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Devices => PC's and Other Hardware => Topic started by: Captor on November 10, 2023, 07:21:43 am

Title: What type of hard drive?
Post by: Captor on November 10, 2023, 07:21:43 am
I am looking for buying new hard drives. What type or hard drives are you using here for the music and/or movies? Is it mechanical hard drives? What brands? Are they reliable? Or maybe you are using SSD disk? I have read that mechanical hard drives are more reliable than SSDīs but in the other hand SSDīs are more quiet and not so warm. Is someone using SSD?
Title: Re: What type of hard drive?
Post by: eve on November 10, 2023, 11:07:09 pm
I am looking for buying new hard drives. What type or hard drives are you using here for the music and/or movies? Is it mechanical hard drives? What brands? Are they reliable? Or maybe you are using SSD disk? I have read that mechanical hard drives are more reliable than SSDīs but in the other hand SSDīs are more quiet and not so warm. Is someone using SSD?

If it's in your listening room, or portable, go with an SSD (lighter and no moving parts)
Otherwise, music or media on SSDs doesn't make a huge amount of sense. Metadata / database stuff on SSDs, of course.
SSDs fail much more...catastrophically than HDDs and their failures are much more unpredictable. HDDs often give you a bit of a warning, SSDs can just kind of 'go'. We run a bunch of M.2 SSDs in enclosures for work (lots of footage) and there's definitely failures.
Title: Re: What type of hard drive?
Post by: arcspin on November 11, 2023, 12:19:21 am
If to be used with a NAS, "WD Red Plus NAS Hard Drives" from Western Digital is a reliable brand to use.

https://www.westerndigital.com/products/internal-drives/wd-red-plus-sata-3-5-hdd?sku=WD101EFBX
Title: Re: What type of hard drive?
Post by: Awesome Donkey on November 11, 2023, 08:11:38 am
I personally use Seagate IronWolf and IronWolf Pro HDDs and never have had an issue.
Title: Re: What type of hard drive?
Post by: lepa on November 11, 2023, 08:31:46 am
As much as I hate WD's antics towards the consumers they still top statistics with least amount of failures
Title: Re: What type of hard drive?
Post by: Captor on November 11, 2023, 01:34:46 pm
Yes, I have read a lot of tests the last days and that is true. I will probably buy new disks from them again.
Title: Re: What type of hard drive?
Post by: Captor on November 11, 2023, 01:40:01 pm
If it's in your listening room, or portable, go with an SSD (lighter and no moving parts)
Otherwise, music or media on SSDs doesn't make a huge amount of sense. Metadata / database stuff on SSDs, of course.
SSDs fail much more...catastrophically than HDDs and their failures are much more unpredictable. HDDs often give you a bit of a warning, SSDs can just kind of 'go'. We run a bunch of M.2 SSDs in enclosures for work (lots of footage) and there's definitely failures.
Yes that is exactly what I have read. I have the media computer in the listening room unfortunately. But I have managed to make the PC quiet bu using the most quite fans, hard drives and so on and also the hard drives are hanging in rubber bands so they are or where very quiet. I think I will go for a WD again and if that is loud then I will use that in my NAS instead. And then I will go for an SSD. I have one already in the cabinet but that is for the system files. In worst case I have to buy another one for that data as well.
Title: Re: What type of hard drive?
Post by: Captor on November 11, 2023, 01:40:57 pm
If to be used with a NAS, "WD Red Plus NAS Hard Drives" from Western Digital is a reliable brand to use.

https://www.westerndigital.com/products/internal-drives/wd-red-plus-sata-3-5-hdd?sku=WD101EFBX
Right, I will try one of those again.  Hopefully it is not to loud.
Title: Re: What type of hard drive?
Post by: Captor on November 11, 2023, 01:43:17 pm
I personally use Seagate IronWolf and IronWolf Pro HDDs and never have had an issue.
I have read tests about them also. look like they are not to loud as well. That will be my second choise I think. But I am not finish thinking yet :-) Good to know they are OK with you. You have the computer in the listening room same as me?
Title: Re: What type of hard drive?
Post by: jmone on November 11, 2023, 02:05:02 pm
What ever drive you get, you still need a backup (even if it is the original media).  All drives die, controllers play up, unintentionally deletes happen, stuff get stolen, broken, burnt. 
Title: Re: What type of hard drive?
Post by: eve on November 11, 2023, 03:53:27 pm
Yes that is exactly what I have read. I have the media computer in the listening room unfortunately. But I have managed to make the PC quiet bu using the most quite fans, hard drives and so on and also the hard drives are hanging in rubber bands so they are or where very quiet. I think I will go for a WD again and if that is loud then I will use that in my NAS instead. And then I will go for an SSD. I have one already in the cabinet but that is for the system files. In worst case I have to buy another one for that data as well.

Yeah if the PC you're running in the listening room has fans, there's a chance you won't hear an HDD. Having said that, HDD noise isn't consistent, fan noise generally is (and thus it kind of fades into the background). You may be able to pick out the HDD noise.

If you already have a NAS, the PC in your listening area doesn't need bulk storage. It just needs an SSD for boot really.
Title: Re: What type of hard drive?
Post by: Captor on November 11, 2023, 05:31:43 pm
Yeah if the PC you're running in the listening room has fans, there's a chance you won't hear an HDD. Having said that, HDD noise isn't consistent, fan noise generally is (and thus it kind of fades into the background). You may be able to pick out the HDD noise.

If you already have a NAS, the PC in your listening area doesn't need bulk storage. It just needs an SSD for boot really.
Thanks, yes I have thought about that and that I will do if my setup with the new hard drive is totally quiet. It has been totally quiet before the hard drive crashed. The cabinet is of thick 5 mm aluminium so it is pretty much self cooling. Just need a little bit help from the small 60 mm fans. So it was fine before. So that is why I am into a quite hard drive. Also if using a NAS that should not be connected by wifi but with cable. And that is a little bit difficult do fix in a nice way.