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  1. #1
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    How many of you use RAID version HDs in reality?

    I am looking at WD RE4, yea it is designed for RAID, BUT in reality do you consider RAID version is necessary?

    How many of you just use normal drives for RAID setup, let say adaptec 2405, and work just fine?

  2. #2
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    You want the enterprise versions such as RE4 for TLER support so drives don't just fall out of HW raid arrays.

  3. #3
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    I see that quiet often many providers see normal HDs for RAID and want to ask how normal HDs work in practice on real expereinces

  4. #4
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    We all live in reality here, and we use RE drives for our online, critical workloads because there are differences between them and the regular versions. Mostly it's just that TLER setting that WD won't let us manually change ourselves anymore. Once they stripped that away, you can't avoid paying the RE tax.

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  5. #5
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    We tried WD Blue drives for backup nodes, but still had a relatively higher failure rate. We are using only RE3s and RE4s now.
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  6. #6
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    If using a RAID card, we only use WD RE or SAS drives
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  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by PeterPP View Post
    I am looking at WD RE4, yea it is designed for RAID, BUT in reality do you consider RAID version is necessary?
    Oh yes, If you want to use a RAID Card use the RE4's

    I find that the RE4's and Samsung Spinpoints are great, I use RE4's for servers and the Spinpoints for backup servers, It works great for me
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  8. #8
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    over time I have found that the for raid 1
    normal drives seem to work fine raid 5 or above enterprise class is they way to go
    and savings you get by getting a cheaper drive are not worth it as they fail lot sooner

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by PeterPP View Post
    I am looking at WD RE4, yea it is designed for RAID, BUT in reality do you consider RAID version is necessary?

    How many of you just use normal drives for RAID setup, let say adaptec 2405, and work just fine?
    If you shop around you can get good deals on the RE3 and RE4 drives. Nobody posts the deals on WHT because they want to keep for themselves. I would never use non raid drives in Raid and if use are using ssd make sure you have the latest firmware.

  10. #10
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    We use only RE drives on SATA RAID setups.
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  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by eth00 View Post
    We use only RE drives on SATA RAID setups.
    Same, better performance + better reliability

  12. #12
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    If you are using hardware raid, I would recommend raid edition hdds.
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  13. #13
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    Obviously raid qualified hdds are the way to go with raid setups. I've been using WD Blacks on some setups without any issues at all.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by SLDHosting View Post
    Oh yes, If you want to use a RAID Card use the RE4's

    I find that the RE4's and Samsung Spinpoints are great, I use RE4's for servers and the Spinpoints for backup servers, It works great for me
    Actually, we are pretty much like you, we use RE and samsung.
    Samsung is not bad and perform well based on passmark 's benchmark

    We are buying a pre-owned server that does not have RAID drives on it, so we want to ask around

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by PeterPP View Post
    Actually, we are pretty much like you, we use RE and samsung.
    I just gave a Samsung 1TB disk with enclosure to my mother in replacement for her old IDE 40GB Backup drive, She was chuffed to bits how it had 1,000GB's (Of course not exactly 1,000GB)

    She doesnt know am buying her an all singing all dancing NAS with RAID 1 for christmas

    Quote Originally Posted by PeterPP View Post
    We are buying a pre-owned server that does not have RAID drives on it, so we want to ask around
    What do you plan to use the server for?
    Last edited by Server Management; 05-08-2011 at 10:04 PM.
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  16. #16
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    Oct 2004
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    for shared hosting server

  17. #17
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    WD RE for anything production, Samsung Spinpoint for backup servers.

  18. #18
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    Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that TLER enabled hard drives aren't very relevant in a software RAID array? I assume this is because the time alloted by the controller to let the hard drive(s) perform their error recoveries is significantly longer than the time alloted by a RAID card's controller?

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by WootWoot View Post
    Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is that TLER enabled hard drives aren't very relevant in a software RAID array?
    Correct, you only need TLER for hardware arrays really.

  20. #20
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    Same, we only use RE3/RE4 enterprise drives in our hardware SATA arrays. By using the best hardware possible you can focus your time and energy on excellent customer service, rather than chasing around after hardware issues.

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by gordonrp View Post
    Same, we only use RE3/RE4 enterprise drives in our hardware SATA arrays. By using the best hardware possible you can focus your time and energy on excellent customer service, rather than chasing around after hardware issues.
    Very well said. The premium paid is nothing compared to the hours spent restoring data.
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  22. #22
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    Jul 2009
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    Anyone here have any experience using 2.5" Velociraptors in a R710 ? I'm leaning on buying our own sleds/velociraptor drives.

  23. #23
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    I'd go with SAS drives over the Velociraptors. Depending on capacity needed, the cost can be pretty similar. Maybe they are better now, but Raptors used to be pretty bad in terms of reliability.

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by mkc View Post
    I'd go with SAS drives over the Velociraptors. Depending on capacity needed, the cost can be pretty similar. Maybe they are better now, but Raptors used to be pretty bad in terms of reliability.
    I agree as long as the servers have SAS controllers already. The prices are not much more and SAS are definitely designed for enterprise RAID in a server over workstations like a Velociraptor.

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  25. #25
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    Dell R710 should take SAS drives.

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