WD Elements 4tb External hard drive questions about APM, Standby and power down

[JQuon126]

I recently purchased an external hard drive 4 tb to store my media library for my plex server and all is working well.

After doing quite a bit of research, it appears that the drive inside the enclosure is a WD green drive. There are a number of websites that talk about stopping APM or turning off the drives ability to park headers.

1. Is this necessary to prolong the life of the hard drive?

The drive also goes to sleep or standby mode when it's not in use, which is okay with me because my server doesn't run 24/7.

2. I would like to know if it's better to power it off with the power button when it's not in use or to leave it on standby for most of the day until I need it?

I've researched a lot and haven't come to any solid answers on the 2nd question. Any information is appreciated.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hi, JQuon126.

First, about the hard drive model, I'm sorry, but neither me nor you can be sure what model exactly is in your WD Elements' enclosure. This means that even if you try the Idle Mode Update Utility, it might not work. Here's a link with a bit of info on the subject: What kind of hard drive is inside a Western Digital external product?
Further more, it is recommended that the drive is not in a USB enclosure or attached to a RAID controller (or the BIOS set to RAID mode) since the software may not be able to properly recognize and update the HDD. If you still want to try it, here's a link where you can download it from: Idle Mode Update Utility

As for your other questions:
1. It's not necessary, this feature you are referring to is called Idle 3 and basically this is what it does to a WD drive which has it in its firmware: "WD drives are designed to reduce power consumption, in part by positioning the heads in a park position (unloading the heads) and turning off unnecessary electronics, resulting in substantial power savings."
2. Well, if you have pretty long periods of time during the day, in which you don't use your drive (like going to work/school) and you won't need it - if I were you, I'd turn it off completely. On the other hand if you need to use the drive every now and then during the day - it would probably better to leave it be and access it whenever you need it. This all comes down to personal preference, and that's probably why you couldn't find a definite answer to it.

Hope that helps.
Boogieman_WD

 

[JQuon126]

Hi, JQuon126.

First, about the hard drive model, I'm sorry, but neither me nor you can be sure what model exactly is in your WD Elements' enclosure. This means that even if you try the Idle Mode Update Utility, it might not work. Here's a link with a bit of info on the subject: What kind of hard drive is inside a Western Digital external product?
Further more, it is recommended that the drive is not in a USB enclosure or attached to a RAID controller (or the BIOS set to RAID mode) since the software may not be able to properly recognize and update the HDD. If you still want to try it, here's a link where you can download it from: Idle Mode Update Utility

As for your other questions:
1. It's not necessary, this feature you are referring to is called Idle 3 and basically this is what it does to a WD drive which has it in its firmware: "WD drives are designed to reduce power consumption, in part by positioning the heads in a park position (unloading the heads) and turning off unnecessary electronics, resulting in substantial power savings."
2. Well, if you have pretty long periods of time during the day, in which you don't use your drive (like going to work/school) and you won't need it - if I were you, I'd turn it off completely. On the other hand if you need to use the drive every now and then during the day - it would probably better to leave it be and access it whenever you need it. This all comes down to personal preference, and that's probably why you couldn't find a definite answer to it.

Hope that helps.
Boogieman_WD

Hey thanks for the reply and information! It gives me a piece of mind coming from someone directly from WD.