I am building a new computer which will have two internal HDDs, and one HDD in a “Hot Swap Tray” and two additional HDDs in “Hot Swap Trays” available to replace the one in the machine.
I do not want HUGE, (terrabyte), drives because I prefer to have several smaller drives rather than one or two HUGE ones, as I regard it as being safer to have backup drives with “Ghost Images” in “Hot Swap Trays” in the event of problems.
I also am not interested in Caviar Blues because I bought several of them and tested them with TESTHDD, and they all had varying levels of severe sector damage despite being brand new.
Can anyone here tell me : 1 What models of 3.5 Inch Caviar Black 250 - 320 Gig SATA drives are available, and where to find them ?
Hi well WD does not make anything smaller in the black drive’s than a 500 gig. The Wd velociraptor comes in a 250 gig size but cost is 99 $. The other idea would be to use a mobile black drive with a 3.5 mounting bracket but then you would have to find out if the mounting bracket would fit in the Hot Swap Tray.
The Velociraptors are termed “workstation” drives. They are 10,000 rpm, 2.5" mounted in a 3.5" form factor heat sink. They are very fast. They have a 5 year warranty.
Shoot !! Guess I’ll have to go with 500GB Blacks then, cause I don’t want 2.5 inch drives. I thought that they did make real 3.5 inch Velociraptors, but I guess not.
The smaller form factor is part of what gives them their speed. The head actuator has a shorter arc to move through.
I understand your concerns. I will mention that I have two of these (1 TB), among other drives. Besides being fast, they also run cooler than my Black drives thanks to the massive heat sink they are mounted in. They fit just like a standard 3.5", though.
RE4’s are excellent drives, Enterprise class. They have all the high end features, and are more stringently tested than Black drives, I believe. They are designed for 24/7 server operation. 5 year warranty, etc, etc. RE stands for RAID edition.
I’m seeing $64-$90, depending on the vendor. I’m not sure if I should be more specific in this venue. Google the model number you suggested and it will turn up quite a few sources.
