WD Easystore External Discussion

Transferred my 10 disk ZFS array over to 2 of these drives. Coincidentally, both the esata cards disappeared on my Mac, so I ended up having to connect the ZFS drives thought USB2 ports. Took 48 hours to copy 12TB over at 50MB/s. The Reds had no issues. I did take them out of the enclosures and used the rubber screw mounts they come with and put them under the bare drive to hold them up off the table. They didn't get hot, just warm.
 
I do big transfers sometimes via external USB 3 docks like these:

Amazon.com: ICY DOCK EZ-Dock MB981U3-1S 2.5”/3.5” SATA HDD/SSD USB 3.0 Docking Station

Sabrent USB 3.0 to SATA Dual Bay External HD Docking Station Built-in Fan 2.5 or 3.5in HDD, SSD HD Duplicator/Cloner Function [8TB Support] (EC-HDFN)

I also run a 12" fan (like this) or a 20" box fan (like this) over them from about 4-5' away just for peace of mind.

I also do a "touch test" and the difference w/ out a fan (hot) vs. with a fan (almost warm) is AMAZING.

Gives me some peace of mind anyway...
 
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deal from best buy is dead for now amazon still has some for 199 but amazon...
 
thanks for pointing it out, been waiting for best buy to drop the price!
 
Thinking of getting one of these for an HTPC I am building I was looking at a 6TB Toshiba for a similar price. Anyone know how prevalent the white label drives are? I'd hate to shuck one just to have to take it back. I've got a BB gift card I've been meaning to use which sweetens the deal.
 
Nothing wrong with the white label versions.
The wd80emaz is a fine drive too still a hgst nas grade helioseal drive

I ordered 2 this last month both were wd80efax red though.

If you are going to go into the store you can make sure to pick a Thailand country of origin one... Otherwise spin the wheel the only one of the 4 drives you dont really want was used in early models the wd80ezzx. Or the china one wd80efzx. I have been assured that ALL wd drives are made at the thailand factory though...
 
Nothing wrong with the white label versions.
The wd80emaz is a fine drive too still a hgst nas grade helioseal drive

I ordered 2 this last month both were wd80efax red though.

If you are going to go into the store you can make sure to pick a Thailand country of origin one... Otherwise spin the wheel the only one of the 4 drives you dont really want was used in early models the wd80ezzx. Or the china one wd80efzx. I have been assured that ALL wd drives are made at the thailand factory though...

I would be going in store, how do you determine country of origin, is it listed on the packaging? Also I thought the white label units would not work if shucked (unless power was modified)?
 
I would be going in store, how do you determine country of origin, is it listed on the packaging? Also I thought the white label units would not work if shucked (unless power was modified)?
No they work they have an added feature that if you provide them 3.3v they enter a reset state. If you remove the orange wire or use a 4 pin to sata adaptor they work fine... Or if your backplane/pc/psu supports the feature it will also work fine.

And yes in the barcode on the outside of the box it will say made in china or thailand...
 
No they work they have an added feature that if you provide them 3.3v they enter a reset state. If you remove the orange wire or use a 4 pin to sata adaptor they work fine... Or if your backplane/pc/psu supports the feature it will also work fine.

And yes in the barcode on the outside of the box it will say made in china or thailand...

Thanks!

So even if I got a white label I could use this and it would work fine? https://www.amazon.com/Molex-Power-SATA-Female-Adapter/dp/B000YJMB5Y
 
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Thanks!

So even if I got a white label I could use this and it would work fine? https://www.amazon.com/Molex-Power-SATA-Female-Adapter/dp/B000YJMB5Y
Yep. On your sata connector there are 3 voltages that are provided. 3.3v ground 5v ground and 12v each is 3 pins on the connector you can remove the orange 3.3v and be fine with 99.9% of drives. It is nothing to remove the connector from the plug then if you dont want it permanent you can put some electrical tape over it then tie the 3.3 out of way.
 
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Do ATX PSU's have a 3.3v in the SATA? I've never seen anything but the red/yellow. As far as I know the 3.3 is only in the 24pin. I know that SATA standard allows for it bit I have never seen it in the enthusiast market.
 
my evga 400 watt i just bought had a orange on the power connectors... it is the sata 3.3 spec if your equipment is compliant with that then it should work no mods needed... Prior the 3.3v rail was present on the sata connectors full time and with the exception of very few drive nothing used it...
 
Nothing wrong with the white label versions.
The wd80emaz is a fine drive too still a hgst nas grade helioseal drive

I ordered 2 this last month both were wd80efax red though.

If you are going to go into the store you can make sure to pick a Thailand country of origin one... Otherwise spin the wheel the only one of the 4 drives you dont really want was used in early models the wd80ezzx. Or the china one wd80efzx. I have been assured that ALL wd drives are made at the thailand factory though...
what's the white label version?
 
As an option (not for those who need big storage) Newwgg has 10% of on some drives the Toshiba X300 5TB ends up being $127.77.
 
Pretty sure one of mine failed this morning.... The only drawback of shucking, no warranty.
 
Pretty sure one of mine failed this morning.... The only drawback of shucking, no warranty.
I've read stories of some on reddit just returning the bare drives and getting them replaced, but really you could just pop it back in a case as long as you didn't break the tabs?
 
what's the white label version?
the white label that is currently showing up is the wd80emaz and some have pulled back the label to reveal it is a hgst ultrastar helium drive with a controller that has Power disable turned on...

Pretty sure one of mine failed this morning.... The only drawback of shucking, no warranty.
which pull and manufacture date?
wd80ezzx
wd80efzx
wd80efax
wd80emaz

And i kept the shells of mine and mine barely got scratched when i shucked them...
 
CHECK THE BESTBUY WEBSITE FREQUENTLY AS THE DRIVE GOES ON AND OFF SALE FREQUENTLY.

These have 8TB WD Reds WD80EFZX inside.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/wd-easy...-3-0-hard-drive-black/5792401.p?skuId=5792401

Confirmed to be WD80EFZX's. You can use CrystalDiskInfo to confirm before you crack them open.

In the last month these seem to frequently be on-sale for $160 - $180 so check the website every so often to see if its back on sale.

Added shucking instructions.

They will be, WD doesn't have any other 8TB HDDs.
And these are actually 5400rpm HGST Ultrastar He8 drives.

Hey guys, you really know your stuff about these drives aswell as some other's on this thread.
Ill be honest and say I'm illiterate about all this but it's a deal I really need.

I'm wondering if you can just use a couple minutes of your time to try and see if you can find this deal for me in Canada on Bestbuy.ca or Amazon.ca?
I don't know which one I would have to get or which 1 is the best deal to get the 8Tb Red as you guys have mentioned.

Thanks!
 
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This deal is best buy exclusive. Amazon if available would be via 3rd party the probability of previously shucked and recased drives is higher. And i dont know the exchange rates...

this is the only seller...https://www.amazon.ca/Western-Digit...&qid=1508186334&sr=8-1&keywords=8tb+easystore


also currently off sale at full price

What about this 1?:
https://www.amazon.ca/Western-Digit...1508186575&sr=1-1&keywords=WDBBGB0080HBK-NESN

If I bought from amazon.com it transfers to me as $167 USD = $212 Canadian which for us camped to the above is great as that saves us a bit.
Only problem is if you look at amazon.com at the moment why does it say that you can only buy it "USED" ?
Take a look: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Desktop...1508186433&sr=8-1&keywords=WDBBGB0080HBK-NESN
 
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What about this 1?:
https://www.amazon.ca/Western-Digit...1508186575&sr=1-1&keywords=WDBBGB0080HBK-NESN

If I bought from amazon.com it transfers to me as $167 USD = $212 Canadian which for us camped to the above is great as that saves us a bit.
Only problem is if you look at amazon.com at the moment why does it say that you can only buy it "USED" ?
Take a look: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Desktop...1508186433&sr=8-1&keywords=WDBBGB0080HBK-NESN
that one doesn't have a red in it... it is a wd80ezzx or a purple or green label it seems harder to shuck too ill look in my 4tb when i get home see if i can see the label in the vent though... and that says used because there are no new ones being sold on amazon so other people like you or me are selling them on amazon the question is did the seller use it format it then box it back up or did they shuck it and toss a 8tb seagate they got out of a datacenter or a white label no name drive they got for 1/3 of the price the WD drive cost them. Or did they shuck it and put anything else inside... you wont know till you get it and by then it will be too late...
 
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that one doesn't have a red in it... it is a wd80ezzx or a purple or green label it seems harder to shuck too ill look in my 4tb when i get home see if i can see the label in the vent though...

I see, on the first page people asked if it was the same as the one I linked on amazon.ca above & "WhoBeDaPlaya" said they are the same just with different model number's.
Not too sure but Canada doesn't hold the "Easystore" WD drives anywhere it seems.

Ya'll need to help us Canadian out too eh?
 
nope from a search the my books have slower white label drives in them supposed to be equal to a wd blue or green the board for usb looks the same though. Kinda curious about putting a not 8tb in the enclosure of the easy store now... the my books require removal of pins 7 and 8 on the bios chip of the usb board...
 
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Ebay you risk someone taking out the RED & putting something else inside.
Hopefully a fellow hardforum user can help me out.
Import fees is near 0 unless product is over $250 at-least in my province.
Just a cursory glance already shucked drives on ebay yields https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...1.A0.H0.Xwd80efax.TRS0&_nkw=wd80efax&_sacat=0

There is only 1 source for wd80efax drives and that is the shucking of these easystores as the efax in 8tb models is a custom sku for the best buy only easystores it is most likely a firmware limited wd100efax that failed qc with all 7 platters active but passed with 2 turned off

A few of those ebay drives are at the 200 price point. The wd80efzx is the china model drive and has slightly higher failure rate so dont go for them...
 
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Btw, I got 4 of them, all WHITES. One is defective. I'll be returning it to the store and getting another. If it's a RED that I get, I'm willing to trade for a WHITE. I'm putting all four of them in a RAID 10 configuration is why.
 
which white drive the bb easy store or the mybook?
wd80emaz or wd80ezzx
 
Got my replacement at my local BB store, it matched what I had, the wd80emaz. Not too bad for a 4 Disk RAID 10.

rWhjmu.png
 
Got my replacement at my local BB store, it matched what I had, the wd80emaz. Not too bad for a 4 Disk RAID 10.

rWhjmu.png
those are hgst he8 enterprise drives if you dont have a psu or backplane compatible with sata 3.3 spec it will not spin up to fix you need to remove the 3.3v line on the power connector.

i know they are working now but the above is for if you encounter the issue later...
 
those are hgst he8 enterprise drives if you dont have a psu or backplane compatible with sata 3.3 spec it will not spin up to fix you need to remove the 3.3v line on the power connector.

i know they are working now but the above is for if you encounter the issue later...
Yeah, they have molex to SATA connectors. My PSU has a +3.3V rail, but it wouldn't work. I had to use the +5V rail and the adapters in order for them to show up.
 
Yeah, they have molex to SATA connectors. My PSU has a +3.3V rail, but it wouldn't work. I had to use the +5V rail and the adapters in order for them to show up.
In the sata power connector all that needs to be done is the wire on the end with the L shape key cut that last wire leaving the 4 others if using colored ones the orange wire is the 3.3v wire that needs to be removed the sata power spec v 3.3 has it that the 3.3v line is used to control some things and has it work a bit different. Where as prior to that it is a steady on which those drives percieve as signal to be in a reset state. So with a non compliant psu or back plane it wont spin up unless the 3.3v line is cut or not passed via the adaptor method.
 
In the sata power connector all that needs to be done is the wire on the end with the L shape key cut that last wire leaving the 4 others if using colored ones the orange wire is the 3.3v wire that needs to be removed the sata power spec v 3.3 has it that the 3.3v line is used to control some things and has it work a bit different. Where as prior to that it is a steady on which those drives percieve as signal to be in a reset state. So with a non compliant psu or back plane it wont spin up unless the 3.3v line is cut or not passed via the adaptor method.
ITS JUST THAT EASY!! lol
 
that one doesn't have a red in it... it is a wd80ezzx or a purple or green label it seems harder to shuck too ill look in my 4tb when i get home see if i can see the label in the vent though... and that says used because there are no new ones being sold on amazon so other people like you or me are selling them on amazon the question is did the seller use it format it then box it back up or did they shuck it and toss a 8tb seagate they got out of a datacenter or a white label no name drive they got for 1/3 of the price the WD drive cost them. Or did they shuck it and put anything else inside... you wont know till you get it and by then it will be too late...
I bought one of those earlier this year. It was pretty easy to shuck, using the same general method that you use to shuck these (i.e. use a credit card, old gift card or similar). AFAIK, the white labels are still HGST drives, so it really doesn't matter, but I've just got it in a WHS box, so I'm not using any extra features right now.
 
Is the 3.3v wire removal trick only needed on the 8TB drives?

Will these work in a WD EX2 NAS? Thinking about picking up the diskless version and a few of the 4TB drives.
 
Is the 3.3v wire removal trick only needed on the 8TB drives?

Will these work in a WD EX2 NAS? Thinking about picking up the diskless version and a few of the 4TB drives.
It is only needed if your psu is not sata v3.3 compliant and only on the white label wd80emaz drive none of the other drives have that feature.
 
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