I'm having some weird issues with DiskMark results and also some strange noises...

Ultranothing · September 27, 2021

Hi! So this was just going to be a post about a weird noise, but I was running some tests with CDM and noticed that my numbers were a little whack-o. Drive C is an internal drive, a 1tb Samsung 870 SSD. Drive F: is also an internal SSD, Samsung 870. Drives B: and V: are in an OWC Mercury Dual enclosure in JBOD mode. B: is a 16tb Seagate Exos x16 and V: is an 8tb Samsung QVO SSD. These CDM results seem to be wildly out of line with others who've posted here so is something screwy going on?

So then the other thing that's weird is that drive B: (the 16tb enterprise HDD) is making some noises:

https://vocaroo.com/1aw7LxDzsaY9

I'm reading that enterprise drives are louder than normal HDD's and I also replaced the stock fan on the enclosure with a 60mm Noctua so the sound may be more pronounced. I've also got the recorder right up against the front of the enclosure so it sounds louder than it actually is. But...what is all that? Is it normal drive noises? The sound that kicks in at 1:06 especially. What is going *on* in there?

limmers2015 · September 27, 2021

That doesn't sound normal or good to me. The clicking/clunking is just the head moving back to "parked" (I think), but it shouldn't be that bad-sounding or happening that often. The grinding (for lack of a better word) noises make me think that something's majorly wrong in there. I have absolutely no enterprise-grade drive experience though (but I would expect better than consumer, not worse!), so maybe someone else will chime in who does have experience with these drives?

At this point, I'd advise contacting Seagate with the recording and all other information about it you have, and trying to exchange the drive for a new one (see if they'll send you a new one first, so you can transfer your data over and then send the old one back). I've got plenty of old PATA (more commonly known as IDE) hard drives from my family's old eMacs that don't sound as bad as that, and they're about 20 years old at this point!

Ultranothing · September 27, 2021

25 minutes ago, limmers2015 said:

That doesn't sound normal or good to me...

Yeah, I agree with all that. It is a brand-new, enterprise-level drive and I just don't expect it to be making those kinds of noises. Having no experience with enterprise drives I'm just not sure if those noises are acceptable. I'll see about sending off the audio to Seagate and maybe they can help. Thanks for taking the time to give me your thoughts I appreciate it!