that’s why RAID is generally used on NAS’s.
 
Gimpymoo said:
I have 10 Toshiba 3TB (CMR) P300 drives and for the money... more than happy.

I am comfortable with what I have and know they are not "NAS" drives but they are 7200rpm and get the job done but have had no total failures and after 2 years, a couple of drives are showing unreadable sectors but I am pushing them beyond their intended use so no biggie.

They are not SSD silent but they are not a tractor either, with 10 in a single case, I would expect more noise.

I always find these an interesting read...

An online backup company gets through its fair share of drives so the info they have is interesting...

Backblaze Hard Drive Stats

R7JcaqZ.png

For the most part, sticking with the big brands, despite what some may say about Brand X being ****, Brand X never failed me, there is always someone who will say the opposite.

The tech has just matured to such a point where it is as stable as anyone can make them.

Go with the drives you need for the price you can afford, just avoid SMR drives.

I would suggest looking at AMD as an option. Most people suggest "Go Intel, they are more stable" but the reality is, this is just a default, legacy mindset. AMD are making headway into the Enterprise market and it is becoming more accepted to use AMD in the server space once dominated by Intel.

It has to be remembered, companies do not refresh servers each year, it is a slow process but the numbers are climbing in AMD's favour.

I only mention this as I have seen consumer AMD boards with a shed load of SATA ports on them, the Intel chipsets always seem lite on SATA ports.

Ultimately though, something with a lower power draw the better while keeping optimum efficiency. Also, do not skimp on the heastink/fan. I would suggest Noctua for a 24x7 scenario but I am biased.

Sure, you can add seperate SATA controllers (can be pricey) but you need to factor that into how many expansion slots your board has and what your future (if any) upgrade plans are. You never have enough storage/backup space.

Some MATX boards have 2 SATA ports and worse, 2 DIMM slots.

Avoid MATX boards and go for a mid tier ATX motherboard with decent power management/components.

If your Mobo does not have an Intel NIC, BUY AN INTEL NIC.

Just my two cents. Have fun.
Click to expand...
 
thank you for informative and detailed post. I started with opting for AMD based NAS for unrai but google search/forums say there is too much tweaking and there are issues implementing unraid on AMD architecture. I don't have all the specifics but flavour was to avoid AM4 for unraid. Which shifted me to intel.

what will you recommend for AM4 NAS build pls - HW , Software
 
lawnpot said:
thank you for informative and detailed post. I started with opting for AMD based NAS for unrai but google search/forums say there is too much tweaking and there are issues implementing unraid on AMD architecture. I don't have all the specifics but flavour was to avoid AM4 for unraid. Which shifted me to intel.

what will you recommend for AM4 NAS build pls - HW , Software
Click to expand...

For UnRAID, a Dell PowerEdge T40 Xeon E-2224G would do you well
 
lawnpot said:
thank you for informative and detailed post. I started with opting for AMD based NAS for unrai but google search/forums say there is too much tweaking and there are issues implementing unraid on AMD architecture. I don't have all the specifics but flavour was to avoid AM4 for unraid. Which shifted me to intel.

what will you recommend for AM4 NAS build pls - HW , Software
Click to expand...

What is the intended use for the appliance?

Simply managing data? Any media transcoding?
 
hands on heart, i have probably 6-10 drives failed for me in my life of building computers (for myself and friends mostly) - more than most. most of those failures were really early days when 500GB was the biggest drives. and I remember Maxtor was the most common failed drives. I also had a couple of seagate 3TB drives (not NAS rated ones) failed on me in a raid 5 on my first file server. one dropped out of the raid, as I was in the process of transferring data to a single large capacity drive, another dropped out after the data transfer. it was lucky. i recommissioned the 3rd one for for a new 4 bay QNAP NAS and used it as the NAS OS and backup for my pcs. it also failed some time after but stored my data on 3 ironwolf. since then, i am still using that failed drive for recording TV shows (it still works just need a low level formatting now and then) when i am away. and the ironwolfs (6TB each) have been solid. sold 2 and kept one. that one has been goign strong since 2013.

morale of the story, nowadays, i look to get NAS or enterprise rated drives. consumer ones, i just dont have much faith in. they used to be bad, and I think they are still bad.
 
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