I’m building a NAS and trying to decide between drives. I’ve never done this before, most of my data is on google drive and a few externals. I bought a few drives on BF deals and trying to decide which ones to keep.
Costco Seagate 14TB External ($149.99) pros:
- Actually new
- Costco “unlimited” return policy/warranty (will most likely be around longer than goharddrive, and if a drive dies I can swap it for a new one within a few hours)
- Possibly quieter? I haven’t shucked them yet but I’ve heard these use ironwolfs and they’re quieter than exos
Ebay Refurb 18TB ($169.99) pros:
- more space per drive
- better cost/TB ($9.44 vs. $10.71)
- 5 year warranty (without possible guilt of taking advantage of costco)
Given these choices, which would you more experienced data hoarders choose? I have space in my case for 8 drives and won’t need that many for years if ever.
Also, trying to decide whether to use ZFS or not. I like the idea of bitrot protection and extra speed once I eventually upgrade to 10gbe, but am very concerned about noise from running the whole array 24/7.
Ditto. I’ve been waiting on those to drop and ordered a ton while they were on sale for BF. Serverpartdeals.com is legit and their customer service is fantastic. With the savings, you can buy more drives to have hot or cold spares on hand if/when a drive fails, and you’ll still come out ahead.