Question Full Sized 3.5 Hard Drives ?

[Coast Guard]

Hello Friends

Looking for decent 2TB storage drive for a Dell Precision Workstation. The past 10 years or so, I've noticed many companies have reduced thickness of HD's. Call me old fashioned, but I try to look for Full Sized construction when and if possible? Unless there's something definite in the written description, (or in the images), how can one know the drive you're purchasing is of FULL SIZED construction?

Toshiba - Seagate - Western Digital

Thank You

 

[CountMike]

Hello Friends

Looking for decent 2TB storage drive for a Dell Precision Workstation. The past 10 years or so, I've noticed many companies have reduced thickness of HD's. Call me old fashioned, but I try to look for Full Sized construction when and if possible? Unless there's something definite in the written description, (or in the images), how can one know the drive you're purchasing is of FULL SIZED construction?

Toshiba - Seagate - Western Digital

Thank You

Thickness depends on number of platters inside for a given capacity. HDD technology progressed so there's higher data density on each platter and that reduced their number and thickness with it. That also decreased number of heads and increased speed and reliability. Therefore you are better off with those newfangled "thin" drives.
My first. 20MB HDD was twice the thickness of what you consider "full size".

 

[kerberos_20]

full size height would be 42mm, i havent seen those since 90s lol

 

[kerberos_20]

Thickness depends on number of platters inside for a given capacity. HDD technology progressed so there's higher data density on each platter and that reduced their number and thickness with it. That also decreased number of heads and increased speed and reliability. Therefore you are better off with those newfangled "thin" drives.
My first. 20MB HDD was twice the thickness of what you consider "full size".

looking at seagate barracuda sheet paper, 5400rpm drives are thinner then 7200rpm, probably due to extra room needed for air pressure

 

[Misgar]

Many larger capacity 3.5" drives are still 1.0" (25.4mm) high to accommodate up to 8 or 9 platters, but they tend to be in the range 8TB to 24TB.

It's cheaper to use less metal in the casting for modern low capacity 2TB drives, hence 0.72" or 19.99mm height. 2.5" drives are much more flimsy, but they still work.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_disk_drive_form_factors

Nearly all the hard disks I've purchased recently are still 1.0" (25.4mm) high. I no longer buy 2TB drives, finding it more cost effective to buy larger capacities. For another $15 to $30 you can get a 3TB or 4TB drive, with plenty of room for expansion.

I still have an old full height 5.25" SCSI drive somewhere. It's the height of two DVD optical drives, i.e. 3.25" (82.5mm) high. See below.

Old Winchester drives from the late nineteen seventies were 14" diameter.

If you want to find out the dimensions of a drive, it's quite simple. Just download the manufacturer's data sheet.

 

[Coast Guard]

From a most distinguished veteran of the famous 'War Of The 'Hard Drives' CountMike:
" you are better off with those newfangled "thin" drives"
And of course the most honorable Misgar:
"I no longer buy 2TB drives, finding it more cost effective to buy larger capacities"

I'll proceed to shop for a 3TB (no matter how mechanically malnourished it appears).

However, now that I'm searching for 3TB rather than a 2TB, I will say there seems to be considerably more 'mixed and fewer reviews' (And) more 3TB on the market with only 5400 RPM? I'm guessing this might be due to slightly newer technology or' less' demand?

Here's a SEAGATE that caught my eye...

 

[Misgar]

I think you'll find that particular Seagate is an SMR (Shingle Magnetic Recording) drive, hence its low price. I prefer CMR (Conventional Magnetic Recording) drives which are usually a little more expensive. If you don't know the difference, Google 'SMR versus CMR' (also known as PMR).

I recently bought a 4TB Seagate Skyhawk drive to replace a failing 3TB drive. I picked it up from Amazon at a really good price, only a few dollars more than the 3TB Skyhawk. 5400 rpm video recorder drives are fine for archiving data.

 

[Coast Guard]

Thank You ...

 

[SyCoREAPER]

There is IMO no benefit to the old drives. More components, bigger components, more weight to move those components thereby more wear but that's my theory.

There's a reason drives have shrunk over the years ;-) @Misgar post is perfect example.

In previous builds I used to just get something like this on Amazon if there's no 2.5" mount. They are called 2.5" to 3.5" brackets.
(I have no affiliation nor is that an affiliate link, only for demonstration purposes).

Unless you are doing a ton of read and write cycles, you should just get an SSD over an HDD. They are so cheap now it doesn't make sense to go back to manual unless it's continually being written to or erased.

 

[Misgar]

If you want to check if your intended purchase is SMR or CMR (PMR), here are a few links:
https://www.techspot.com/news/84973-wd-publishes-complete-list-smr-drives-following-user.html
https://www.seagate.com/gb/en/products/cmr-smr-list/

7200rpm drives still exist, but at a premium.
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Performance-Desktop-Hard-Drive/dp/B00FJRS5OW