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Question Ironwolf 8TB vs 10TB+ NAS HDDs

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velocci

velocci

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Dec 10, 2005
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Hi all, take a look at this video that talks about why 8TB NAS drives are a standard. If you don't feel like watching it, no problem. The first reason is that hardrives that are 10TB or bigger use a technology that is very loud. I have a 14TB Ironwolf and 14TB Ironwolf Pro and it is pretty loud compared to my other drives.
I looked at the 8TB Ironwolf drives on their site and their noise specs are just a bit lower than those above 8TB. Both show 28dBA for Acoustics, Idle (typical, measured in Idle 1 state). But for Acoustics, Seek (typical), the 8TB says its 30dBA and those higher than 8TB has a value of 32dBA. Is that a big difference? does anyone have both the 8TB drive and one bigger than that? is there a noticeable noise increase from 8TB to something bigger? I have a 6bay NAS and want to put 4 drives in there and deciding whether to get really big drives or use 8TB drives. I don't want to put in 8TB drives if the noise is not noticeably lower.
 
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fzabkar said:
I think noise depends on RPM, number of platters and whether the HDA environment is air or helium.

Let's say you need ~32TB of capacity. Wouldn't 4 x 8TB HDDs sound louder than 2 x 14TB HDDs? What about power consumption?
Click to expand...

I'm talking about my long term plan for my NAS. I will occupy 4 of the bays with 4 of the same HDD. The question is, do I use 8TB drives or something bigger? both are 7200 RPM and lets say both will be used the same. everything is the same. so generally, is the 8TB much quieter than the bigger ones? Right now there is one 14TB drive in the NAS. The other drives are 4TB, 4TB, 2TB. Every since I put in my 14TB in the NAS (which is in a very small room in my HT), when I'm standing close to that small room, I can hear it. I figure putting another three 14TB drives, it would be even louder.
 
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velocci said:
I'm talking about my long term plan for my NAS. I will occupy 4 of the bays with 4 of the same HDD. The question is, do I use 8TB drives or something bigger? both are 7200 RPM and lets say both will be used the same. everything is the same. so generally, is the 8TB much quieter than the bigger ones?
Click to expand...
In or attached to my NAS, I have 3TB, 4TB, 8TB, 16TB, 18TB.
Different manufacturers. Seagate, Toshiba, WD.

There is no real noise difference attributable to size.
 
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velocci said:
not according to the video in my original post. so maybe the 8TD drives are not really that much quieter.
Click to expand...
Personally, I find the 8TB Seagate and 8TB Toshiba no more or less quiet than the 18TB Seagate, in my QNAP.
Or the 4x Seagate Ironwolfs in the accessory pod.
Or the 16TB Toshiba in the other accessory pod.

Of course, the NAS sits over on the other side of the room.
I'd probably have to get up close and personal with a good sound meter to really check.
 
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If you can honestly tell the difference between 30 and 32 db(A), you have much better hearing than me. Your standard ceiling fan will be noisier. Also take into account that's open air tested, that's not inside a box like the Qnap USAFRet has, so it's most likely you'd need to be using it as a pillow to register any noise difference.
 
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Any NAS device that has the rear of the drives pretty much hanging out in the open is likely to have it's drives heard during intense operations... especially if the NAS is essentially at arm's length. (I know a 7200 rpm HGST NAS drive I had four years ago made a serious racket during a 2 min short test within GsmartControl, but, the rear of the drive was visible as the drive was in an IcyDock insert in a 5.25" external drive bay, which does make the noise more noticeable...)

If normal sounds of drive activity is an issue, consider moving the NAS a tad further away, or, in another room, closet, or ventilated cabinet, as cable management allows, etc...
 
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USAFRet said:
Adding another device can't make things quieter.

But would be enough louder to notice?

Totally unknown.

Can you hear your current 14TB?
Is it annoying?
Click to expand...

Right now the NAS with the 14TB drive in it is in my basement in a small electrical room. When I'm sitting on the couch which is about 10 feet away, if everything is quiet, I can hear it. There is also a washroom next to that electrical room. when I'm in that washroom, it sounds like someone is in the electrical room and is knocking very very lightly on the wall. The nas is on a shelf which is screwed into the wall stud between the electrical room and the bathroom. I never heard these noises before I put in the 14TB drive. I have some felt pads under the nas. are these sounds annoying? no, but I wouldn't want them to get louder. plus if they do and my wife notices and it annoys her, she'll never let me hear the end of it. So my question is, is the 8TB drive quieter? I did find this video that says they are about the same, in fact the 14TB should be a bit quieter. But I don't have an 8TB drive to compare.
 
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mdd1963 said:
Any NAS device that has the rear of the drives pretty much hanging out in the open is likely to have it's drives heard during intense operations... especially if the NAS is essentially at arm's length. (I know a 7200 rpm HGST NAS drive I had four years ago made a serious racket during a 2 min short test within GsmartControl, but, the rear of the drive was visible as the drive was in an IcyDock insert in a 5.25" external drive bay, which does make the noise more noticeable...)

If normal sounds of drive activity is an issue, consider moving the NAS a tad further away, or, in another room, closet, or ventilated cabinet, as cable management allows, etc...
Click to expand...

My nas is the QNAP TS-463D which is completely closed. I didn't hear the noise from it before I put in the 14TB drive. Yes moving the NAS to the furnace room is an option if I put in more 14TB drives and it gets too noisy.
 
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velocci said:
so if I have one 14TB HDD in my NAS right now and it has a certain level of noise, will I get more noise if I put more 14TB drives in it?
Click to expand...

Lets just say for the sake of it that a 14TB drive outputs 32 dB of noise, if you were to add another 14TB drive next to it the combined noise would be 35 dB. Adding a third drive would net you 36.8dB.

1x14TB = 32dB
2x14TB = 35dB
3x14TB = 36.8dB
4x14TB = 38dB
5x14TB = 39dB
6x14TB = 39.8dB

That would be in a perfect environment with no other noises around, you would then have to start looking at what other noises are around and if you put them in a case to could quiet them down a little.
 
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faalin said:
Lets just say for the sake of it that a 14TB drive outputs 32 dB of noise, if you were to add another 14TB drive next to it the combined noise would be 35 dB. Adding a third drive would net you 36.8dB.

1x14TB = 32dB
2x14TB = 35dB
3x14TB = 36.8dB
4x14TB = 38dB
5x14TB = 39dB
6x14TB = 39.8dB

That would be in a perfect environment with no other noises around, you would then have to start looking at what other noises are around and if you put them in a case to could quiet them down a little.
Click to expand...
where did you get those db calculations? is that how the laws of noise work?
 
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velocci said:
I think the second video I posted shows it is. I'd have to watch it again though. or maybe it was the WD red
Click to expand...
Another copy of that same drive may be quieter or nosier.
A different mounting location may be quieter or noisier.
A different vibration/workload between multiple drives may be quieter or noisier.

I'm just saying...you can't point to any particular drive make/model as being "quiet", in your environment.

Video and manufacturer spec sheets are one thing, your particular environment is another.
 
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One other phenomenon that may be worth considering is the effect of having two drives with a slightly different spin speed.

I generally don't bother with HDD noise (unless it is indicative of failure), but one noise which I find distracting is the beat frequency that is produced when the noise from two slightly different sources is combined. For example, if one HDD spins at 7170 RPM and the other at 7230 RPM, then you may hear a beat frequency of 1 Hz (60 RPM), especially when panels are vibrating. That said, the spin speeds are probably much more tightly regulated, so this may not be an issue.
 
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Harmonics. It's rarely the drive itself creating the noise you can hear, but the harmonics created as the vibrations turn the surrounding surfaces into speakers then bounce that sound around. Just sticking some egg-crate foam anywhere near the drives, like on side panels, works wonders.
 
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