NAS Drives

[ZeusXI]

So I am going to be making a home NAS soon, and was wondering out of these, which would be the best?

 

Its mainly going to be backup of movies and some computer documents for multiple users.

USD

My thought is to have 4 of them total, and for the price of the Red or IronWolf non-pro, I can get 2 basically for the Gold or Pro versions.

 

WD 4TB Gold - 146$ 

WD 4TB Red - 75$

Seagate 4TB IronWolf - 80$

Seagate 4TB IronWolf Pro - 140$

 

[Needfuldoer]

What's your budget and your target capacity?

 

Shucking external drives is a viable option to get more bang for your buck, if you're willing to roll the dice with your warranty.

[ZeusXI]

Just now, Needfuldoer said:

What's your budget and your target capacity?

 

Shucking external drives is a viable option to get more bang for your buck, if you're willing to roll the dice with your warranty.

I only have 2 USB ports on my nas (custom), so I could add a pcie slot for external, but if I have to move it, its just all in one bit. I would prefer internal if I can. Budget isnt too bad. I would like 2 for now, and I can add 2 more later on. Raid 5 Is the goal.

[Needfuldoer]

9 minutes ago, ZeusXI said:

I only have 2 USB ports on my nas (custom), so I could add a pcie slot for external, but if I have to move it, its just all in one bit. I would prefer internal if I can. Budget isnt too bad. I would like 2 for now, and I can add 2 more later on. Raid 5 Is the goal.

By "shucking", I mean "removing the SATA hard drive from". Western Digital EasyStore and Elements drives contain hard drives that are substantially similar to WD Red Pro drives. (I have a few 12 TB EasyStores waiting for their turn on the operating table, they all contain "white label" WD120EDBZ-11B1HA0 7200 RPM drives.)

 

The downside is that your warranty period will be shorter (two years instead of three), and there's the chance a warranty claim will be denied because the enclosure was opened (though anecodes on /r/datahoarder seem to indicate this isn't a problem, nor should it be because removing the hard drive from the enclosure doesn't fundamentally alter it). But hey, you can buy a couple cold spares with the money you save.

[OhioYJ]

1 minute ago, ZeusXI said:

I only have 2 USB ports on my nas (custom), so I could add a pcie slot for external, but if I have to move it, its just all in one bit. I would prefer internal if I can. Budget isnt too bad. I would like 2 for now, and I can add 2 more later on. Raid 5 Is the goal.

 

He said shucking which mean to pull the drives out of their enclosure. Not something I would do necessarily.

 

So in my PCs, I only use WD or HGST for spinning disks. My main / gaming PC has two Gold drives in it actually. That being said it'd be hard for me to justify gold drives in a NAS for most average users.  My NAS has those exact Red plus drives you linked to in it. 

[ZeusXI]

27 minutes ago, OhioYJ said:

 My NAS has those exact Red plus drives you linked to in it. 

Movies for Plex, Storage for pcs. I feel reds or pros should be fine then?

[OhioYJ]

47 minutes ago, ZeusXI said:

Movies for Plex, Storage for pcs. I feel reds or pros should be fine then?

Yes. The red plus go on sale routinely for $75 - 80 for the 4 TB versions like you linked to.  The pro version while faster jumps up in price quite a bit which makes it a tougher sell for me in a NAS. Which is actually odd, as like I said I tend to always buy a "higher quality" drive, and not necessarily a cheaper drive. 

[Kedohawyr]

2 hours ago, ZeusXI said:

WD 4TB Gold - 146$ 

 

WD 4TB Red - 75$

Seagate 4TB IronWolf - 80$

Seagate 4TB IronWolf Pro - 140$

 

 

WD Gold is a data center drive, apart from being way overpriced for a home NAS I don't think you'd be happy with how unapologetically loud they are (they can get jet engine loud). I don't have personal experience with the IronWolf Pro but I'd imagine it has similar concerns.

 

For a Red you probably want a Red Plus. The Plus version is the name now assigned to original non-shingled design after WD pulled a bait and switch. Admittedly shingled recording will have little effect on most Plex use but frankly the Plus is not much more expensive for a drive without the weird write characteristics which would be better for your PC storage usage.

 

Finally there's nothing wrong functionality wise with the regular IronWolf series, but I'd personally pick the Red Plus, both from experience and because they are more or less the quietest spinning HDDs you can buy while also being very reliable.

[ZeusXI]

27 minutes ago, Kedohawyr said:

 

 

Finally there's nothing wrong functionality wise with the regular IronWolf series, but I'd personally pick the Red Plus, both from experience and because they are more or less the quietest spinning HDDs you can buy while also being very reliable.

I made sure the one I linked was CMR and not SMR. So as long as its CMR, and not SMR, the one I liked should be good?

[Kedohawyr]

13 minutes ago, ZeusXI said:

I made sure the one I linked was CMR and not SMR. So as long as its CMR, and not SMR, the one I liked should be good?

Yes. I've had that exact model (WD40EFRX) running as one of my drives for just short of 3 years. It predates the SMR switcharoo so the label on the outside is just Red but it's identical to the one you're looking to buy. Nothing but positive things to say about it.