4TB WD Red Plus NAS 5400 RPM 3.5" Internal Hard Drive $89 with $8 off code + FS $89.99
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newegg.com has 4TB WD Red Plus NAS 5400 RPM 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (WD40EFZX) for $97.99 - $8 = $89.99, with $8 off w/ promo code 93XRZ35, Shipping is free.
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank Andrepartthree
09-15-2021 at 12:56 PM.
I actually ended up with one of these accidentally through amazon (they shipped it to me by mistake) .. if you're using it as intended for NAS purposes (I don't know much about NAS but from what I understand basically servers operating 24/7 that exist solely for backups of data on computers ) then you're using it for it's intended purpose. Having said that after doing a ton of research the general consensus is this is just fine for storing files for your standard Windows desktop use - you probably don't want to install Windows or programs in general on it but if you need a big hard drive for a ton of say video files for example this will do quite nicely, especially at this price.
The hard drive designed specifically for desktop use in Windows that is considered to be WD's "top of the line", Black Performance (5 year warranty) costs $135 by comparison at newegg but also has 7200 rpm (faster performance) ... or you can get a 4 TB $104 WD blue drive from newegg which again was designed specifically for desktop use but that's also 5400 rpm and a 2 year warranty vs the 3 year warranty from newegg. However my online research also indicates if you're using this for just documents a lot of people don't even notice the difference between 5400 or 7200 rpm (in my case the 5400 rpm red WD drive I use is fast enough for my purpose when working with documents). Technically... TECHNICALLY .. you can install Windows and/or computer programs in general on the Black or Blue drives, but...
Honestly given how cheap ssd drives are nowadays, if you don't already have Windows installed on an ssd drive drive or you just want a good drive for gaming, I would snag a 500 GB Crucial MX brand drive from newegg for $58 plus tax (roughly same price amazon but amazon is much more generous with it's return policy long as you select sold and shipped directly by amazon)
and use one of the WD drives mentioned above as a different drive for your documents (and to store backups of Windows on using Macrium Reflect see below ... or even better Acronis True Image if you're willing to plunk down the cash to buy a copy of it - my year 2016 version of Acronis True Image works great for me and this 2017 version is only $10
...you'll save maybe $4 based on my previous Black Friday experiences if you wait until Black Friday for the crucial (which I recommend because it's had great reviews online)... either way a ssd drive makes Windows way faster than a non ssd drive .. obviously if you didn't put your PC together by yourself and you bought it pre-manufactured this gets more complicated far as migrating your Windows install onto an SSD drive but is still do-able with enough google research based on the model number of your computer (there's often a youtube video for your computer model or a similar computer model showing how to do it) ... Macrium Reflect Free edition is just that, a free download a lot of people on the 'net swear by as far as copying your Windows install to an SSD drive.
I am waiting for these to drop to $60 each as I need 4 of them for a RAID 10. What I will use it for has a lot of read and writes on it, so I need it to keep running for about 5 years
Your Amazon listing is missing a key descriptor: "Plus"
There's Western Digital Red and Western Digital Red Plus
The answer to your question: Not the same.
NAS disks like this one are meant to be best used in tandem. They run slower, but use less power and generate less heat so they in theory will last longer. You get better performance from a group of disks together in the NAS when you have more spindles sharing the io load. A single slow disk may work for backup or archival (less often accessed data) but not for primary storage. In short it depends on how you want use it.
Is this a good drive for my desktop to store files?
Torai is right I'm infamous for my long wall of text posts .. having said that if you're willing to read through my rambling in the first post on this thread I have some thoughts
Absolutely not saying spacej0ckey is wrong, desktop storage is not the intended use for a red brand hard drive but at that price it sure is tempting ! ... here's some posts that might help you make up your mind if you want to go for it
in that quora link a guy who does data recovery from hard drives for a living Jared Palmer insists you can use the red brand for storage (but there's also a guy on there who's an electrical engineer saying don't do it )
You'll notice in those links there are some people who are saying "don't do it " but a lot of people say " Sure that's fine go ahead".
I did a lot of research on this when amazon mailed me the 2 TB red brand hard drive instead of the 1 TB black drive that I wanted (not the hard drive I ordered but double the size) so I agonized over the decision for a while
perfectly fine, they're actually designed for more demanding workloads @24/7 so generally more reliable than "desktop" drives.
Quote
from AlexZ2736
:
Is this a good drive for my desktop to store files?
rotation is slower, but that just affects access time - throughput is better than most drives of similar capacity so the difference is minimal and may be faster in long copies and short reads because these have a small DDR3 cache.
Quote
from spacej0ckey
:
NAS disks like this one are meant to be best used in tandem. They run slower, but use less power and generate less heat so they in theory will last longer. You get better performance from a group of disks together in the NAS when you have more spindles sharing the io load. A single slow disk may work for backup or archival (less often accessed data) but not for primary storage. In short it depends on how you want use it.
Torai is right I'm infamous for my long wall of text posts .. having said that if you're willing to read through my rambling in the first post on this thread I have some thoughts
the guy who posted that at tom's hardware forum says he used a red brand hard drive for four years successfully for storage
Misleading, incomplete and WRONG!
For someone who DID NOT follow the LINK, the EFRX (old WD Red CMR version) was used successfully. NOT the new WD Red SMR EFAX version. For a NAS, folks should now buy the WD Red Plus EFZX and thank Western Digital and their unsuccessful attempt to 'put one over / pull a fast one on the unsuspecting public' back in April 2020 for all of the ensuing confusion.
...rotation is slower, but that just affects access time - throughput is better than most drives of similar capacity so the difference is minimal and may be faster in long copies and short reads because these have a small DDR3 cache.
and some entrepreneurial techie (reddit Data Hoarders maybe?) had gone so far as to measure the vibration frequency of 5400 RPM vs 7200 RPM HDDs and reached the conclusion that "5400 RPM Class" is in fact rotating at 7200 RPM . But, just transferring data 'slower' than let's say a WD Black @ 7200 RPM.
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank Andrepartthree
The hard drive designed specifically for desktop use in Windows that is considered to be WD's "top of the line", Black Performance (5 year warranty) costs $135 by comparison at newegg but also has 7200 rpm (faster performance) ... or you can get a 4 TB $104 WD blue drive from newegg which again was designed specifically for desktop use but that's also 5400 rpm and a 2 year warranty vs the 3 year warranty from newegg. However my online research also indicates if you're using this for just documents a lot of people don't even notice the difference between 5400 or 7200 rpm (in my case the 5400 rpm red WD drive I use is fast enough for my purpose when working with documents). Technically... TECHNICALLY .. you can install Windows and/or computer programs in general on the Black or Blue drives, but...
Honestly given how cheap ssd drives are nowadays, if you don't already have Windows installed on an ssd drive drive or you just want a good drive for gaming, I would snag a 500 GB Crucial MX brand drive from newegg for $58 plus tax (roughly same price amazon but amazon is much more generous with it's return policy long as you select sold and shipped directly by amazon)
https://www.newegg.com/crucial-mx...klink=true
and use one of the WD drives mentioned above as a different drive for your documents (and to store backups of Windows on using Macrium Reflect see below ... or even better Acronis True Image if you're willing to plunk down the cash to buy a copy of it - my year 2016 version of Acronis True Image works great for me and this 2017 version is only $10
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Acroni.../248614614 ) ...
...you'll save maybe $4 based on my previous Black Friday experiences if you wait until Black Friday for the crucial (which I recommend because it's had great reviews online)... either way a ssd drive makes Windows way faster than a non ssd drive .. obviously if you didn't put your PC together by yourself and you bought it pre-manufactured this gets more complicated far as migrating your Windows install onto an SSD drive but is still do-able with enough google research based on the model number of your computer (there's often a youtube video for your computer model or a similar computer model showing how to do it) ... Macrium Reflect Free edition is just that, a free download a lot of people on the 'net swear by as far as copying your Windows install to an SSD drive.
Is this same? Only $84 on Amazon
Is this same? Only $84 on Amazon
Best quick example off of my head is gold plated vs gold
Is this same? Only $84 on Amazon
There's Western Digital Red and Western Digital Red Plus
The answer to your question: Not the same.
Further Info here:
Western Digital Cleans up the red SMR HDD Mess [anandtech.com]
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Best quick example off of my head is gold plated vs gold
Absolutely not saying spacej0ckey is wrong, desktop storage is not the intended use for a red brand hard drive but at that price it sure is tempting ! ... here's some posts that might help you make up your mind if you want to go for it
https://community.spice
Jorge is an employee at Western Digital who basically says yes go ahead and use it for storage
https://forums.tomshard
super_sophWD who talks about "our store at western digital" says it's okay as a big storage drive but that's not it's primary intended purpose
https://forums.tomshard
the guy who posted that at tom's hardware forum says he used a red brand hard drive for four years successfully for storage
https://www.quora.com/Can-a-NAS-h...hard-drive
in that quora link a guy who does data recovery from hard drives for a living Jared Palmer insists you can use the red brand for storage (but there's also a guy on there who's an electrical engineer saying don't do it )
and see also
https://www.quora.com/Can-I-use-a...desktop-PC
https://www.quora.com/Can-a-NAS-h...hard-drive
You'll notice in those links there are some people who are saying "don't do it " but a lot of people say " Sure that's fine go ahead".
I did a lot of research on this when amazon mailed me the 2 TB red brand hard drive instead of the 1 TB black drive that I wanted (not the hard drive I ordered but double the size) so I agonized over the decision for a while
---SNIP---
the guy who posted that at tom's hardware forum says he used a red brand hard drive for four years successfully for storage
For someone who DID NOT follow the LINK, the EFRX (old WD Red CMR version) was used successfully. NOT the new WD Red SMR EFAX version. For a NAS, folks should now buy the WD Red Plus EFZX and thank Western Digital and their unsuccessful attempt to 'put one over / pull a fast one on the unsuspecting public' back in April 2020 for all of the ensuing confusion.
Western Digital has now turned to "5400 RPM Class" in their Spec Sheet: WD Red Plus Product Brief [cnetcontent.com]
and some entrepreneurial techie (reddit Data Hoarders maybe?) had gone so far as to measure the vibration frequency of 5400 RPM vs 7200 RPM HDDs and reached the conclusion that "5400 RPM Class" is in fact rotating at 7200 RPM . But, just transferring data 'slower' than let's say a WD Black @ 7200 RPM.