Raid 5 with "slightly" different drives?

[jkelley9]

Hello all,

I'm looking to build a home server (new hobby) and I have 2 1TB drives already that I'm not using since I purchased 3 3TB's to go in my raid 5 NAS 😀

I'm wondering if I can purchase a 3rd 1TB and run all 3 in raid 5, the problem is... the two 1TB's I already have are slightly different model numbers:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB ST31000524AS
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB ST31000528AS

I remember them coming in different looking boxes when I bought them a few years ago.

Can I purchase a 3rd 1TB barracuda drive and be ok in raid 5?

 

[Dereck47]

Can I purchase a 3rd 1TB barracuda drive and be ok in raid 5?

Yes, you will be ok. Identical model number drives in a RAID array would give you maximum performance, but if you get another 1TB Barracuda drive your real-world performance will be the same.