Can WD's RE2 drives be used without RAID?

[nunyez]

I ask because the WD Green http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136359 and the WD RE2 are pretty similar minus the cache yet the RE2 has a 5 year warranty instead of the Green's 3. Because of this I am thinking of going with the RE2 instead but I won't be using it in RAID if that matters. Is there anything else I am missing?

 

[jbakerlent]

Don't get a green, I would go with one of these instead.

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181&Tpk=f3%20500gb
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152102&Tpk=samsung%20spinpoint%201TB
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

Edit: The RE2 use different firmware from the non raid editions so I wouldn't think they would work alone, but I am not entirely sure.

 

[the last resort]

the RE2's, im pretty sure, are meant for RAID (Raid Edition). They are the ones that support RAID in their firmware as stated by jbakerlent, and so i think that they would also work alone.

 

[MicroNateDram]

RE have different time out for fails and recovery than the Green or Black standard editions.

Key here is:
Buy a standard edition for all cases (raid or non raid). You can download a program to convert a non-raid edition drive into a raid-edition drive.

Take a look at this article for more information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-Limited_Error_Recovery

 

[GhislainG]

the RE2's, im pretty sure, are meant for RAID (Raid Edition). They are the ones that support RAID in their firmware as stated by jbakerlent, and so i think that they would also work alone.

You are correct. RAID drives have always worked alone; otherwise a degraded RAID1 would not work.