New HDD confusion · DIGIT-ARC

V

Hello pals,

I need total of 2TB of internal storage. To minimize risk of data loss in case of HDD failure i m considering 4 drives of 500GB.

Already I m using WD blue 500 GB (september 2008purchase) and 1TB Green drive(april 2009 purchase). I m satisfied with Blue drive but Green drive is showing some jhols. It is detected in BIOS and can be seen when PC is started but in couple of mins it would disappear.
Hence for now I need total 2TB of new HDD space.

I need most reliable drives to avert data loss.

Open to suggestions of different types. Few things might help while suggesting 1) Around 1200GB of data is used ocassionaly only and 2) For system drive I m having a 60GB SSD 3) In my mind image of WD is better than Seagate because I dint have to RMA WD drive in last 6-7 years, which might be just an illusion 4) In current product line of WD i m inclined towards WD Black drives but totally clueless of their reliability or failure rate.

PS: in my mind I was thinking to get 4 x WD black 500GB drives but not able to find any.

Any self experience with this type of situation will also be helpful.

W

first of all in my opinion biggest factor when considering hdd reliability is luck.WD green series is not considered good by many but there are some people here who are running these drives fine for years without any issues.WD black is regarded as most reliable & performing but it is also costliest so WD Blue is a better & balanced option in terms of price & reliability.also again my personal opinion but i think it is better to buy hdd directly from seagate/WD official distributor(search their site) instead of buying from 3rd parties & especially online buying.reason is that hdd is a delicate machine so handling is very critical.official distributors get hdd's in specially packaged containers from company.from there it is then send to 3rd parties which may or may not handle them properly.in any case simple logic is more hands the hdd pass through(from factory to you) more will be the chance of mishandling.if you buy directly from official distributor then it minimizes such risks.also install crystaldisk info to continuously monitor your hdd & keep an eye on critical hdd values(like pending sector,reallocated sector & uncorrectable sector) because any change in these values indicates something is wrong with hdd.

V

I m open to spend bit more and get better reliability if WD Black drives actually provide same. For total of 2TB my budget could stretch as high as 13-14K

Get a WD Black. They are very reliable and good performance also.

L

Yes WD black is very reliable HDD because it offers more durability then WD green.

I also have WD black HDD & I am satisfied with its performance.

V

Reliability is top requirement. I was thinking to RAID 2*WD AV-GP series 2TB drives for safety and no data-loss

W

do not use WD Green in raid configuration.they have a high failure rate when put in RAID configuration.

L

vyral_143 said:
Reliability is top requirement. I was thinking to RAID 2*WD AV-GP series 2TB drives for safety and no data-loss

If by any change you are using Windows 8, use Storage Spaces feature.

I am using it with WD 2TB EARX models.

see the below link for some performance benchmarks
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/show-off/45694-post-your-latest-purchase-589.html#post1842600

V

leelaprasad said:
If by any change you are using Windows 8, use Storage Spaces feature.

I am using it with WD 2TB EARX models.

see the below link for some performance benchmarks
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/show-off/45694-post-your-latest-purchase-589.html#post1842600

Not using Windows 8. But can similar be done in Win 7 or may be via any third party app?

Well after negative reviews and comments about AV-GP I searched more and landed on WD Red drives. 2TB model is available for 7210 @ theitdepot. However I m unsure about how good price is this for a Red drive. :-?

vyral_143 said:
Hello pals,

I need total of 2TB of internal storage. To minimize risk of data loss in case of HDD failure i m considering 4 drives of 500GB.

Already I m using WD blue 500 GB (september 2008purchase) and 1TB Green drive(april 2009 purchase). I m satisfied with Blue drive but Green drive is showing some jhols. It is detected in BIOS and can be seen when PC is started but in couple of mins it would disappear.
Hence for now I need total 2TB of new HDD space.

I need most reliable drives to avert data loss.

Open to suggestions of different types. Few things might help while suggesting 1) Around 1200GB of data is used ocassionaly only and 2) For system drive I m having a 60GB SSD 3) In my mind image of WD is better than Seagate because I dint have to RMA WD drive in last 6-7 years, which might be just an illusion 4) In current product line of WD i m inclined towards WD Black drives but totally clueless of their reliability or failure rate.

PS: in my mind I was thinking to get 4 x WD black 500GB drives but not able to find any.

Any self experience with this type of situation will also be helpful.

If you want to go for raid, you can get 2x1TB drives, 4xRAID are useful in data centers, the chances of 2 drives to go bad simultaneously are astronomically low, specially if you keep an eye on their SMART status regularly.

For best results I recommend WD Reds, these are designed for RAID use.

V

tkin said:
If you want to go for raid, you can get 2x1TB drives, 4xRAID are useful in data centers, the chances of 2 drives to go bad simultaneously are astronomically low, specially if you keep an eye on their SMART status regularly.

For best results I recommend WD Reds, these are designed for RAID use.

Yes I have almost finalized on 2*2TB in RAID 1. WD Red drives are under my consideration but not sure is their pricing correct at theitdepot where 2TB is costing 7210.

vyral_143 said:
Yes I have almost finalized on 2*2TB in RAID 1. WD Red drives are under my consideration but not sure is their pricing correct at theitdepot where 2TB is costing 7210.

What's wrong with the pricing of WD Red? In my opinion they are already offering excellent pricing on WD Red.

V

d6bmg said:
What's wrong with the pricing of WD Red? In my opinion they are already offering excellent pricing on WD Red.

I m not saying anything is wrong or something but I m just confirming before buying them that I m not paying extra and somewhere else they are available for cheaper or anything else.

vyral_143 said:
I m not saying anything is wrong or something but I m just confirming before buying them that I m not paying extra and somewhere else they are available for cheaper or anything else.

WD Red isn't radially available here in India. So pricing difference might be there.

V

Got one WD Red 2TB for 7300 from Primeabgb....right now got 1 only due to fin crunch.. :razz:

L

vyral_143 said:
Not using Windows 8. But can similar be done in Win 7 or may be via any third party app?

Well after negative reviews and comments about AV-GP I searched more and landed on WD Red drives. 2TB model is available for 7210 @ theitdepot. However I m unsure about how good price is this for a Red drive.

It can be done using third party apps like FlexRaid, or you can use the Raid Controller on your MB, After trying all i ended up with Storage Spaces as it is easy to configure