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What Hard drives? - Printable Version

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What Hard drives? - Gotta - 2024-05-19

Hello, im gonna use NVME for host+Cache
What type of Hard drives should i use and/or stay away from when looking to purchase hard drives for the server?
The hard drive will only be storing movies.

looking for something preferably 8TB +
was wondering what to look for and/or stay away from please.

RE: What Hard drives? - Gotta - 2024-05-19

how are these drives?
https://www.newegg.ca/seagate-exos-x16-st16000nm001g-16tb/p/1Z4-002P-015K6?Item=9SIAKGFFH29223

seems like the cheapest 16tbs i can find

RE: What Hard drives? - lukasitaly - 2024-05-19

When choosing hard drives for a server that will primarily store movies, consider the following:

Recommended:
  •     Enterprise-Grade Drives: These are designed for heavy use and reliability, such as Western Digital Gold or Seagate Exos.
  •     NAS-Specific Drives: Built for continuous operation and higher workloads, like Western Digital Red Pro or Seagate IronWolf Pro.

Avoid:
  •     Consumer-Grade Drives: These may not handle the constant read/write cycles of a server environment as reliably.
  •     SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording) Drives: These can be slower for frequent write operations compared to CMR (Conventional Magnetic Recording) drives.

Considerations:
  •     Warranty and Support: Enterprise and NAS drives often come with better warranties and support.


In short: I recommend going for an Enterprise-Grade Drive with warranty. They are more reliable, though a bit louder than Consumer-Grade Drives. Refurbished Enterprise-Grade Drives with warranties are fairly cheap. 

Check out these options: These drives should be available on Amazon in most countries.

RE: What Hard drives? - TheDreadPirate - 2024-05-19

(2024-05-19, 12:25 PM)Gotta Wrote: how are these drives?
https://www.newegg.ca/seagate-exos-x16-st16000nm001g-16tb/p/1Z4-002P-015K6?Item=9SIAKGFFH29223

seems like the cheapest 16tbs i can find

Exos drives are fine.  Just don't get any consumer grade drives.  They are not meant to be run 24/7.

RE: What Hard drives? - Gotta - 2024-05-20

(2024-05-19, 06:27 PM)TheDreadPirate Wrote:
(2024-05-19, 12:25 PM)Gotta Wrote: how are these drives?
https://www.newegg.ca/seagate-exos-x16-st16000nm001g-16tb/p/1Z4-002P-015K6?Item=9SIAKGFFH29223

seems like the cheapest 16tbs i can find

Exos drives are fine.  Just don't get any consumer grade drives.  They are not meant to be run 24/7.


Awesome, i appreciate the info! 
i might grab one or two just for extra storage, thank you!

RE: What Hard drives? - DeanoVIP - 2024-05-20

I've always found Western Digital Gold / HGST drives very reliable within servers running 24/7.

RE: What Hard drives? - Chris Jordon - 2025-08-26

Yeah, Seagate Exos drives are actually a solid pick for bulk storage like movies.

 If you’re aiming for reliability over speed, enterprise or NAS options like Exos, WD Gold, or IronWolf Pro are among the best hard drives you can go for. They’re built for 24/7 use, so way better than consumer models for a server setup.

For pure media storage, the Exos should serve you well.

RE: What Hard drives? - KodiUser1138 - 2025-08-26

$390 for 16TB? Yikes!

The sweet spot is $20/TB.

If you are just storing movies there's little need to run your drives 24/7 full tilt. Waste of power and wear & tear for "instant" access to movies you aren't likely to watch anytime soon..

Amazon right now has 20TB Seagate external drives for $322 and they sent my buddy 2 24TB drives instead.

We shuck them and get Barracudas and they work just fine. Less than $14/TB.