Hi folks
Anybody got an idea how long some of these large NAS classical Spinner HDD's drives last when running 24/7 on a NAS server.
There's some tremendous value out there now with 12 and 16 TB Toshiba Enterprise grade NAS drives 7200 RPM with decent cache sizes, I gather these are actually designed for running 24/7 unlike more standard HDD's which are used on a PC / desktop which get switched on and off regularly.
I'd like to replace some older drives (which have been running 24/7 fine for 3 years or more) - of course with big drives one also needs to understand backup strategy - as hardware can and does fail (although these days hardware seems much more reliable).
was looking at these from the UK via Amazon :
with 20% VAT not applicable for me (educational material import from UK -- 0% !!) price is around 210 GBP -- 240 EUR approx in "Clown Money" !!
I've used 2 x 2TB WDC My Cloud drives for more than 4 years without issue. Due to security issues with the software for them and no update for it I have taken one out of service and shopping for a 4TB replacement for the other. The only issue in doing it is first saving the data before taking it offline then I took the red-label drive from the case which immediately made the data inaccessible, pre-planning helped. The drive is fine but same data issue as a 2TB USB drive had a couple years ago that failed without any warning, it's the interface in the case that interprets the data and stores available for any computer that can access the drive ending up as showing all corrupted or as RAW, positively having a backup or second copy to assure data is somewhere else is good.
So far the longest I've heard a drive has been spinning for in a server environment is for about 25years+ 24/7. Works like a champ, but if you turn it off, it will take about 2-3h to "warm" it up and getting it spinning properly again and work reliably.
If anyone does, then it will be Backblaze. Their Drive Stats for 2021 should give you a good idea - and that Toshiba drive you are looking at is one of the drives in their statistics.
1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
Hard Drives
1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
Internet Speed
50 Mbps
Browser
Edge, Firefox
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, and 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine.
Operating System
Windows 11 Pro
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Latitude E4310
CPU
Intel® Core™ i5-520M
Motherboard
0T6M8G
Memory
8GB
Graphics card(s)
(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
Screen Resolution
1366x768
Hard Drives
500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
Browser
Firefox, Edge
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package. In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media. Also running Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.
My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.
My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.
My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine.
In real world usage I've been running 4 WD Red Pro (6TB each) since 2019 in RAID 10 24/7/365. In those near 4 years I've only shutdown maybe 4 times, most reboots from firmware updates.
Below are specs for the Toshiba MG series drives. Looks like they have a rated workload of 550 TB / Year. Multiply that by a 5 year warranty and you get a rated lifetime workload of 2,750 TB or 2.75 PB.
64GB (Waiting for warranty replacement of another 64GB for 128GB total)
Graphics Card(s)
No GPU - Built-in Intel Graphics
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
HP Envy 32
Screen Resolution
2560 x 1440
Hard Drives
1 x 1TB NVMe SSD
1 x 2TB NVMe SSD
1 x 4TB NVMe SSD
3 x 512GB 2.5" SSD
1 x 4TB 2.5" SSD
5 x 8TB Seagate Barracuda HDD
PSU
Corsair HX850i
Case
Corsair iCUE RGB 5000X mid tower case
Cooling
Noctua NF-S12A chromax.black.swap case fans (Qty. 7) & Home Computer Specifications, Configuration, and Usage Notes General Specifications ASUS Prime Z590-A motherboard, serial number M1M0KC222467ARP Intel Core i7-11700K CPU (11th Gen Rocket Lake / LGA 1200 Socket) 128GB Crucial Ballistix RGB DDR4 3200 MHz DRAM (4 x 32GB) Corsair iCUE RGB 5000X mid tower case Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black CPU cooler Noctua NF-S12A chromax.black.swap case fans (Qty. 7) & Corsair LL-120 RGB Fans (Qty. 3)
Keyboard
Corsair K70 Max RGB Magnetic Keyboard
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 3
Internet Speed
1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
Browser
Edge
Antivirus
Windows Defender
Other Info
The five 8TB drives and three 512GB SSDs are part of a DrivePool using StableBit DrivePool software. The three SSDs are devoted purely to caching for the 8TB drives. All of the important data is stored in triplicate so that I can withstand simultaneous failure of 2 disks.
Networking: 2.5Gbps Ethernet and WiFi 6e
Operating System
Win11 Pro 23H2
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
CPU
Intel i7-1255U
Memory
16 GB
Graphics card(s)
Intel Iris Xe Graphics
Sound Card
Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
Monitor(s) Displays
13.3-inch IPS Display
Screen Resolution
WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
Hard Drives
2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
PSU
USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
Mouse
Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
Keyboard
Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
Internet Speed
1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
Browser
Edge
Antivirus
Windows Defender
Other Info
WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
I worked for a major storage company for 12+ years. I can tell you that the NAS rated drives are definitely at their best when left spinning 24/7. Whenever we had customers who lost power with systems that had been running for a few years, you could pretty much guarantee a small pile of drive failures upon restoring power. So, as always, backups are your friend.
64GB (Waiting for warranty replacement of another 64GB for 128GB total)
Graphics Card(s)
No GPU - Built-in Intel Graphics
Sound Card
Integrated
Monitor(s) Displays
HP Envy 32
Screen Resolution
2560 x 1440
Hard Drives
1 x 1TB NVMe SSD
1 x 2TB NVMe SSD
1 x 4TB NVMe SSD
3 x 512GB 2.5" SSD
1 x 4TB 2.5" SSD
5 x 8TB Seagate Barracuda HDD
PSU
Corsair HX850i
Case
Corsair iCUE RGB 5000X mid tower case
Cooling
Noctua NF-S12A chromax.black.swap case fans (Qty. 7) & Home Computer Specifications, Configuration, and Usage Notes General Specifications ASUS Prime Z590-A motherboard, serial number M1M0KC222467ARP Intel Core i7-11700K CPU (11th Gen Rocket Lake / LGA 1200 Socket) 128GB Crucial Ballistix RGB DDR4 3200 MHz DRAM (4 x 32GB) Corsair iCUE RGB 5000X mid tower case Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black CPU cooler Noctua NF-S12A chromax.black.swap case fans (Qty. 7) & Corsair LL-120 RGB Fans (Qty. 3)
Keyboard
Corsair K70 Max RGB Magnetic Keyboard
Mouse
Logitech MX Master 3
Internet Speed
1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
Browser
Edge
Antivirus
Windows Defender
Other Info
The five 8TB drives and three 512GB SSDs are part of a DrivePool using StableBit DrivePool software. The three SSDs are devoted purely to caching for the 8TB drives. All of the important data is stored in triplicate so that I can withstand simultaneous failure of 2 disks.
Networking: 2.5Gbps Ethernet and WiFi 6e
Operating System
Win11 Pro 23H2
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
CPU
Intel i7-1255U
Memory
16 GB
Graphics card(s)
Intel Iris Xe Graphics
Sound Card
Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
Monitor(s) Displays
13.3-inch IPS Display
Screen Resolution
WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
Hard Drives
2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
PSU
USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
Mouse
Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
Keyboard
Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
Internet Speed
1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
Browser
Edge
Antivirus
Windows Defender
Other Info
WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
The only time I shut down that NAS system is very rarely to update the OS or if totally going away for several days or more and house is empty -- I still don't like leaving a computer on and running in an empty property. So it looks providing I have backup getting that type of HDD is fine.
Storage will be mainly for multi-media files and Music - these don't change much so initial backup (which I have already) and just run backups when new files added. For file sharing I'm already using a RAID array which has been working reliably for ages too.
