[SOLVED] Which to choose for large capacity (8TB) media storage?

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DV4PER

DV4PER

Oct 10, 2020
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Over the years I've gone from 1TB to 2TB to 4TB HDD, etc. I now have stacks of the things. I'd like to get rid of the last of my 4TB HDDs and get some 8TB HDDs, but I'm not sure which to get. (I will not be using them in any sort of RAID configuration).

From reading here, I see that it's ok to use Enterprise or NAS HDDs or even Surveillance drives in a PC. I'm wanting to use these drives for storing media (mostly large mkvs, but also eBooks, Audio Books, and MP3s), not for gaming. I move files between drives fairly often, so I'm unhappy with the transfer speed of 5400 RPM drives. (I just got a Seagate Barracuda and was reminded why I've always gotten 7200 RPM drives).

I like the price of the Seagate Exos better than the Ironwolf, but it doesn't have very many reviews. Is there a reason for that?

For media storage and (kinda) regular file transfer, what HDD(s) would you recommend? btw, noise isn't an issue.
 
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DV4PER said:
Over the years I've gone from 1TB to 2TB to 4TB HDD, etc. I now have stacks of the things. I'd like to get rid of the last of my 4TB HDDs and get some 8TB HDDs, but I'm not sure which to get. (I will not be using them in any sort of RAID configuration).

From reading here, I see that it's ok to use Enterprise or NAS HDDs or even Surveillance drives in a PC. I'm wanting to use these drives for storing media (mostly large mkvs, but also eBooks, Audio Books, and MP3s), not for gaming. I move files between drives fairly often, so I'm unhappy with the transfer speed of 5400 RPM drives. (I just got a Seagate Barracuda and was reminded why I've always gotten 7200 RPM drives).

I like the price of the Seagate Exos better than the Ironwolf, but it doesn't have very many reviews. Is there a reason for that?

For media storage and (kinda) regular file transfer, what HDD(s) would you recommend? btw, noise isn't an issue.
Click to expand...
May be not many people have used it or the people using that is still checking if the Seagate Exos is fine. So, you can be one of them who's trying to explore things. May be though!
 
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Snow_cherry12 said:
May be not many people have used it or the people using that is still checking if the Seagate Exos is fine. So, you can be one of them who's trying to explore things. May be though!
Click to expand...

I don't want to risk my data or my money on an experiment. It'd be great if I could do something like that, though, with a whole bank of drives backing up my back-ups like every good computer-user should do (but rarely does). :/
 
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Your data should never be "at risk", no matter what drive.
Always have a good backup situation, and know how to recover.

To your question - It is impossible to predict for a single drive. No matter the make or model. You might end up with the outlier that dies in the first 3 months.

I have 3x 8TB drives (all currently in my QNAP NAS, 24/7 use)
Toshiba HDWF180 (445 days old)
Seagate ST8000AS0002-1NA17Z (1468 days old)
Seagate ST8000DM004-2CX188 (340 days old)

The 2CX188 Seagate was shucked from a $140 external.
 
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USAFRet said:
Your data should never be "at risk", no matter what drive.
Always have a good backup situation, and know how to recover.

To your question - It is impossible to predict for a single drive. No matter the make or model. You might end up with the outlier that dies in the first 3 months.

I have 3x 8TB drives (all currently in my QNAP NAS, 24/7 use)
Toshiba HDWF180 (445 days old)
Seagate ST8000AS0002-1NA17Z (1468 days old)
Seagate ST8000DM004-2CX188 (340 days old)

The 2CX188 Seagate was shucked from a $140 external.
Click to expand...

I know anyone can get a bad drive. I suppose my question about the Exos versus Ironwolf was because in my searches on here I kept coming up with recommendations for the Ironwolf but I only found one for the Exos (in a non-NAS situation). I didn't know if there was a reason for this.

I always back up my OS and program files, but my media...not so much. I have it scattered across so many drives, the loss of some of it wouldn't be devastating, just depressing. I simply can't afford the number of drives I'd need to back up all of my data. I wish that I could.

That's why I'm trying to find out which 7200 RPM drives are suggested to get for my situation, as funds are limited.

edit - I'm not limiting my search to the Exos and Ironwolf, but that's the general price range I'm trying to stay with.
 
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I've been using Seagate Iron Wolf drives as storage for my backups.
I have many different drives in my system but for storage and daily use I like drive with a great warranty. To me price/warranty are the deciding factors.
I have the seagate 10Tb backup due to low cost as a third backup (rarely used)
so no review yet.
Just a note, when moving from 4 to 8 terabytes the HD disks will need to be GPT.
 
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DV4PER said:
I know anyone can get a bad drive. I suppose my question about the Exos versus Ironwolf was because in my searches on here I kept coming up with recommendations for the Ironwolf but I only found one for the Exos (in a non-NAS situation). I didn't know if there was a reason for this.
Click to expand...
I also have a group of 4x 4TB Ironwolfs.

Really though, there is no "best", on a single iteration of an item.
There have been a few 'DoNotBuy' things. The WD Green. The 3TB Seagates from a few years ago. But pretty much everything else is within a percentage point or two of fleetwide reliability.

The key factor is to have a backup of your data, for when the drive does die.
 
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Solution
USAFRet said:
Numbers from Backblaze

Hard Drive Failure Rates: A Look at Drive Reliability

We take a look at the Q1 2020 and lifetime performance of 129,764 hard drives used in the Backblaze data centers.
www.backblaze.com www.backblaze.com

A Look at the Current 2020 Hard Drive Failure Rates

Hard drive failure rates on an annualized and quarterly basis for 139,867 hard drives by make and manufacturer.
www.backblaze.com www.backblaze.com

https://www.backblaze.com/b2/hard-drive-test-data.html
Click to expand...

Thanks for that link. It answers as many questions as it asks, though. The failures for the Exos drive I'm looking at are consistenly low (around 1% for every reported year). I can't find the Ironwolf drive anywhere, unless I've got the wrong model number. The 8TB model I've written down is ST8000VN00/Z04. Did Seagate recently change models for their NAS drives?

The drive data has made me (re)question something about one of my drives. I've got a ST4000DX001 (4TB Hybrid drive). I see really bad stats for a ST4000DX000 for 2016 onward. Are they the same drive? Hard Disk Sentinel keeps telling me that my DX001 has bad and weak sectors, and that hundreds of errors have occurred during data transfer. SeaTools keeps telling me there's nothing wrong with the drive. AFAIK Seagate discontinued the model not long after I bought my drive. I realize that Hard Disk Sentinel is just a guide, but its report combined with the discontinuation of the model and seeing all the drive failures of what's probably the same model drive makes me wonder if I should move my data off it ASAP.
 
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SkyNetRising said:
WD/HGST helioseal models - currently best option for high capacity storage.
For example DC HC520 12TB. Have several of those.
Click to expand...

The 12TB is out of my price range, and from what I read only the 10TB and above use the 5 generations of HelioSeal technology. I don't know if that means there is no HelioSeal, or a just a lesser version of it for the 8TB of smaller drives.

I'm wanting to stay around $200/drive.
 
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fzabkar said:
SeaTools is not to be trusted. It will award a passing grade to a drive even if it has thousands of reallocated sectors. Use it only if you need a "test code" for warranty purposes.
Click to expand...

Then how in the hell are you supposed to RMA their drives since they expect you to run their damned program? omg, I wanted to return that drive long ago, but since it kept passing their stupid SeaTools I figured they would just send it back. I've moved all the data off it and reformatted it, then restored my data to it just to check to see if it was the drive or the data.

😡 Now I'm pissed. It's out of warranty because I bit my tongue (repeatedly) and ignored the warnings of Disk Sentinel.

I suppose that answers the question about moving my data off of that drive ASAP?
 
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DV4PER said:
Thanks for that link. It answers as many questions as it asks, though. The failures for the Exos drive I'm looking at are consistenly low (around 1% for every reported year). I can't find the Ironwolf drive anywhere, unless I've got the wrong model number. The 8TB model I've written down is ST8000VN00/Z04. Did Seagate recently change models for their NAS drives?

The drive data has made me (re)question something about one of my drives. I've got a ST4000DX001 (4TB Hybrid drive). I see really bad stats for a ST4000DX000 for 2016 onward. Are they the same drive? Hard Disk Sentinel keeps telling me that my DX001 has bad and weak sectors, and that hundreds of errors have occurred during data transfer. SeaTools keeps telling me there's nothing wrong with the drive. AFAIK Seagate discontinued the model not long after I bought my drive. I realize that Hard Disk Sentinel is just a guide, but its report combined with the discontinuation of the model and seeing all the drive failures of what's probably the same model drive makes me wonder if I should move my data off it ASAP.
Click to expand...
You're overthinking this.
Going down the road of analyzing tenths of a percentage point of fleetwide fails is of no consequence for your single iteration of a device.

There are only a few things to consider:
Continual, automated backups.
How to recover in case of need>
Is the drive still under warranty?

All storage devices WILL fail.
If it fails in the warranty period, replace for free.
If past the warranty period, replace.
In either case, recover your data from the backup you made before it failed.


If one of your drives is already showing a bit of fail...that data needs to be backed up NOW.
 
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fzabkar said:
Seagate will always(?) give you a refurbished drive as a warranty replacement. I wouldn't trust these, either.
Click to expand...

USAFRet said:
You're overthinking this.
Going down the road of analyzing tenths of a percentage point of fleetwide fails is of no consequence for your single iteration of a device.

There are only a few things to consider:
Continual, automated backups.
How to recover in case of need>
Is the drive still under warranty?

All storage devices WILL fail.
If it fails in the warranty period, replace for free.
If past the warranty period, replace.
In either case, recover your data from the backup you made before it failed.


If one of your drives is already showing a bit of fail...that data needs to be backed up NOW.
Click to expand...

ok, thanks for answering that. Normally this would have answered my question, but Amazon is having Prime Day, so there are some drives that are on sale that are within my price range that I might be able to use.

I was wondering if any of thesse drives could be removed from their cases and be used as internal HDDs.
WDBA5E0120HBK-MESN -- WD Black 12TN D10 Deskto External HDD​
WGBWLG0120HNNK-NESN --- WD 12TB Elements Deskktop HDD​
STEB10000400 -- Seagate Expansion Deskyop External HDD​
​
Those drives are USB 3.0, which no longer work on my motherboard (ASUS 990 FX R2.0), so my only alternative is internal drives. The above-listed drives are all below $200, so they're larger in capacity than what I was hoping for and within my price range.
 
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DV4PER said:
ok, thanks for answering that. Normally this would have answered my question, but Amazon is having Prime Day, so there are some drives that are on sale that are within my price range that I might be able to use.

I was wondering if any of thesse drives could be removed from their cases and be used as internal HDDs.
WDBA5E0120HBK-MESN -- WD Black 12TN D10 Deskto External HDD​
WGBWLG0120HNNK-NESN --- WD 12TB Elements Deskktop HDD​
STEB10000400 -- Seagate Expansion Deskyop External HDD​
​
Those drives are USB 3.0, which no longer work on my motherboard (ASUS 990 FX R2.0), so my only alternative is internal drives. The above-listed drives are all below $200, so they're larger in capacity than what I was hoping for and within my price range.
Click to expand...
This may be of interest:

News - Shuckable External 12TB WD Hard Drive Now At $175

The 12TB WD Elements external hard drive retails for a mere $175 during Prime Day. Shuckable External 12TB WD Hard Drive Now At $175 : Read more
forums.tomshardware.com forums.tomshardware.com
 
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USAFRet said:
I have this particular 8TB:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CQJBSQL

Removed from its enclosure, and now doing duty in my NAS box.

The 3rd link in your post would seem to be just a larger variant.
Click to expand...

Is your Seagate 8TB drive 7200 RPMs? I had thought all three of the drives I mentioned were 7200 RPMs, but I just read the link from your other reply and saw that the Elements drive is only 5400 RPMs. That leaves the WD Black 12 TB drive external drive. I know Black drives are 7200 RPMs, but I don't know if it can be removed from its case. Because of Prime Day, it's selling for $219. (the 10TB Seagate is $169)

They have a Prime Day deal for WD Red Pro 12TB drives for $293, but that's out of my price range. I haven't found any specials for 8TB drives. :/

edit: I just found the 8TB Seagate for sale for $126.99. There's so many items for sale I must've missed it.
 
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