Question What 8-10TB "better" HDD drive to buy...?

[thomas81br]

Hello

One my old ordinary HDD is dying, and im looking to buy a new HDD as a replacement for it. After looking at some shops at my country, i decided to go for something slightly better and more spacious this time (my OLD dying hdd is 8,3 years old WD Red 3TB 64MB cache (WD30EFRX)). Looking at the shops and prices in my country (none english), i narrowed the "menu" to:

1. WD Gold 10TB (WD Gold DC HA750 10TB - WD102KRYZ)
2. WD Ultrastar 8TB (WD Ultrastar HC320 8TB - HUS728T8TALE6L4 (0B36404) )
3. Seagate Exos 7E8 8TB (ST8000NM000A)
4. WD Gold 8TB (WD8004FRYZ)

All have (AFAIK, correct me if im wrong) - 2 000 000 MTBF (the gold ones even 2 500 000 (?) ), all have 5 years warranty (in my country)... I SOMEWHAT liked the Seagate Exos 7E8 8TB , cause its also the cheapest (somewhat "visibly") from the list, but i just dont like Seagate that much... Read like years ago that they are not that good (reliability-wise)and that "famous article" from backblaze that they (seagate) fail more... And it just sticked with me (in my mind)... Also its the cheapest which also doesnt give me any additional confidence... Also one online shop in my country has in each HDD product spec on his website that failure rate (i think its the percentage they sold vs the percentage that were sent back to them for warranty issues) they call it "reliability" basically... All the drives from the list have like 96-98%, the seagate one is the only one that has lower - 95%. Although its only 1-3% difference, its still a difference and sits well with the other "ideas" i have about seagate (that it just fails a bit more)). Thats why even though the seagate is the cheapest almost i just dont really want to go for it :-(.

Im eyeing mainly the 1) WD Gold 10TB or the 2) WD Ultrastar 8TB...
The gold is more expensive, but has additional 2 TB... I like the gold 10 TB drive so far the best probably...
But AFAIK the WD Ultrastars are the "ex-" Hitachi drives, and AFAIK, those are (or at least were in its days) the BEST (!), more RELIABLE drives out there... They are also a little bit cheaper where i live than the WD 8 TB gold...So i like that Ultrastar too quite a lot...

So... now what...

From the 4 drives i mentioned, which is the best one? Which has the best reviews, the best reputation and which one would you buy...?? Or from the 4 it really doesnt matter and they all are GREAT drives (just maybe avoid the Seagate)? But I also read the gold 10TB is quite loud...?

So which one?

 

[randyh121]

Ultrastar, i'd go with.

 

[USAFRet]

but i just dont like Seagate that much... Read like years ago that they are not that good (reliability-wise)and that "famous article" from backblaze that they (seagate) fail more

That was one particular Seagate model, a 3TB.

Apart from that one outlier, fleetwide fail rates are right in line with any other make/model.

 

[avatar_of_tenebrae_3]

You din't mention if you have your 4TB backed up or how you will back up your 10TB drive.

are you using 10TB tapes?

If not: i suggest backing off. get a 5TB plus (external 5TB backup drive) or 10TB with 10TB of passport drive. or an extra 5TB (a pair of drives - and hope/gamble an electrical issue doesn't zap both at once)

keep backed up. your next failing drive might "leave you high and dry immediately", loose all your saves and homework and photos.

you should not be focused on "1 large drive that works". always have a backup (ability)

the bigger the drive the harder they fall: backing up 10TB cannot be done on USB2.0 (takes a month???) think of it that way. things get more complicated when you get into the many terribyte field.

Seagate had made the finest scsi instuments ever (in their time) for years. (the digital design of the board in the HD does makes a huge difference in reliability and life and speed - and can eat power too - and needs speed)

This becomes a game of which USA mfg outsourced mfg to which chinese company

i cannot comment on Hitachi however i would say: see if the box says made in china

 

[RobertoNL]

i don't think you could go wrong there on those WD drives .
My personal opinion if i go out for new HDD , i would pick WD or Toshiba .
I have had 2 failed drives in my years and both were Seagate, Since then i pass on them all together , no matter how cheap they are lol

 

[USAFRet]

i don't think you could go wrong there on those WD drives .
My personal opinion if i go out for new HDD , i would pick WD or Toshiba .
I had have 2 failed drives in my years and both were Seagate, Since then i pass on them all together , no matter how cheap they are lol

Of my last 3 failed HDD:
1x WD
1x Seagate
1x Toshiba

On a fleetwide basis, HDDs are all very very similar as far as fail rates, no matter the brand.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

I have had 2 failed drives in my years and both were Seagate, Since then i pass on them all together , no matter how cheap they are lol

My experience with Seagate HDDs has been very bad also. Four failures within a year, whereas the replacement WD drives are still going strong after a decade of use.
Fail-rates may be roughly similar whatever the brand, but I spend my money based on my personal experience, I'd be silly not to.

 

[RobertoNL]

Of my last 3 failed HDD:
1x WD
1x Seagate
1x Toshiba

On a fleetwide basis, HDDs are all very very similar as far as fail rates, no matter the brand.

oh wow.... didnt expect that one .
im using WD and especially several Toshiba's for years and years now, without any issues ( No nas usage ) . Advice them to my friends also .

 

[USAFRet]

oh wow.... didnt expect that one .
im using WD and especially several Toshiba's for years and years now, without any issues ( No nas usage ) . Advice them to my friends also .

The 3TB WD died at 5 weeks. From perfect to absolutely dead in about 36 hours.
Its replacement is still going strong several years later.

The 14TB Tosh at 7 months. 0 to 15,000+ bad blocks in about a week. Warranty replacement took 4 months.

The several year old 8TB Seagate is still in the process of dying. Currently reporting 8 uncorrectable bad blocks.
It hsa been relegated to secondary use, with absolutely nothing important on it.


Personally, I expect any storage device to die in the next 5 minutes. No matter the brand or type.
And manage backups accordingly.

 

[thomas81br]

Is it "safe" (good idea) to buy (brand new) HDD (Helium filled (!)) that was sitting in a warehouse/store/stock shelf somewhere for like 3-4 years, without EVER being turned on/put into PC...? Just forgotten drive, LAST piece in stock which nobody bought...?

So i have found a nice drive, in my country (none english) e-shops, it appears to be the last piece of this particular HDD (its an older model AFAIK, replaced by newer models/revision (that are worse)). AFAIK this is the last HDD (new piece) thats being offered. Its WD Ultrastar 10TB HC510. I was thinking about buying WD Ultrastar HC DC 330, OR WD GOLD 10 TB (those are i think the same drives, but different names)... BUT... I by accident managed to find basically their (better quality/stats) predecessor - the WD Ultrastar 10TB HC510...

Its better in almost everything - Helium Filled (vs Air filled for the DC330 and WD GOLD 10 TB)), its has more MTBF, it consumes less power, should be significanntly quiter (20 dba in iddle vs 32 db in iddle - lol)). Its a better drive (on paper at least) more or less overall.

BUT (!). The problem is that AFAIK its an older model... these are NOT being manufactured anymore (were replaced by the worse HC DC 330 and Gold 10TB), and im not sure but i think that the manafacturing of H510 ended like in 2019 or 2020 (im not sure about that but i think its true)... That would make the drive like 3-4 years old (!!). That means that its a "brand new HDD" (not a "used one"), BUT the last piece in the stock... Simply nobody bought it yet and as far as i can tell it was just sitting in some warehouse/Store/stock shelf for all these years (3-4) !!... Nobody touched it, it was never powered on during all these years etc...

My question is: Is it a good idea to buy such "long totally iddle" HDDs...?

Like didnt the helium "leak" - "reduced" during all these years or total innactivity or something...? Dont HDDs have some lubricant or "grease" or whatever that makes them run/spin the platters smoohtly etc... Didnt the years on shelf hurt it somehow... (hardened etc...)...? Wont it hurt the HDD or shorten its future use-lifespan if it sat on a stock shelf somewhere totall innactive for like 3-4 years...

Its hard for me to imagine that it didnt hurt it in some way (or reduce the future lifespan of the drive (HELIUM drive at that))...???

I like the specs of the drive on paper, its also like 10% cheaper (9%) than the newer (but worse) versions - GOLD 10 TB (WD102KRYZ)... I just like the drive, but what almost scares me are those 3-4 years of just lying around on a shelf not being powered on AT ALL... Am i wrong in being worried...?

(doesnt somebody know WHEN the HC510 was actually stopped being made?)

 

[USAFRet]

Is it "safe" (good idea) to buy (brand new) HDD (Helium filled (!)) that was sitting in a warehouse/store/stock shelf somewhere for like 3-4 years, without EVER being turned on/put into PC...? Just forgotten drive, LAST piece in stock which nobody bought...?

Does it come with the actual manufacturer warranty?

It is no more or less "safe" than any other drive.
And no more or less likely to "die".

 

[thomas81br]

It does come with standard 5 year warranty...

so you would NOT be worried by those 3-4 years that it was "iddle" just sitting around "forgotten" ("unbought") on some shelf somewhere in some warehouse?