Western Digital Raid Edition for onboard Raid 1?

[spotpuff]

I was thinking of setting up a RAID 1 array on my computer for storage/security and was just wondering if the RAID edition drives are appropriate for this. They specifically mention resolving an issue with raid controllers, but I was unaware if this applies to onboard RAID solutions as well.

I have a DFI Lanparty UT NF4 Ultra-D, which uses the NF4 ultra and supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1. Do regular drives still "time out" when configured in RAID 1 and connected to the NF4 controller?

Also, do RAID edition drives work fine in single drive configurations? The WD marketing on this is unclear.

[unhappy_mage]

Raid edition drives are appropriate for any kind of raid. However, this is a WD-specific problem. Any other manufacturer's drives support the TLER-type thing WD had a bug in.

http://www.hardfolding.com/ftag1.php/mem/150072.png (http://www.hardfolding.com?go=38&tm=33&id=150072)http://www.hardfolding.com/utag.php/mem/1392.png (http://www.hardfolding.com?go=36&id=1392)

[spotpuff]

They support it straight out of the box? I didn't know that... what about using them in a non-raid setup (as just individual disks?); if I ever upgrade/disassemble this system, I'd want to be able to use the drives in other computers independently.

[unhappy_mage]

With non-WD drives, this works fine. Using RE drives in non-raid environments may be problematic, but this is still under investigation (http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1029327617&postcount=19).

I'd suggest a pair of non-WD disks for this just for the RAID/non-RAID flexibility. Just about anything will be fine (if cooled and powered properly), but look at the buyers' guide and post your thoughts on what looks good.

http://www.hardfolding.com/ftag1.php/mem/150072.png (http://www.hardfolding.com?go=38&tm=33&id=150072)http://www.hardfolding.com/utag.php/mem/1392.png (http://www.hardfolding.com?go=36&id=1392)

[spotpuff]

Yeah I'm reading that other thread too.

From a cost/gb perspective, the WD 320GB RE's were probably my first option. $145 (CDN) for them, 5 yr warranty, good performance.

Seagate also has a 5 year warranty but slow speeds and apparently their recent drives are very noisy, which I'd like to avoid.

The only other drives available that have a 300-320GB storage capacity are Maxtors; Hitachi and Samsung go from 200-250-400 it seems. I am not sure how the Maxtors fare compared to the WD's; every site seems to recommend WD's and a lot of people seem to use them as well.

If I have to go non-WD for compatability, I'd probably go with Seagate or Maxtor then I guess.

On WD's site for TLER, it said that drives "dropping" off RAID arrays was not just a WD problem.. guess they were covering their own ass?

[unhappy_mage]

Drives "dropping" isn't just a WD problem. But it happens to other manufacturers for different reasons. The WD firmware had a problem where, when it was recovering from an error, it would no longer respond to commands. See this post (http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1029270031&postcount=1) for more details about what I've found.

I'm using Maxtor's Maxline series drives in my array with no problems. Highly recommended, even if their tech support doesn't want to answer my question.

http://www.hardfolding.com/ftag1.php/mem/150072.png (http://www.hardfolding.com?go=38&tm=33&id=150072)http://www.hardfolding.com/utag.php/mem/1392.png (http://www.hardfolding.com?go=36&id=1392)

[-ChEM-]

does this apply to the new se16 / ks drives aswell? when did they fix it?

[unhappy_mage]

It also applies. Buy RE drives for raid arrays. They still haven't fixed it.

http://www.hardfolding.com/ftag1.php/mem/150072 (http://www.hardfolding.com?go=38&id=150072&tm=33)http://www.hardfolding.com/utag.php/mem/1392.png (http://www.hardfolding.com?go=36&id=1392)

[Zepher]

Using RE drives in non-raid environments may be problematic, but this is still under investigation (http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1029327617&postcount=19).

Man that sucks as I just bought a 250gig WD RE drive to run as a single drive for my OS and misc Data files (I am using it as I type this, ghosted my Cheetahs to this drive yesterday).
I guess I'll send it back to newegg and get an SE one instead since I have an issue about the warranty period. WD lists my new drive as having an expiration date of 4/2007 instead of 4/2011, which makes no sense as the OEM and Retail both come with 5 year warranties.

[rek981]

I just bought a couple of WD SE 320 GB harddrives for my onboard Raid1 setup (onboard promise 378 controller). I just read this post, and now I am worried that I am going to have problems with these drives in a RAID config. This data is very important. Whats the deal?

Ross

[rek981]

bump

see above post.

Ross

[spotpuff]

Semi-bump with updated question.

Is it true that the non-raid WD drives will NOT have problems with on-board RAID controllers e.g. NF4, but only standalone raid cards?

The documentation WD has isn't very helpful on this topic.

I am planning on using RAID 1 not RAID 5 ever unless the controller prices come down, so I wouldn't be opposed to buying regular WD drives (non-RE) but am worried about them dropping off the controller.