Does the type of HDD matter in a NAS with RAID 1?


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I have a Synology DS212+ with a smallish (500GB) HDD in it. I want to expand the total storage space as I'm running low on disk space. I always bought the RE drives from WD because of the reliability and the expanded (5 years) warranty. But, the RE drives are more expensive and since I have to get 2 of them (want to run RAID1) I'm looking into other types of WD.

 

  • My concern is, when I run the drives as RAID1, if one drive fails, will it also corrupt data on the other (2nd) drive? Or are they completely seperate in the total writing / reading process?
  • If they are completely seperate, does it really matter if I get cheaper drives, like the WD SE or the WD RED's instead of the RE, as I'm not running my NAS 24x7. (It goes to hibernate after 2 hours of inactivity).

 

I'd like to know your experiences with NAS and drives. Been searching around this forum and found quite some interesting reads, but I'd like to have an answer to my previous questions.

 

On one hand I could go the RE route and be done with it, but money is also a problem these days, so if I can get a good storage space for less with the same results I'm a happy camper. (Thinking about 2x 2TB or 2x 3TB drives b.t.w.).

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RAID1 is a mirrored copy so when 1 drive fails the other is still there. That's the point of RAID1. RAID0 would be where you would lose all data instantly if 1 drive failed.
 
Getting cheaper drives shouldn't matter but it's not like the REDs are that much more expensive last time I checked.....:
 
WD RED Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W00YW3506 ($115)

WD "Normal" Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W00YW3506 ($109)

WD "Cheap" Drive - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136783 ($99)
 
Seagate 2TB Drive -http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W00YW3506 ($109)

 

So at most you are saving $15 (x2). Is it worth it to save $15 and miss out on the extra 2yrs or warranty? If you data is valuable, cheapest options shouldn't be your first concern.

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Thanks for the clarification about the RAID setup, I figured as much, but I'd like to be sure if one drive goes completely wonkers, the other one still continues to work without any read/write errors from his wonky neighbour. The RED's or the "normal" drives don't differ that much in terms of price, but the RE series is quite a lot more expensive over here. Example:

 

RE4 3TB: ? 264 (EURO), while the RED 3TB: ? 134 (EURO). So I could almost get 2 drives for the price of one RE drive. And my data is valuable, (whose data isn't ;)) but a price difference of almost 200 ? (EURO) is something I have to carefully think about before any purchases are being made. And I'd like to know if it's really worth it in the end.

 

(? 134 is around USD 179).

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REs are exp here too

WD RE 3 TB Enterprise Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, SATA III, 64 MB Cache - WD3000FYYZ

Price: $268.24 & FREE Shipping

I think might of been some confusion with your RE and RED statement being seen as just Red drives vs RE4 (enterprise drives)

WD Red 3 TB NAS Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, SATA III, 64 MB Cache - WD30EFRX

Price: $144.41 & FREE Shipping.

Your not an enterpise are you? I would think the Red line is fine for you, 3 years is same for blue or green.. You could go black for 5 years.. But they are almost as pricey as the enterprise line.

If you want to go enterprise you could go with smaller drives.. the 1TB are in the $100 range here for Re4

WD RE4 1 TB Enterprise Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, SATA II, 64 MB Cache - WD1003FBYX

Price: $99.89 & FREE Shipping.

I would think you should be fine with the RED line.. You will in Raid 1, what is odds both die? Maybe order them from different sellers at different times so that unlikely to get drives from same batch, etc.

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Synology NAS? Go WD RED. They even sell them ready-loaded with WD REDs:

 

Synology DS1513+ 15TB (5x 3TB WD Red HDD) 5 Bay Desktop NAS

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CV7U3AW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

 

Synology DS1513+ 10TB (5x 2TB WD Red HDD) 5 Bay Desktop NAS

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CV7U3DE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

 

Synology DS1513+ 5TB (5x 1TB WD Red HDD) 5 Bay Desktop NAS

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CV7U3FC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

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Thanks guys, both of you for the clear answers. And you're right +BudMan, what are the odds both of them die at the same time. I was just afraid if one disk (in RAID1) started producing write errors, the other might copy / mirror those errors too. But that's not correct. So I think I'll go with the RED series.

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