NAS HDD as internal data storage for pc

Whach

Whach

[H]ard|Gawd
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So im thinking of buying these hdds to replace my Seagate drives that have become very unreliable (they have both been RMA'd and even one of the replacement drives came DOA), but I do have a couple of questions:

1) Can I use NAS drives as internal desktop drives for storage use? ie not in a NAS box.
2) Are NAS drives stripped of features found in regular desktop drives?
3) Are NAS drives more durable than standard desktop drives?


Any help is greatly appreciated
 
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1) Yes, absolutely! I just bought that drive for my desktop.
2) No. They are just designed to run less hot. NAS drives get stuffed into small boxes that hold 5 or more drives, and those boxes may get stuffed into a media cabinet with poor air circulation, so heat is a particularly significant concern for NAS drives. The speed is not particularly important for a NAS drive, so reducing its heat is normally done by reducing its RPM from 7200RPM to 5900RPM or less. That HGST is calling 7200RPM drives NAS drives is, well, interesting.
3) Generally speaking, NAS drives make less heat, and heat is a big HDD killer.

I just bought an 0S03664 myself (that's the 4TB 7200RPM HGST NAS drive that you linked to) for my main desktop rig. It survived a format (the non-quick kind, that took almost 10 hours, so you'll want to do it overnight) with zero reallocated sectors. That's a good start.

The Coolspin versions of these drives (the 4TB version is 0S03359) are 5400RPM, cost about $10 less, and will run even cooler than the 7200RPM drives. The Coolspin versions won't be as fast as the 7200RPM versions, of course, so the 7200RPM drives are better for use in a desktop where speed matters and heat isn't an issue.

The 7200RPM 4TB HGST NAS drives are faster than WD Blacks, and nearly as fast as the WD SE enterprise drives which cost $60 more.

If anyone wants to see some specific benchmarks of my 0S03664 I'll be happy to post them.
 
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1. Yes

2. No they have 1 extra feature - the ability to limit the time spent trying to read a bad sector before giving up and returning an error.

3. Possibly. Although I have not seen anyone with thousands of drives compare desktop and NAS drives.
 
evilsofa said:
1) Yes, absolutely! I just bought that drive for my desktop.
2) No. They are just designed to run less hot. NAS drives get stuffed into small boxes that hold 5 or more drives, and those boxes may get stuffed into a media cabinet with poor air circulation, so heat is a particularly significant concern for NAS drives. The speed is not particularly important for a NAS drive, so reducing its heat is normally done by reducing its RPM from 7200RPM to 5900RPM or less. That HGST is calling 7200RPM drives NAS drives is, well, interesting.
3) Generally speaking, NAS drives make less heat, and heat is a big HDD killer.

I just bought an 0S03664 myself (that's the 4TB 7200RPM HGST NAS drive that you linked to) for my main desktop rig. It survived a format (the non-quick kind, that took almost 10 hours, so you'll want to do it overnight) with zero reallocated sectors. That's a good start.

The Coolspin versions of these drives (the 4TB version is 0S03359) are 5400RPM, cost about $10 less, and will run even cooler than the 7200RPM drives. The Coolspin versions won't be as fast as the 7200RPM versions, of course, so the 7200RPM drives are better for use in a desktop where speed matters and heat isn't an issue.

The 7200RPM 4TB HGST NAS drives are faster than WD Blacks, and nearly as fast as the WD SE enterprise drives which cost $60 more.

If anyone wants to see some specific benchmarks of my 0S03664 I'll be happy to post them.
Click to expand...

Thx!! Order placed. Seagate have some major issues for me =/
I wish this article was out when i bought them! May I ask how long you have had your drives? I had my seagates for a year before the originals crapped out.

drescherjm said:
1. Yes

2. No they have 1 extra feature - the ability to limit the time spent trying to read a bad sector before giving up and returning an error.

3. Possibly. Although I have not seen anyone with thousands of drives compare desktop and NAS drives.
Click to expand...

Thx!
 
Have clocked over 1K hours on two HGST NAS drives inside my computer set to raid1, no issues although they do slow down when you pack them 80% plus.
I might pick up another pair of 3TB when they go on sale.
Do wish they offered a 2TB version for around $80, not sure I need another 3TB for quite a long while, 2TB would suffice.
 
ep0x73 said:
Have clocked over 1K hours on two HGST NAS drives inside my computer set to raid1, no issues although they do slow down when you pack them 80% plus.
I might pick up another pair of 3TB when they go on sale.
Do wish they offered a 2TB version for around $80, not sure I need another 3TB for quite a long while, 2TB would suffice.
Click to expand...

how are they noise wise? quiet I hope.
 
Some NAS drives are also supposed to have enhanced anti-vibration systems to reduce vibration in arrays. That won't make them less suitable for a desktop system, however.
 
Whach said:
how are they noise wise? quiet I hope.
Click to expand...

Really quiet in fact, they don't make that clacky noise the old Seagates did.
I have them in a Lian-li case which is very quiet and can barely hear them when doing seeks/transfers.

I have to say I am impressed so far.

First time trying HGST since way back when I had a deskstar [60Gig]
 
I have mine in an Antec P180B case which excels at stifling noise, so I hear nothing.
 
ep0x73 said:
Really quiet in fact, they don't make that clacky noise the old Seagates did.
I have them in a Lian-li case which is very quiet and can barely hear them when doing seeks/transfers.

I have to say I am impressed so far.

First time trying HGST since way back when I had a deskstar [60Gig]
Click to expand...

Great! I' suppose I'll have to find a new task for the seagates I have. Nothing important though - they are shite for durability from my recent experience.
 
Seagate has gone downhill with their consumer line now being made in China.

I have a pair of old 320G Seagates made in Singapore that are over 62K hours without issue.

Their enterprise ES.3 are better but of course cost much more too.
 
I Agree with those HGST drives. Those drives are quite reliable and haven't had any issues yet compared to the Seagates I have.
 
I recently picked up the 3TB version of the of the 7200 RPM HGST drive (0S03660) to replace some smaller WD Black drives. I am very impressed so far. No reallocated sectors on a full format, quiet and great performance. Very happy with my selection. I hope yours serve you well.
 
The 3TB seems to go on sale at NE quite often, on sale right now for $124 bucks again, Amazon is matching or vice versa.
The 4TB though no so much but at $174 still quite the bargain for a 7200K drive with 64mb cache and a decent warranty.

In perspective that is roughly $44 per 1TB which is fantastic.

I especially like the packing, retail box with the correct plastic holders. I am sure this cuts down on DOA's vs OEM drives
shipped in bubble wrap.
Even with NE's new boxes I'd still rather have the HGST retail box/packing.
 
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drescherjm said:
2. No they have 1 extra feature - the ability to limit the time spent trying to read a bad sector before giving up and returning an error.
Click to expand...
... and they have construction features and/or tighter tolerances to reduce vibration, as that is bad for arrays.
 
Everything seems good so far. Just scanned the Seagates again and found some reallocated sectors. Figures...
 
Whach said:
Everything seems good so far. Just scanned the Seagates again and found some reallocated sectors. Figures...
Click to expand...

That is not always fatal. As long as the reallocated sectors does not grow over a short time you should be fine. At work I have ~20 drives in use in raid servers that have > 0 reallocated sectors. The worst is 849 reallocated sectors on an Hitachi 7k3000 however that drive was damaged in a heat related incident (AC failure in the server room made the room temp over 120F) and the # has been stable for 9 months or so..
 
Ahh. Nevertheless, I am not warm to the drives from my recent experience even if the they seem to be fine. I doubt if they will last a long time, but I hope they will in another use case for which I yet to decide.
 
anyone run these in a raid5?

I'm thinking about purchasing 4 of them, but haven't decided between the two: 0S03664($175/ at NE) vs 0S03359($130/ at MC)

The $130 is kinda hard to pass up, I'm mostly going to use them with a 3ware 9650 raid controller for a media server.
 
I haven't but I'm sure they'd serve you well. They been solid for me so far
 
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