Don't know your WD Red from your Seagate Ironwolf? Looking to populate a NAS Drive with the right media, but are cannot see the wood for the trees? Here we discuss the latest and greatest hard drive (and SSD of course) media for your network attached storage.
HDD Selection - DS1621xs+?
I just upgraded my NAS chassis to a Synology DS1621xs+ and now looking to fill it with 6x16TB HDD. I want to stay within the listed supported drives and the Toshiba model MG08ACA16TE I can get for significantly cheaper than the Synology and Seagate models. I can't find any bad press for these drives and as such think they would be no worse than the other drives, but for 40% less. Do you have an opinion either way?
PH Phillipmcmahon asked on 13 April 2021, 15:25
1 answers / 0 votes / 89 views
Synology HAT5300 Review: Requests and Recommendations?
Robbie, in the upcoming videos related to the Synology HAT5300 drive, please consider exploring the following topics. [1] Is the Synology HAT5300 8TB drive considerably louder than the 12TB model? Assuming that Synology HAT5300-8T = Toshiba MG06 and HAT5300-12T = MG07, the acoustic specifications (idle) published by Toshiba are 34db versus 20db. [2] Will the Synology HAT5300 16TB drive be approved for use in a DiskStation NAS? At present, the Synology HAT5300-16T only appears in the Synology Products Compatibility List for RackStation units. [3] Please compare a Synology HAT5300-8T against a Toshiba MG06, to contrast the performance of the ‘same’ hardware with different firmware. [4] When examining the performance of a Synology HAT5300 drive, please vary the number of simultaneous clients in a multi-user RAID environment. According to Synology’s data sheet for the HAT5300, the drive does not deliver better performance than others when the number of clients is few. Thank you.
0 answers / 0 votes / 185 views
Drawback for SSD?
I was planning to use a Synology NAS populated with four 2TB ssd for use in my motorhome. I think the SSD will not be affected by the bumps and vibrations of a moving vehicle. Now I am questioning the wisdom of doing this because of the 'volatility' of data stored on an SSD. Do SSD need to be "ON" at all times in order to prevent slow loss of data? I have seen some online information that SSD will begin to lose data if they are stored and not being used. Is this true? how long can they be 'off' before they begin losing data? Any help you can offer will be appreciated.
0 answers / 0 votes / 132 views
Certifying / Validating NAS HDDs at Setup?
How may I validate / Certify individual HDDs during my QNAP setup. (Would like to start by making sure all new individual HDDs are in perfect working order and was not damaged during shipment etc. Would prefer a complete Read/Write verification test of all data blocks available through DAS products such as SoftRaid. BTW: I am setting up a new QNAP TVS-872XT with 8 Seagate Exos 14TB drives in RAID-6
0 answers / 0 votes / 115 views
Bad sectors - DS216se and DS218+?
I have a DS216se with two WD drives (8tb each in Raid 1). The one drive is showing 3 bad sector count in the SMART test. Should I be concerned? It is only a backup NAS to the DS218+ as the 216se is underspec for streaming ( which I only found out later --arghhh). The 216se was purchased after my QNAP died on me with both drives showing faults (although managed to get the data off it). I have also been thinking of upgrading the 216se to a 220+ and then keeping the 218+ off site as 3-2-1. Currently I am using 2Brightsparks to back up the 218+ to the 216SE and it just works. Should I move to a DSM back up solution or continue using 2brightsparks when I move to the "cloud" where 220+ will be my master and 218+ will be a remote slave?
AL Alistair808 asked on 01 February 2021, 03:30
1 answers / 0 votes / 156 views
Can I mix these drives in my Synology 920+?
Will 5900RPM drives play nicely with 7200RPM drives, or will something go boom? I've got a 920+ with 4x 4TB 5900 drives running SHR1. I'm going to need to expand my storage soon, and I already know I don't want a DX drive (I'm not comfortable with losing another whole drive for parity if I create another volume, nor am I comfortable with a single volume reliant on a single sata cable, though feel free to try and change my mind on that point). My options are a) buy larger drives and swap them in for 2 or more of my existing drives, or b) buy a second box and more drives and manage them in a network. Right now, option b is a bit more costly than I want to go, and I was hoping to swap in 2x 8TB drives now followed by 2 more later in the year, or maybe buying a 2-bay box for the spare 4TB drives. After having read up on this, it looks like 8TB drives only come in 7200RPM flavour, and it's not advisable to mix RPMs. I have two questions on this. 1) Is it possible to mix the two RPMs, and if so, is it viable for medium term (i.e. could any potential faults/damage accumulate over the next 6-12 months or so?). 2) With SHR, will either of the 2x 8TB drives actually offer their full 8TB of space if mixed with 2x 4TB drives? Thanks to all for any help you can give. Cheers!
AN Anothernasuser asked on 23 January 2021, 16:17
1 answers / 0 votes / 222 views
Western Digital regular red, plus and pro hard drives, why 5400 over 7400? Which would you recommend for Synology?
Western Digital has regular red, red plus, and red pro hard drives. As a regular home consumer, I bought some WD RED PRO's at a really great price during Prime day and I notice it's a 7200. I couldn't find it on Synology's compatibility list for the ds1621+ or ds1821+. Three questions as I am totally new to this: 1. Could they still work and be used with those Synology NASs? 2. Is 5400 better than 7200 in HDDs? 3. If you were me, buying a NAS for the first time, what would you recommend?
1 answers / 0 votes / 290 views
WD RED PRO SED compatibility?
I have 2 WD RED PRO 6Tb and a QNAP TS-253D. Are the drives compatible with SED encryption? I'm asking the question because they don't have PSID number. I'm affraid not to be abble to restore them in case I forget the password. I don't care to lost the data.I want to be sure to be abble to factory restore them. Thank you
1 answers / 0 votes / 195 views
How quiet is the WD140EFFX (WD Red Plus 14TB)?
I currently use 8 x WD30EFRX (WD Red 3TB CMR) from circa 2012. They are whisper quiet in my DS1812+ and - even during data scrubbing and high load - the noise isn't intrusive at all in my office. I'm looking to get a new 8bay Synology NAS (either DS1819+ or DS1821+) and would like it to be similarly quiet if possible... so I'm wondering if the newer, giant-capacity drives are still as quiet? I've heard the Seagate IronWolfs are both noisier and harsher in sound/tone, especially under load, so I'm avoiding those (but happy to be corrected if I've got heard wrong about them, of course).
GA Gainfulshrimp asked on 26 November 2020, 10:46
0 answers / 0 votes / 154 views
Size and number of hard drives for new 4 bay NAS?
I am planning on buying a DS920+ for home and business use. I run a software consulting business from home. Typically only 2 people will access the NAS and our storage needs are low (no plex, video, or surveillance needs). I chose the DS920+ as an investment in something that is scalable that I won't need to upgrade for a long time. (Tell me if I should reconsider this.) Considering I currently have low storage needs, what is the best strategy for hard drive selection? Do I populate all 4 bays with hard drives or only 2 or 3 bays? What size do I buy- the largest I can afford? Do I buy the same size for all hard drives or maybe 1 large and 2 smaller sizes? Ideally, I spend no more than $600 USD (around the same price as the NAS) for hard drives. How do I best allocate this?
2 answers / 0 votes / 249 views
HDD compatibility with DS1019+?
HI NAS Compares, I was wondering whether anyone knows for sure whether the 18 TB seagate pro drive (ST18000NE000) will work in the DS1019+? I looked at Synology's compatibility website - but they didn't explicitly show the ST18000NE000 drive in their list for the DS1019+.
TO Tomatoandcake asked on 04 November 2020, 16:52
0 answers / 0 votes / 182 views
Best transcoding NAS for video editing?
Hi all, I need some advice on a NAS solution for our small video studio. I'm hoping to find a NAS that will automatically transcode 4k xavc-s files down to 1080p H264 files for editing as proxy files in Premiere. I'd like to create a simple workflow so a team member can remove SD cards from a camera. Plug them into a reader, change their filename (our sony A7Sii cameras do not have a very user-friendly naming system) and then copy the files to the NAS. Probably using an iMac as the workstation. I would like the NAS to then transcode the files to 1080p, and copy both the 4k files and the 1080p files to an external drive so the videographer can take the external drive back to their studio to edit with + keep a copy of all files on the NAS. We will have about 4TB of 4k footage for this project. But will need to hold more in the future. Redundant RAID in case of a failed drive is a must, incremental backup in case someone deletes the wrong file would be nice too.
MI Milkwood_nick asked on 04 September 2020, 02:16
1 answers / 0 votes / 335 views
Wd Red vs Seagate Ironwolf for Synology 220+?
Given all the great advice you have given over the years, I am about to buy my first "real" NAS, the Synology DS220+. My question is: should I buy WD Red or Seagate Ironwolf for the Synology? I was originally thinking that a pair of 6TB would be good for what I need the NAS to do, but with the WD SMR/CMR issue, I'm now looking at 8TB drives to eliminate that issue. Please can you give guidance on whether the 7200RPM Seagates are more reliable than the 5400RPM WDs? Do they make more noise (the DS220+ will be next to my router in the living room)? Use more power? For backup and media server, any differences? Any guidance would be very much appreciated. Thank you.
2 answers / 0 votes / 637 views
Synology vs. QNAP disk size upgrade?
On Synology vs. QNAP videos it was stated that you can use different size disks with Synology but not with QNAP, is this still true? How do you upgrade your QNAP RAID to larger disks? If you can't use various sizes do you have to rebuild from scratch?
2 answers / 0 votes / 244 views
Yet again WD Red 4TB FAX vs FRX?
Hi, I'm looking closely to Qnap TS-251D populated with a couple of WD Red 4TB HDD based on the following needs: - Family data storage solution (three persons with individual personal and professional data); - Multimedia storage and video player through HDMI to the living room TV; - Own cloud solution for on-the-move access. My choice for the WD Red was mainly driven by the lower noise level when compared with the Seagate Ironwolf, but considering my complete lack of experience, I'm not sure if that's a significant factor to consider in my case. Having this WD Red in mind, I've been following the CMR/SMR controversy and all the amazing NASCompares Youtube videos posted to test this novelty from WD. Even watching these videos, I'm still not sure if it pays to buy the new model (FAX), mainly because it is more expensive than the older model (FRX). Should I go for WD Red FAX, FRX or just go for Seagate (if the noise levels aren't that noticeable)?
2 answers / 0 votes / 1061 views
4tb WD Red no longer compatible with synology?
Hi. Thanks for your site and videos. I have recently moved my 4tb wd red HDD from ds412+ to rs1219+. A check today on the synology site shows 4tb red HDD are no longer listed as compatible. They were on the compatible list yesterday I’m sure! My question is which models/serial numbers were compatible? Has WD published when they changed from CMR to SMR on hdd so we can check what we have? Regards
NA Nascompares_blog_push asked on 27 April 2020, 03:30
1 answers / 0 votes / 516 views
Help needed b/w 4TB WD Red Pro / WD Gold / Seagate Ironwolf Pro?
Hello, I currently own a QNAP TS-453Mini 8GB (original version) w/ 4x 4TB WD Red Pro (64MB cache) HDD's (all bought in 2016) 1 of HDD's failed this week and I'm looking to replace it ASAP. I was looking at the 4TB WD Red Pro vs the 4TB WD Gold vs the 4TB Seagate Ironwolf Pro HDD's. I'd need some advice on the following: - Can I mix HDD brands (i.e. 2x Seagate + 2x WD Red Pros) - Can I mix HDD's with different cache sizes? (Red Pro 64MB vs Gold 256 MB, or even Ironwolf Pro 128MB vs Red Pro 64MB, and so on) - Considering the recent SRM issues, are the WD Gold and Ironwolf models bound to be affected? - Is the WD Gold worth it for a 4bay NAS? All three drives are nearly at the same price right now, so that's not an issue. It's more on reliability. I replaced one of my drives 1.5 yrs ago already and now a 2nd one failed this week. That's 2 of the original WD Red Pro's in less than 4 years. Add the emerging SRM issues affecting WD 2TB-6TB HDD's... Thanks in advance!
ME Menvedidos asked on 21 April 2020, 18:52
1 answers / 0 votes / 381 views
WD Red vs WD Red Pro ?
All of the Media coverage is regarding the WD Red HDD's and the shingling used in these drives to increase storage capacity. Does any of this controversy extend to the WD Red Pro drives as well?
1 answers / 1 votes / 289 views
QNAP TS231P2 :How to clean up / format working old disks from RAID1 after replacing both? Ex by going 2x2TB->2x6TB?
Hello! I am new to NAS, so apologies. Let's say, I'd like to extend my current RAID1 in my Qnap NAS by replacing smaller disks with larger ones. 2x2TB - 2x4TB or 2x6TB. I checked qnap manual and understand the procedure "replace disk one by one" but it does not say in what state the old disk will be? I understand the data will remain there? What if I would like to resell them to a friend? I also have a desktop PC, do I need, after replacement insert them one by one to my PC and format/clean up them? Will any software be able to read them? Is it possible perhaps to do this procedure while they are still on my NAS? I mean, clean disk one, replace, wait for raid rebuild, clean disk 2, replace, wait for raid rebuild? Thank You and stay in good health during those awful times!
1 answers / 0 votes / 358 views
Hard drives' choice for modern Plex oriented NAS?
Hi! I'm going to buy my first NAS aimed to be both a file server and a Media Server. My question is: what hard drives should I choose if NAS's main purpose is seamless 4K UHD playback (I know this is not widespread at the moment but I'd like to be a bit future-prone). So, should I go for: 1) A pair of 4TB WD Red's (or Red Pro's?) in a RAID. This is a good option cost-wise but I'm not sure if it will be robust enough given HDD's relatively low random read speed. 2) A pair of 1TB SSDs 3) Even though I plan getting a TS-251D (once it is available in my country), I don't think that getting an add-on card with SSD for caching purposes will help me in 4K playback, but pls correct me if I indeed should consider this option. Many thanks!
MA Makumazan84 asked on 29 March 2020, 23:00
2 answers / 0 votes / 375 views