WD Red or Blue for 2x 3TB RAID0 setup?

[Exuraz]

Hi,

 

I'm planning to get some new HDDs.

I want 2x 3TB drives in a RAID0 configuration (Yes, I know there's a risk of failure and yes, I have considered RAID5 but it would cost me another 116 euros and I've never had a drive failure before so I'm willing to take the risk for atleast the first year.)

 

I will be using them mainly for; 

- Large programs that I don't want to have on my SSD, such as the Autodesk Student Versions of 3DSMax, AutoCAD and Inventor.

- Storage for workspaces for various work I do, ranging from images to websites to video editing (I've been using a WD Black 1TB for all of this in the past and that worked out fine. For video editing I use my SSD as a rendering "cache".)

- Storage for movies, TV shows and documents.

 

I am considering either WD Reds or Blues, with the Reds currently being my choice due to their "optimizations for RAID setups" (According to some sources on the internet I read through)

and for their longer warranty. 

 

My main concern is if the Reds are suitable for application usage, as they're advertised as NAS drives and to me it seems one does not place programs on a NAS. Could be wrong there, though.

I just want my drives to last a long time is all, and I want to be able to expand them later on with another 3TB Red to make a RAID5 configuration or something. 

 

So, would the Reds be suitable for what I want to use them for, or would Blues be a better option?

 

[Cwis3man]

If you're going for Raid 0 why not use blacks?

[Vavetti]

3TB blue's don't even exist AFAIK, so red is your only option.

Even if those blue's exist I'd still go for the reds.

[79wjd]

If you're going for Raid 0 why not use blacks?

Because Red's are better for RAID, and Blacks are barely faster -- certainly not worth the higher cost.

@OP I would personally go for whichever is cheaper, but not put them in any Raid array, just store things separately on each drive, that way if one drive fails you'll only lose half your data instead of all of your data. If you really want them in Raid 0, then reds.

[Exuraz]

If you're going for Raid 0 why not use blacks?

Because they're expensive, and I don't use it for the OS. Just a couple of programs, and mostly storage. I want a durable drive that operates somewhat silent as well. 

 

3TB blue's don't even exist AFAIK, so red is your only option.

Even if those blue's exist I'd still go for the reds.

Yeah, 3TB Blue's exist. 

[Exuraz]

Because Red's are better for RAID.

@OP I would personally go for Reds, but not put them in any Raid array, just store things separately on each drive, that way if one drive fails you'll only lose half your data instead of all of your data.

But RAID0 will give me more speed, making it better for the applications I will put on it, and I like having one big drive instead of seperate ones. 

I'm also willing to take the risk of the failure, until I can get a different RAID setup that can compensate for a drive failure. 

 

I've been running a 2TB 5400 RPM HDD that I salvaged from a dropped external HDD for a bit longer than a year now, and it still works fine. That drive itself is about 3-4 years old.

[Cwis3man]

Because Red's are better for RAID.

@OP I would personally go for Reds, but not put them in any Raid array.

 

They're also slower RPM, doesn't make sense to go for Raid 0 performance unless you're going to go all out.

 

Have you considered HGST? 7200 RPM with NAS Support similar to WD Reds and a super low failure rate. 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145911&cm_re=hgst_3tb-_-22-145-911-_-Product

[Exuraz]

They're also slower RPM, doesn't make sense to go for Raid 0 performance unless you're going to go all out.

 

Have you considered HGST? 7200 RPM with NAS Support similar to WD Reds and a super low failure rate. 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145911&cm_re=hgst_3tb-_-22-145-911-_-Product

First time I hear of that drive. Looks interesting, and they're available for a similar price as the Reds in the Netherlands.

 

If they're as durable as they advertise, I might go with those. 

 

Do they have variable spin rates like the Red? Seems like an interesting addition for lower noise. Doubt it's noticable though.

[Cwis3man]

They're super reliable - check out these failure rates

 

https://www.backblaze.com/blog/best-hard-drive/

[Dimi3os]

First time I hear of that drive. Looks interesting, and they're available for a similar price as the Reds in the Netherlands.

 

If they're as durable as they advertise, I might go with those. 

 

Do they have variable spin rates like the Red? Seems like an interesting addition for lower noise. Doubt it's noticable though.

AFAIK Blues are only 1TB, could you link me larger capacity models?

[Cwis3man]

AFAIK Blues are only 1TB, could you link me larger capacity models?

 

Not sure if they've hit stores yet, but the higher capacity models dropped the rpms

 

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=770#Tab3

[Exuraz]

AFAIK Blues are only 1TB, could you link me larger capacity models?

 

Not sure if they've hit stores yet, but the higher capacity models dropped the rpms

 

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=770#Tab3

Yeah they're on the WD website and I found a 4TB SSHD on Newegg 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236983&cm_re=WD_Blue-_-22-236-983-_-Product

and I can order a 3TB model on a Dutch website. But they're 5400RPM indeed.

 

They're super reliable - check out these failure rates

 

https://www.backblaze.com/blog/best-hard-drive/

Woah they appear to be much more reliable indeed. Only 0.9 years for Reds? What do people do to those drives hahaha

[Dimi3os]

Yeah they're on the WD website and I found a 4TB SSHD on Newegg 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236983&cm_re=WD_Blue-_-22-236-983-_-Product

and I can order a 3TB model on a Dutch website. But they're 5400RPM indeed.

 

Woah they appear to be much more reliable indeed. Only 0.9 years for Reds? What do people do to those drives hahaha

 

 

Not sure if they've hit stores yet, but the higher capacity models dropped the rpms

 

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=770#Tab3

Alright, thanks

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

 

Hey there Exuraz,

 

Since you are aware of the risks of RAID0 you'd want the most stable setup you can get. I would strongly recommend using NAS/RAID class drives in order to lower the chance of drives dropping out or corrupting the data. WD Red are such drive and out of the two options that you've listed, I'd go with them.

 

WD Blue are great everyday drives and they do come with capacities over 1TB now, but they lack the NAS/RAID features in the firmware and the hardware of the drive, so I wouldn't risk it with them if the data on the array is important. 

 

If you don't necessarily need the extra speed boost of around 80% that RAID0 offers, I'd go with a single WD Black drive for better performance (compared to WD Red) and a WD Green drive for low-power, cool and quiet backup of the main drives. It really depends on what you need from the storage. Here are links with info on all four drives: 

 

WD Red: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=6GlN3R

WD Black: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=qKZhDZ

WD Green: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=sI6urv

WD Blue: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=TbBweR

 

Captain_WD.

[Exuraz]

 

Hey there Exuraz,

 

Since you are aware of the risks of RAID0 you'd want the most stable setup you can get. I would strongly recommend using NAS/RAID class drives in order to lower the chance of drives dropping out or corrupting the data. WD Red are such drive and out of the two options that you've listed, I'd go with them.

 

WD Blue are great everyday drives and they do come with capacities over 1TB now, but they lack the NAS/RAID features in the firmware and the hardware of the drive, so I wouldn't risk it with them if the data on the array is important. 

 

If you don't necessarily need the extra speed boost of around 80% that RAID0 offers, I'd go with a single WD Black drive for better performance (compared to WD Red) and a WD Green drive for low-power, cool and quiet backup of the main drives. It really depends on what you need from the storage. Here are links with info on all four drives: 

 

WD Red: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=6GlN3R

WD Black: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=qKZhDZ

WD Green: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=sI6urv

WD Blue: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=TbBweR

 

Captain_WD.

 

If I'm going with WD, I'll stick with the Reds. I feel more comfortable having 2x 3TB drives rather than a 6TB Black (If that's even a thing). 

 

Because of the reliability statistics and the extra speed I might actually go with the HGST's.

 

Thanks for the advice

[scottyseng]

If I'm going with WD, I'll stick with the Reds. I feel more comfortable having 2x 3TB drives rather than a 6TB Black (If that's even a thing). 

 

Because of the reliability statistics and the extra speed I might actually go with the HGST's.

 

Thanks for the advice

 

If you do WD, get the Reds. Do not RAID Blacks / Blues, they're not good for it.

 

The HGST NAS drives are really good, but they run on the hotter side, so please make sure to have some airflow over them.

 

I would avoid trusting BackBlaze too much because of how they run their drives. No, you are not supposed to run 30+ consumer grade drives in a enclosure, Red, Red Pro, HGST NAS, or otherwise. All three brands are trustworthy and they all have equal chances of being DOA (Though that's more due to shipping to be honest). I personally prefer WD because of how they've earned my respect (WD Black drives still working fine after 7 years, Multiple Red Drives still working fine). Unlike most normal people, BackBaze has the funds and systems to keep replacing drives as they die, which normal people do not have the funds for (Which you do not want in a RAID 0 array anyway).

[Exuraz]

If you do WD, get the Reds. Do not RAID Blacks / Blues, they're not good for it.

 

The HGST NAS drives are really good, but they run on the hotter side, so please make sure to have some airflow over them.

 

I would avoid trusting BackBlaze too much because of how they run their drives. No, you are not supposed to run 30+ consumer grade drives in a enclosure, Red, Red Pro, HGST NAS, or otherwise. All three brands are trustworthy and they all have equal chances of being DOA (Though that's more due to shipping to be honest). I personally prefer WD because of how they've earned my respect (WD Black drives still working fine after 7 years, Multiple Red Drives still working fine). Unlike most normal people, BackBaze has the funds and systems to keep replacing drives as they die, which normal people do not have the funds for (Which you do not want in a RAID 0 array anyway).

I'll be making a custom HDD drive cage with a fan in front and air in- and outtakes so cooling should be fine + It'll be aluminium which conducts a bit of heat as well