Catch me up on HDD stuff please?

[DrPop]

OK, so it's been a while since I've purchased an actual HDD. I've been getting SSDs for everything I built the last 3 times around here.

Kim wants to move all her pictures off the office server and put them at home in Cheetah now that we have the new Socket 2011 board in there and stuff. So the goal is to get two HDDs and mirror them just in case the drive fails. Thinking about 2TB or so. Does that sound like a good amount? Should I save the money and got with (2) 1TB drives?
Planning on backing up her data periodically to a blu-ray burner as well if we need to, that's 25GB per disc.

Has any of the technology changed or do I still want to find one with 7200 RPM and a lot of cache? Just curious if I missed anything tech wise in the HDD world over the last year.
Any consensus on a brand? I guess I was always a WD fan in the past, but come to think of it, I can't give a good reason why. So I'm open to just about any brand.
Thanks.

[Fire$torm]

Since the flood in Thailand, its pretty much a crap shoot finding a reliable HDD. Across the range of consumer class HDDs, Brand/series/model, nearly all have horrible failure rates. Average floats between 20%~35% and certain models like WD Red series is even higher. One big exception to this fiasco is WD's Scorpio Black 2.5" 7200 RPM drive. Yep, that's right! This laptop HDD has a lower failure rate then the majority, much lower. ATM, this is the ONLY series of rotational drive I will purchase. And btw, WD still backs up this series with a 5 year warranty. The only downside for you Jed is a 750GB limit in this series.

WD Mobile ---> http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=790

Scorpio Black at Newegg ---> http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006519%2050001306%2040000380%20600003340&IsNodeId=1&srchInDesc=Scorpio&page=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

[DrPop]

Wow, I had no idea the failure rates were this high now! :p That honestly sucks. Where is quality control these days? Hmmm...I'll do some thinking about this. Thanks for the info!

[zombie67]

If you are mirroring, then the failure rate is not quite as important. I always assume I will have to replace any HD within a year anyway. Then go for the best size/performance for the $.

[c303a]

I always get the WD Caviar Black and just had an old 250 GB fail. Of course the 5 year warranty ran out in 2010 so I think I got my use out of it. I have nothing but these in all my boxes except for 2 SSD's I have and I use them in all my builds.

[John P. Myers]

I always get the WD Caviar Black and just had an old 250 GB fail. Of course the 5 year warranty ran out in 2010 so I think I got my use out of it. I have nothing but these in all my boxes except for 2 SSD's I have and I use them in all my builds.

+1

WD's black series are built very well. Dual processors, spindles that are anchored at both the top and bottom, etc. 5 year warranty. I have an old SATA 2 WD Caviar Black in my 3770K box. It's not as old as c303a's was, but it's been around in a couple different builds now. The Black series also has always had faster read/write times than the others. Highly recommended.

[Gopher_FreeDC]

I'd tell you who to avoid but you seem to be avoiding them neatly - Seagate - I've had a few and well yeah they've all pretty much failed after a while either reading got sluggish or the drive just plain FAILED...

[litehouse43]

Since the flood in Thailand, its pretty much a crap shoot finding a reliable HDD. Across the range of consumer class HDDs, Brand/series/model, nearly all have horrible failure rates. Average floats between 20%~35% and certain models like WD Red series is even higher. One big exception to this fiasco is WD's Scorpio Black 2.5" 7200 RPM drive. Yep, that's right! This laptop HDD has a lower failure rate then the majority, much lower. ATM, this is the ONLY series of rotational drive I will purchase. And btw, WD still backs up this series with a 5 year warranty. The only downside for you Jed is a 750GB limit in this series.

WD Mobile ---> http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=790

Scorpio Black at Newegg ---> http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006519%2050001306%2040000380%20600003340&IsNodeId=1&srchInDesc=Scorpio&page=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

Any updates on this situation? I also need to pick up a new 2TB and want to be careful to avoid this if possible. I was planning on going with a WD 2TB but can wait if this is still a problem.

[Fire$torm]

WD Caviar Blacks are the only series you should consider atm. Most of Seagate's product line is abysmal. I've had luck with Hitachi but have owned only three in my life. Btw, IIRC, WD is the only company offering a 5 year warranty on mechanical hard drives.

My preference for the 2.5" black drives is because their size allows for better air flow when mounted in cages that sit behind front intake fans, and because they are built for laptops. So they tend to be more durable then 3.5" drives.

[John P. Myers]

WD Caviar Blacks are the only series you should consider atm. Most of Seagate's product line is abysmal. I've had luck with Hitachi but have owned only three in my life. Btw, IIRC, WD is the only company offering a 5 year warranty on mechanical hard drives.


And guess who owns Hitachi? WD does :D

[litehouse43]

And guess who owns Hitachi? WD does :D

Ironic, I love WD and have had problems with Hitachi a few times. I ended up getting a 2TB WD. Thanks for the info guys.