HD Size choices for a new NAS

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Liver

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I made a thread earlier about backing up my old NAS. I am considering just replacing it now, since I'll be upgrading a very obsolete product.

I have the NAS picked out (but I'm open to recommendations). I'd like to stick with Synology, so I picked the DS1621+. It has the features I want, at a price I am willing to pay.

I do not need to populate all the drives at once. Looking at getting 2-3 (most likely 3 right now). I've had great experience with WD Red Plus, but the last time I bought them they were only 6Tb.

Is there a sweet spot in regards to SIZE the WD Red CMR drives? Is the way one size drive is made, makes it inherently better than another size? Specifically with single drives bigger than 10Tb?

Is a certain size drive just more reliable? Platters? Density? Way it's made? Where that drive is made? Anything?

I mean the cost per Tb is relatively similar. It would be better if I waited for a sale than trying to maximize my dollars per Tb.

Edit. Im open to other (brands) high quality drives that are compatible with the Synology DS1621+
 
I've found that refurbished enterprise drives offer extremely good cost per terabyte - but not everyone is willing to use refurbished drives. Yet for me, it was the difference between $840 for eight refurb enterprise drives 12TB drives for my RAID, and around $1800 for new drives (at the time), With redundancy and that price difference, coupled with a 2 year warranty from the place that I purchased (Water Panther) - I don't think that I'll buy new hard drives in the future. I don't have an opinion on the NAS, as my old TS-832X is the only one that I've dealt with.
 
The price by TB and complexity can get significantly lower has you got for higher density, the cost by TB will be really close to the best deals (often around the lower 4-8 tb range), but having less drive make things simpler.

Smaller 2-4 bay NAS being much cheaper than 6-8-12+ drive one if you go that route and even DUI, mobo-case-power supply are much easier with a regular numbers of drives, stuff "already in the house" being good enough usually if you keep to 6 or less drive than go high count.

pcpartpicker let you rank price by tb for a fast reference (and I imagine there is NAS dedicated equivalent, seeking deals):
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/internal-hard-drive/#sort=ppgb&page=1

To take this example, imagine if 20 TB was enough and you wanted a backup, a 2x drive would do, simply putting 2x20TB in it and your done.

You pay 0.017 a GB instead 0.014-0.015, but the simplest 2 drive bay (or 4 drive for the ability to more than double it in the future) will do.

Chasing deal I ended up with a ton of 4-6 type of drive and having to expand over time with pci to sata cards, bigger case and so on, would have ended up with a cleaner keeping it at 6 or less 12-14tb drives setup, our brain can get trick seeing lower price tag vs higher price tag for units and deals.
 
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arestavo said:
I've found that refurbished enterprise drives offer extremely good cost per terabyte - but not everyone is willing to use refurbished drives. Yet for me, it was the difference between $840 for eight refurb enterprise drives 12TB drives for my RAID, and around $1800 for new drives (at the time), With redundancy and that price difference, coupled with a 2 year warranty from the place that I purchased (Water Panther) - I don't think that I'll buy new hard drives in the future. I don't have an opinion on the NAS, as my old TS-832X is the only one that I've dealt with.
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Im not disputing the cost or cost savings.

My question is there a size of the drive that inherently makes it more reliable.

Example (I am making stuff up). "Liver, you should really stick to the 12Tb drives because they had material issues with the 14Tb and 16Tb. Until they get that resolved your best bet is staying with th 12s."

Something like that.

Once I know what to look for, then I'll start shopping for the best dollar value.
 
Maybe those kinds of study could give some clue:

Q1-2021-Drives-By-Size-Table.jpg


If you can end up seeing some pattern,
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-hard-drive-stats-q1-2021/

Going 12tb more seem wise, but could be lower sampler size-newer bias
 
Liver said:
Im not disputing the cost or cost savings.

My question is there a size of the drive that inherently makes it more reliable.

Example (I am making stuff up). "Liver, you should really stick to the 12Tb drives because they had material issues with the 14Tb and 16Tb. Until they get that resolved your best bet is staying with th 12s."

Something like that.

Once I know what to look for, then I'll start shopping for the best dollar value.
Click to expand...
Not really, not at this point. Not much difference now if a drive has an extra platter or two, but most drives over 10TB are helium-filled so will run cooler and quieter, generally.

Just check the ratings, most used enterprise drives have far better ratings than WD Red and Seagate ironwolf.

Price per TB fluctuates on the winner but usually it's the drives that are 2nd or 3rd highest capacity that win, 14-18TB. Doing a bunch of 8TBs or similar will bite you in higher electrical, less reliability, and increased nas/motherboard/daughterboard costs.
 
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rhkcommander959 said:
Not really, not at this point. Not much difference now if a drive has an extra platter or two, but most drives over 10TB are helium-filled so will run cooler and quieter, generally.

Just check the ratings, most used enterprise drives have far better ratings than WD Red and Seagate ironwolf.

Price per TB fluctuates on the winner but usually it's the drives that are 2nd or 3rd highest capacity that win, 14-18TB. Doing a bunch of 8TBs or similar will bite you in higher electrical, less reliability, and increased nas/motherboard/daughterboard costs.
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That's what I need. So stay above 10Tb for the newer tech, esp helium filled.

Im looking on Water Panther, anywhere else? arestavo , those dell drives, specifically this one. Is that a normal drive in a mount or a completely different drive meant only for Dells? Can I remove it from the mount?
 
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Liver said:
That's what I need. So stay above 10Tb for the newer tech, esp helium filled.

Im looking on Water Panther, anywhere else? arestavo , those dell drives, specifically this one. Is that a normal drive in a mount or a completely different drive meant only for Dells? Can I remove it from the mount?
Click to expand...
Says it's sata, so you should be good to go after you remove the caddy.
 
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Liver said:
That's what I need. So stay above 10Tb for the newer tech, esp helium filled.

Im looking on Water Panther, anywhere else? arestavo , those dell drives, specifically this one. Is that a normal drive in a mount or a completely different drive meant only for Dells? Can I remove it from the mount?
Click to expand...
I snagged the https://waterpanther.com/collection...0rpm-sata-6g-lff-hdd-san-wesa5slc0120d-refurb which turned out to be Seagate Exos X16 drives, helium filled. The performance is awesome, and the price was perfect at the time ($105 each). At $125 now they aren't nearly as good of a value for me - I'm actually waiting for them to drop again to pick up one or two as a cold spare (between my NAS and main PC) now that I've tested the 8 that I've got. I tested each drive individually with long and short DST (Disk Self Test) in my NAS (one at a time it took quite a while), and then later did a surface scan on the drives using HDSentinel while they were in my PC's RAID array (I can't use Seagate's Seatools through the RAID controller or a USB to HDD adapter). I'm also using HDSentinel to monitor the drives since it is easier than logging onto my Adaptec RAID controller to check drive health.

The one negative thing that I'll say about them - they are not quiet, even when idling (they don't seem to power down in my RAID) and especially when writing a lot of data. They very much remind me of the IDE drives of old.

I cannot speak to the other drives that they offer. The other place that I was considering buying from is https://serverpartdeals.com/collections/manufacturer-recertified-hdd?pf_t_capacity=capacity:12TB because they actually list what specific drive it is. But I've had no dealings with them.
 
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Well...as the saying goes: Size DOES matter, hehehe :)

But seriously, IMHO, I would get the largest drives you can, since that will allow you to go longer without having to upgrade again.....
 
Will do. I was just wondering if there was negative manufacturing differences in going bigger.
 
Seagate exos are great, love mine. I don't think any enterprise drives is going to be quiet lol. Hgst are common, good too. WD owns hgst but most of the data center drives will be pre-wd

You could easily build a plywood box with venting, sound deadening if it's a media server that you can't hide somewhere instead.
 
rhkcommander959 said:
Seagate exos are great, love mine. I don't think any enterprise drives is going to be quiet lol. Hgst are common, good too. WD owns hgst but most of the data center drives will be pre-wd

You could easily build a plywood box with venting, sound deadening if it's a media server that you can't hide somewhere instead.
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When I had my house built, I put in a media closet with a magnetic door. All of the houses media electronics are in there. The server, ONT, Ubiquiti DM and POE switch. AppleTV, spare parts, etc. Noise is less of a concern for me.
 
Liver said:
When I had my house built, I put in a media closet with a magnetic door. All of the houses media electronics are in there. The server, ONT, Ubiquiti DM and POE switch. AppleTV, spare parts, etc. Noise is less of a concern for me.
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Doesn't that get pretty warm inside?
I tried that once with a Tektronixs printer, all the clothes in that closet were very warm and comfy.
 
etudiant said:
Doesn't that get pretty warm inside?
I tried that once with a Tektronixs printer, all the clothes in that closet were very warm and comfy.
Click to expand...

I mostly leave the door open. You are correct, it gets warmer but it’s always less than 80.

However, when the home heat is on I close the vent in the closet and open the vent when the AC is running.
 
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