[e_dogg]

As you might know by now, I'm planning on building a Windows Home Server soon. In this build, I'm going to use three 1TB drives and use the WHS folder duplication.

This server will be on 24x7 and I understand that some drives will wear out sooner when they're on every day all day.

Seagate has the ST31000340SV drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148299) which says it's designed for 24x7 use in a DVR type application. It's a little more expensive than other drives but not as much as the Western Digital RE or Seagate ES server grade drives.

Think this drive should have a better lifespan than a plain ol' drive? I can't seem to find any reviews or other information about it so I'm kinda lost.

 

[Bunnywinkles]

i would imagine it would be, after all it says 24x7

 

[e_dogg]

That's kinda what I was thinking...but with the lack of info on it, I wonder if it's worth an extra $20-30 each (total $60-90 extra for my build).

Being that I'll have 3 drives and using folder duplication, I should probably be protected from drive failure...but I dunno...might be worth it for the hassle.

 

[Sinner]

I think so. When I was deciding on which drives to buy, I contacted some major companies in Europe who deal with data recovery, computer forensics, protection of data etc.

I've learned a lot from talking to them.

First of all, most of them agreed that with current technology it's just not possible to have so big disks (1Tb, 1.5Tb etc.) so cheaply. They have explained that big manufacturers just had to sacrifice something in order to produce big drives while keeping prices low. To skip the technical part, they sacrificed quality. (If you know how hard-disks are being made, it's easy to understand why making 1Tb drive with the same technology makes it more unstable in the long term.)

They've set the approximate upper limit around 650Gb; everything above is almost surely going to die sooner than a <650Gb equivalent. (An interesting information: chief director of datasolutions.rs told me that huge percentage of dead drives he is getting to recover information from are WD 750Gb/1Tb drives.)

I've decided to put some extra money in drives - as safety of data is my primary concern - and got those you see in my signature.

It's still to early to judge on them - I'll let you know in couple of years if they are still working flawlessly as they are now.

Until then - I can only believe that I've made a right choice. The burden of evidence tells me it is so.

 

[DuckieHo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by e_dogg This server will be on 24x7 and I understand that some drives will wear out sooner when they're on every day all day.

Just a note.... while the drives maybe powered all day, they are mostly in either idle/park state. This does not wear out the drives nearly as much as constant read/write.

 

[airbozo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckieHo Just a note.... while the drives maybe powered all day, they are mostly in either idle/park state. This does not wear out the drives nearly as much as constant read/write.

This is why enterprise grade drives are more expensive...

We tried to convince one of our customers (who is building his own storage device product) of the fact that the desktop or consumer grade drives should _never_ be used in a 24/7 type of setup, but he was more worried about cost (12 drives in a storage box), so he insisted on purchasing consumer grade drives. Now he is complaining about too many failures in just over a year. We gently reminded him of our original conversation explaining why the drives he purchased are failing so fast.

Go with the better grade drive IMO.

BTW: I have not heard of the issue with the TB drives failing more frequently.

 

[DuckieHo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by airbozo BTW: I have not heard of the issue with the TB drives failing more frequently.

This is probably a probability issue.

A 1TB drive of the same quality as a 500GB has a higher probability of disk error just due to the number of sectors.

 

[Spart]

It's got a 5 year warranty from Seagate so I'd say worth it.

 

[DuckieHo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spart It's got a 5 year warranty from Seagate so I'd say worth it.

All new Seagate HDs have a 5 year warranty now.

 

[Spart]

I didn't know that.

Their page says:
How Long Does The Coverage Last? Our warranty periods are 1 year, 2 years, 3 years or 5 years from the documented date of purchase, depending on the type of product and where it was purchased.

 

[DuckieHo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spart I didn't know that. Their page says: How Long Does The Coverage Last? Our warranty periods are 1 year, 2 years, 3 years or 5 years from the documented date of purchase, depending on the type of product and where it was purchased.

All of their new hard drives on Newegg are listing a 5 year warranty.

 

[e_dogg]

Interesting reading...I definitely won't be reading/writing on these drives 24x7. I just read a pretty good roundup on X-bit (conclusion here: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/sto...oundup_24.html) and it sounds like the Samsung F1 is a really good all-around choice too.

I guess I'll just see what the finances look like when I get the "all-clear" from the wife to buy the parts. If I can afford it, I'll pick up the SV Seagate drives and if money is tight, I'll do the Samsungs and save $100.

 

[DuckieHo]

BTW....
Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 1TB
$80 AR + $2 shipping:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...Sku=TSD-1000H3

 

[e_dogg]

Yeah I saw that in the Online Deals forum. I'm a little hesitante since the performance wasn't great in the roundup I read.

Though, the price is pretty freakin' stellar.

 

[ounderfla69]

I cant remember where but I dont think you want the hdds made for a DVR in a PC. It has something to do with the way the DVR functions, but for the life of me I cant find where I saw it. I would go with a server hdd if you want reliabiltity, but then again you could always buy a couple of more backup drive for what they cost. I like the samsung drives I have less problems then WD drives, but I have andundant backup so if a drive fails I RMA or replace it.

 

[e_dogg]

I just did a chat session with Seagate to get some more info about the surveillance video drives since there's not much out there. The gist is that they have firmware which isn't condusive to having an OS installed.

He recommended the ES.2 drives - which makes sense from their perspective as that's their server line and I'm, well, building a server.

I think I'll get either the 7200.11 or Samsung F1 depending on which is cheapest when I'm ready to do the deal.

Below is the chat information:

__________________________________________________ _

Please wait while we find an agent to assist you...
Hello. How may I help you?
me: Hi, I have a question about the ST31000340SV "surveillance video" drives
me: I'm building a small home server and am wondering if the ST31000340SV drive would be good for that application
me: the machine will likely be powered on 24x7 but not heavily accessed since it's just a home server machine
Seagate Support: Depends they are meant for video surveillance applications and not desktop use.
me: ok - what is the difference? Data is data, right?
Seagate Support: There are firmware differences and this drive may not readily accept an OS or a raid application.
me: which drive would you recommend?
The agent is sending you to http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/pro...arracuda_es.2/.
Seagate Support: Any of the drives on that page
me: ok - how do they differ from the regular 7200.11 drive? Also, I am not planning on using RAID. I will be using Windows Home Server and file duplication
me: *folder duplication - not file duplication
Seagate Support: The ES.2 drives are our best drives meant for 24/7 use and are just all around much better products.
me: do you think a 7200.11 could handle being powered on 24/7 but not heavily accessed?
Seagate Support: It can but you may see it fail early
me: ok - thanks for the information!