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expiredcaptainguy posted Nov 17, 2023 06:06 AM
expiredcaptainguy posted Nov 17, 2023 06:06 AM

18TB WD easystore USB 3.0 External Hard Drive

+ Free Store Pickup

$200

$405

50% off
Best Buy
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Deal Details
Best Buy has 18TB WD easystore USB 3.0 External Hard Drive (WDBAMA0180HBK-NESN) on sale for $199.99. Select store pickup where available.

Note: Availability for store pickup varies and may be limited.

Thanks to Community Member captainguy for sharing this deal.

Includes:
  • 18TB External Desktop Hard Drive
  • SuperSpeed USB-A cable (5Gbps)
  • AC adapter
  • Device management and backup software
  • 2-Year Warranty

Editor's Notes

Written by RazorConcepts

Original Post

Written by captainguy
Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
Best Buy has 18TB WD easystore USB 3.0 External Hard Drive (WDBAMA0180HBK-NESN) on sale for $199.99. Select store pickup where available.

Note: Availability for store pickup varies and may be limited.

Thanks to Community Member captainguy for sharing this deal.

Includes:
  • 18TB External Desktop Hard Drive
  • SuperSpeed USB-A cable (5Gbps)
  • AC adapter
  • Device management and backup software
  • 2-Year Warranty

Editor's Notes

Written by RazorConcepts

Original Post

Written by captainguy

Community Voting

Deal Score
+207
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Model: WD - easystore 18TB External USB 3.0 Hard Drive - Black

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Top Comments

resuds
431 Posts
350 Reputation
Good deal at $11.11/TB
jase77
741 Posts
54 Reputation
Nonsense. Normal people who just use a computer don't backup data but anyone needing 18tbs knows how things work.
lastwraith
1833 Posts
552 Reputation
I would get this personally. While I don't subscribe to Seagate all being garbage, these WD that I've gotten have all been Helioseal drives (based on HGST designs) and have been cool, quiet, and fast. The initial ones were PWDIS which meant you had to tape the pin, cut it, or use an adapter, but the latest ones haven't been PWDIS so no issues.

318 Comments

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Nov 20, 2023 01:21 AM
1,053 Posts
Joined Jul 2007
TurboMannNov 20, 2023 01:21 AM
1,053 Posts
Quote from jLikeToShop :
I do a long smart test as well as a suite of badblocks patterns. Following https://www.truenas.com/community...esting.92/
However, I've already seen 52c on the drive inside the enclosure! Around 70f room temperature, and the enclosure was warm, not hot, to the touch.

I'm going to shuck it before running badblocks (takes 6-7 days to run) in hopes it helps the temps.

Once installed I try to keep my drives under the low 40s. Is it possible I got a bad one, or are others seeing similar temps?
I've had mine backing up data all day via USB and it's at 52 C. Still in the enclosure.

Seems like normal/expected temps.

edit

I pointed a fan at the drive and temps dropped to 44 C.
Last edited by TurboMann November 19, 2023 at 06:46 PM.
Nov 20, 2023 01:32 AM
1,833 Posts
Joined Jan 2015
lastwraithNov 20, 2023 01:32 AM
1,833 Posts
Quote from Guy767 :
Honestly it might be for the best if it's canceled as these drives only have a 2 year warranty and shucking them might violate their warranty as well. (I hear conflicting info; I would say that it does violate the warranty if I were in WD shoes)

If you are patient you should be able to get a deal on Red Pros. Back in July I got a 18tb Red Pro for $240. The Red Pros come with a 5 year warranty; don't need to be shucked and are built/designed for NAS usage.

Random question, do these externals support UASP [startech.com]? In my experience, Seagate externals do not but most WDs do. UASP makes a huge difference in transfer speeds via USB 3. Without it, I average around 150MB/s and with UASP I get around 450MB/s.
I'm not sure, but these drives can't do 450MB/s by themselves and the included enclosure can only take one drive, so it doesn't really matter for these. I have a 2.5" enclosure that supports UASP and it's great for SATA SSDs. Since it's only a single drive enclosure though, UASP is irrelevant for my SATA spinners.

FWIW, I've never had a problem getting an RMA on WD shucked drives, but it's a good idea to keep the enclosure just in case. Plus they can be useful.
Last edited by lastwraith November 19, 2023 at 06:50 PM.
Nov 20, 2023 01:39 AM
1,833 Posts
Joined Jan 2015
lastwraithNov 20, 2023 01:39 AM
1,833 Posts
Quote from kozg :
Microsoft allocates 1024 bytes per kilobyte. Drive manufacturers measure 1000 bytes per kilobyte. By the time you get up to drives with GB of storage, it's quite a difference.

You lose some space for the file system formatting, but that's a different issue.

I think Apple uses the same measurement as the drive manufacturers.
Windows will display the "full" drive capacity as well as their (binary) measurment. The actual storage capacity is not changed either way obviously. MacOS used to do the same thing but they also use the drive mfr (decimal) measurement way now.
This article does a pretty good job of describing what's going on for anyone who's interested.
https://www.seagate.com/support/k...-172191en/
Last edited by lastwraith November 19, 2023 at 06:47 PM.
Nov 20, 2023 01:42 AM
1,833 Posts
Joined Jan 2015
lastwraithNov 20, 2023 01:42 AM
1,833 Posts
Quote from jase77 :
I know all HDs are like this, but I wonder if this will be fixed. They should only be able to label it according to usable space. Seems like a class action lawsuit waiting to happen.
The same thing is done on wireless hardware (throughput), audio equipment (peak power), and tons of other things so I doubt this will change anytime soon. Neither side is lying, they're just measuring differently. Technically, both are correct.

Edit - that person with the downvote must have gotten their bubble burst. "Wait, my $35 BOSS amp doesn't really put out 9000W from my car's 80A alternator!?!"
Sorry bro.
Last edited by lastwraith November 19, 2023 at 08:58 PM.
1
Nov 20, 2023 03:10 AM
230 Posts
Joined Mar 2014
carlosrossiNov 20, 2023 03:10 AM
230 Posts
Quote from SociableCrayon940 :
Hey are these good for playing pc games off of? What's the rpm speeds of these?
I think I saw they were 7200.. I might be mistaken
Nov 20, 2023 04:05 AM
1,833 Posts
Joined Jan 2015
lastwraithNov 20, 2023 04:05 AM
1,833 Posts
Quote from carlosrossi :
I think I saw they were 7200.. I might be mistaken
They are. The HC550 is a 7200rpm drive, although it's fair to not trust WD since they previously had 7200rpm drives that claimed to be 5400rpm in SMART and were also listed as "5400rpm performance class".
That was a fun little debacle on the heels of the CMR/SMR stuff.
Nov 20, 2023 04:47 AM
1 Posts
Joined Nov 2023
ddeatrichNov 20, 2023 04:47 AM
1 Posts
Quote from ionizer :
ugh, i dont want to shuck 4 drives and void warranties - will i find semi-equivalent deals by black friday?

i've not heard any good rumors yet
What? That doesn't void warranty.

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Nov 20, 2023 06:11 AM
29 Posts
Joined Oct 2017
MurderMostFowlNov 20, 2023 06:11 AM
29 Posts
Has anyone picked one up locally yet? Are they CMR drives? From the size, you'd think they are but WD has high capacity SMR unlike other vendors.

( Conventional Magnetic Recording for those who don't know. Basically required for people who want to put them in NASes )
Nov 20, 2023 06:20 AM
673 Posts
Joined Aug 2023
t3t4Nov 20, 2023 06:20 AM
673 Posts
Reading so much noise about simple things, just shut up!

These,,,, all of these will run at 225MB per second minimum, but then your data changes from pictures to video, expect that big V in the data stream. I mean, what are you kids worried about? It's the same old as it ever was!
Nov 20, 2023 06:44 AM
1,833 Posts
Joined Jan 2015
lastwraithNov 20, 2023 06:44 AM
1,833 Posts
Quote from t3t4 :
Reading so much noise about simple things, just shut up!

These,,,, all of these will run at 225MB per second minimum, but then your data changes from pictures to video, expect that big V in the data stream. I mean, what are you kids worried about? It's the same old as it ever was!
What does most of that mean? Regardless of the mfr spec sheet, these drives aren't going to run at 225MB/s MINIMUM in real life scenarios, as they fill they are going to transfer data more slowly. If you never exhaust the cache or transfer a ton of small files these will have crazy fast transfer rates, but it's not reasonable to assume that's going to be every use-case.

Some lower testing speeds here for the WD180EMFZ where they discuss a fun little bug where kicking off a short test actually inflates drive performance for a while. https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoar...30_faster/
Last edited by lastwraith November 20, 2023 at 12:02 AM.
Nov 20, 2023 06:45 AM
1,833 Posts
Joined Jan 2015
lastwraithNov 20, 2023 06:45 AM
1,833 Posts
Quote from MurderMostFowl :
Has anyone picked one up locally yet? Are they CMR drives? From the size, you'd think they are but WD has high capacity SMR unlike other vendors.

( Conventional Magnetic Recording for those who don't know. Basically required for people who want to put them in NASes )
From all reports online I've seen, these are WD HC550 (HelioSeal) drives, which are CMR.
https://www.westerndigital.com/pr...ku=0F38352
Nov 20, 2023 07:01 AM
673 Posts
Joined Aug 2023
t3t4Nov 20, 2023 07:01 AM
673 Posts
Quote from lastwraith :
What does most of that mean? Regardless of the mfr spec sheet, these drives aren't going to run at 225MB/s MINIMUM in real life scenarios, as they fill they are going to transfer data more slowly. If you never exhaust the cache or transfer a ton of small files these will have crazy fast transfer rates, but it's not reasonable to assume that's going to be every use-case.
Not being an ass, but you are dead wrong!
I own three of the 16TB WD essential drives, all of them will sustain 225 Megabytes per second, or greater, period! Sounds like you may be thinking too much and not asking enough real questions!

But what do I know?
Cheers 🍻

Nov 20, 2023 07:07 AM
1,833 Posts
Joined Jan 2015
lastwraithNov 20, 2023 07:07 AM
1,833 Posts
Quote from t3t4 :
Not being an ass, but you are dead wrong!
I own three of the 16TB WD essential drives, all of them will sustain 225 Megabytes per second, or greater, period! Sounds like you may be thinking too much and not asking enough real questions!

But what do I know?
Cheers 🍻
Drive performance is never that absolute. If you run out of cache, have data on inner tracks, and have a bunch of small files being transferred, performance is going to be about the worst it can be for that drive.
If you have a mostly empty drive and are transferring large files, the performance will be much better.

These are clearly going to be used for storage so I don't think any of it matters anyway, but there will for sure be times where drive transfer rates dip below that mark. The reddit thread I linked had a badblocks test running and they were averaging 185MB/s on 4x 180EMFZ drives. Not terrible, but below your threshold of absolute minimum.
Last edited by lastwraith November 20, 2023 at 12:10 AM.
Nov 20, 2023 07:20 AM
673 Posts
Joined Aug 2023
t3t4Nov 20, 2023 07:20 AM
673 Posts
Quote from lastwraith :
Drive performance is never that absolute. If you run out of cache, have data on inner tracks, and have a bunch of small files being transferred, performance is going to be about the worst it can be for that drive.
If you have a mostly empty drive and are transferring large files, the performance will be much better.

These are clearly going to be used for storage so I don't think any of it matters anyway, but there will for sure be times where drive transfer rates dip below that mark. The reddit thread I linked had a badblocks test running and they were averaging 185MB/s on 4x 180EMFZ drives. Not terrible, but below your threshold of absolute minimum.
I don't care about the kids on redit, neither should you.
Yes drive performance will dip into a V depending on the media. But general overall every time transfer speeds with these USB drives, will be, about 225 Megabytes Per Second. I did not tell a lie!

Being mad about it, don't make it slow or fast. Just makes it a point of contention.
1

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Nov 20, 2023 07:33 AM
1,833 Posts
Joined Jan 2015
lastwraithNov 20, 2023 07:33 AM
1,833 Posts
Quote from t3t4 :
I don't care about the kids on redit, neither should you.
Yes drive performance will dip into a V depending on the media. But general overall every time transfer speeds with these USB drives, will be, about 225 Megabytes Per Second. I did not tell a lie!

Being mad about it, don't make it slow or fast. Just makes it a point of contention.
I had no clue what you meant with the "V" before, but I get it now.
You're not technically wrong but you're going by speeds that don't take into account the random IO delays of fetching multiple small files. Yeah, if you only transfer one or a few large files then the performance should stay above approx 225MB/s but real life doesn't normally work that way. That's why drive testing tools let you adjust file size samples.
My only point was that you can and will see real-life performance much lower than 225MB/s once you introduce IO delays because you're moving a bunch of small files. If you only ever move large ones.... you'll be fine.

No one here is mad, that's also a weird thing to bring up when you started your post (that I replied to) by telling everyone to shut up.
Last edited by lastwraith November 20, 2023 at 12:38 AM.

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