[SOLVED] is leaving 500 GB free space of a 4tb hdd overkill ?

[Talya2]

I'm running a server on windows 10
I'm Not using any raid
i have several 4 tb Western digital red drives
and i stop adding more data at 500 GB
is that overkill ?
if yes when to stop and will that slow down the drive ?

 

[hotaru.hino]

Unlike an SSD where it uses free space to perform housekeeping duties, HDDs don't have this problem. You can run it down to mere megabytes (I should know, as I've seen computers at work we use run out of hard disk space but we can still use them just fine). If anything, the only thing that'll suffer in performance is write speeds.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Mechanical drives don't slow down because of fill.
They slow down because of data fragmentation.

 

[USAFRet]

This is an HDD?
Unlike an SSD, free space isn't really needed.


However, you DO have a good backup routine, right?

 

[Talya2]

This is an HDD?
Unlike an SSD, free space isn't really needed.


However, you DO have a good backup routine, right?

Yes it is a WD Red 4tb hard drive
if i should keep adding data when do you recommend to stop at 100 or 300 GB ?
Yes i do have a backup

 

[SkyNetRising]

if i should keep adding data when do you recommend to stop at 100 or 300 GB ?

You stop, when you have no more free space.

 

[USAFRet]

Yes it is a WD Red 4tb hard drive
if i should keep adding data when do you recommend to stop at 100 or 300 GB ?
Yes i do have a backup

A lot depends on your actual use case.
If your daily file addition is 50-75GB, then having only 100GB free space might cause issues.


And "a backup" is not a solution.
A routine, automated procedure is what is needed.

 

[hotaru.hino]

if i should keep adding data when do you recommend to stop at 100 or 300 GB ?

There is no stopping point on an HDD until it runs out of space.

This is nothing to worry about.