WD Red 6TB 3.5 Inch NAS Internal Hard Drive - 5400 RPM - WD60EFRX

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Im at a bit of a crossroads here and was hoping for some advice. Right now there is only about 3tb of data on the entire nas while it reshapes. But i had about 5tb more ready to load onto the nas soon as it was going to complete. My initial thought was to buy another older WD60EFRX and soon as the raid reshape was completed I would pull the newer SMR drive and put in the WD60EFRX and let the system repair. Basically dont.I understand that you're disappointed but now that you don't recommend using WD60EFAX, what's the better alternative for replacement when WD60EFRX are unavailable? The thing I don't understand is that SMR is suppose to help increase density on large drives. I would think the 8+ TB Drives would be using this NOT 1-6TB Drives. The local distributor did not have WD60EFRX available and offered me a RED WD60EFAX at the same price which was supposed to be the same, newer, but a bit better - more cache. The logic was it wont be any better in your NAS but it wont be any worse. Note that the width of the access time graph is about 8ms which is the max rotational latency of a 7200 RPM drive. However, WD's spec sheet states that the drive's performance is "5400 RPM class".

It is what it is but just a warning that while the "Red"branding may be the same, the drives arent.

Please don't send me the USB model name aka enclosure name, I will not be able to tell anything by it. Or of course third option would be to slowly replace all three of the exsisting WD60EFRX drives I have with the newer WD60EFAX SMR version one by one. This option seem the least value as I would really be swapping out 3 good drives for no reason. RAID Ready: WD Red hard drives are engineered with RAID error recovery control to help reduce failures within multi-bay NAS systems, unlike most desktop drives that are configured for generic use.

They really aren't, see viewtopic.php?f=45&t=154346 What a scam.Well that explain the slowness and inconsistency. I have 2TB, 4TB and 6TB drives. If a drive fails, which tends to be one of the older 2TB drives I have replaced it with one of these 6TB drives. Hitachi/HGST are mostly known for both excellent reliability and good performance and many of us found it sad that WD killed the brand but think it's reassuring that the technology is reused in WD products. If it's true that the newer 6 TB WD Red are also HGST inside, then obviously that specific low power technology isn't the best. Though I can't remember hearing anything bad at all about the HGST low power products when they had those. My 10 year old DeskStars are still doing service today along with some 9 year old UltraStars in my main Qnap unit and the performance is decent considering their age. Those very old disks are actually much better than your WD60EFAX (120-140MB/s). Considering the extreme performance difference you see, have you looked at the detailed SMART data? Maybe you can spot an issue there? SMART ID #199 for instance...It's because any given amount of storage they sell is going to be cheaper to make with SMR as opposed to CMR, regardless if it's 1TB or 8TB, because less material is needed to manufacture it. if you are still going around in circles and need direct consultation, we have just started providing one-hour consultations via zoom. You can find out more about them via the link below: xLSI Logic Controller Card 05-25699-00 9305-24i 24-Port SAS 12Gb/s PCI-Express 3.0 Host Bus Adapter

Confidently upgrade your NAS performance with the assurance of a 3-year limited warranty, coupled with world-class support services included with every WD Red™ drive. But it is not recommended to use SMR drives for applications with significant load (for example in NAS boxes or for 24x7 use). HGST naming convention: all model names in this naming convention start with letters "W" or "H", and there is no dash in the model name, for example HUH728080ALE601, WUH721010AL42L4. So far none of these 6TB Red drives have failed and compared with the older 2TB drives very fast indeed.

WDC naming convention: all model names in this naming convention start with letters "WD", WDC full model name would aslo have a dash, for example WD60EFRX-68L0BN1.

All Red Labeled Western Digital are top products for storage/NAS/SAN purposes and this drive is no exception. Also noticed that the 6TB is a bit quieter than their 4TB predecessor. It's an amazingly good product and an extremely good value for money. Western Digital, ALWAYS! Not just any drive will do. Get up to 48TB of capacity in your 8-bay system and with WD’s exclusive NASware 3.0 technology, you can optimize each and every drive. Built into every WD Red™ hard drive, NASware 3.0’s advanced technology improves your system’s storage performance by increasing compatibility, integration, upgradeability, and reliability. That's a welcome announcement for users who want to make the decision of when, and where, to use SMR drives in their systems and NAS arrays. Right now all (Seagate, WD and Toshiba) of the major manufacturers have been selling SMR without clearly branding them as such. Do right by your NAS and choose the drive purpose-built for NAS with an array of features to help preserve your data and maintain optimum performance. Take the following into consideration when choosing a hard drive for your NAS:

Compatibility: Unlike desktop drives, these drives are tested for compatibility and optimum performance. The WD Elements 8TB has a HGST He8, Helium. The WD Elements 10TB is the WD Red Plus Air model. The 12TB and 14TB I am not 100% sure, but I think it's HGST Helium again. The 2-6TB models have WD SMR drives (might be Red SMR), avoid like the plague. Error recovery controls: WD Red™ NAS hard drives are specifically designed with RAID error recovery control to help reduce failures within the NAS system. Aiming to mostly replicate the build from @Stux (with some mods, hopefully around about as good as that link)