Repurpose 4 WD external 3TB HDDs to internal in NAS

[greyskyblue]

Hello,

I own 4 WD My Book Essentials external 3TB HDDs (P/N WDBACW0030HBK-00) like this: http://www.amazon.com/Book-External-Drive-Storage-Backup/dp/B0042Z55RM/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1424352339&sr=1-1&keywords=WDBACW0030HBK-00

The drives are about 2 years old.

I would like to streamline my backup and repurpose these drives internally in a NAS. (The Netgear ReadyNAS 204, when it is released soon.) This is purely for backup, so I'm not as concerned about the read/write speeds. The NAS will store movies, music, docs, etc.

I have backup of these 4 WD My Book Essentials external 3TB HDDs, so I will reformat them for the NAS.

Is this possible, and is there any WD encryption I will have to be concerned about to do this? I found this thread, so I think I will be OK since I will be reformatting the drives: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2020316/book-external-internal-sata-usb-bridge-chip.html

Also, suggestions on RAID? I was thinking RAID 5, to get 9TB total storage. I am concerned about failing drives, so perhaps RAID 1 is a better option, though that will cut my storage to 6TB. I don't have much experience with RAID 5, and have read some negative opinions about it.

Any help/suggestions/comments are appreciated.

 

[giantbucket]

if they're past warranty, crack one open and see if it has a plain SATA connector on it. your info is backed up, so if it has SATA try to format it and use it as a naked drive.

why NAS? do you have more than one computer? you could just shove them inside your current machine if there's space. there's a few options for convering 5.25" bays into 3.5" HDD space.

since you have backups, you could also consider JBOD, which will simply combine all drives into one massive 12TB drive. if one drive fails, everything dies, but you have backups so who cares. for home use, RAID5 might be fine. for office use, RAID10 is preferred.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, greyskyblue!

I'd suggest to check the model numbers on our website and make sure the WD My Books are not still within the warranty period.
Here's the link: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=8zmUHq

As for the encryption, yes, WD My Book series incorporate a hardware encryption. Which means that taken out of the enclosure will make the data unaccessible and will ask to format. This, I guess, is not an issues since you have backups of the files on the externals.
However, there's another thing you should know about the 3 TB My Book externals.
They are configured with 4KB LBAs and when you take them out of the enclosure, you expose its native 512e LBAs. This basically means that even without the encryption, you still need an enclosure configured with the same 4KB sector size.
[Source: http://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=25798 ]
This is a common issue, so I'd not risk exposing all of them. I'd suggest to try with just one at first, check if the NAS enclosure will get the drive recognized. It will still ask to format though, keep that in mind.

Let me know how it goes!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[greyskyblue]

Hi giantbucket - NAS because I have my 3 internal drive bays filled. I have a new computer and I just configured it in RAID5, with 3 - 4TB internal drives. I am most concerned with drive failure and loss of data and I'm trying to get my configuration optimal from the beginning.

But I'm using the onboard Intel motherboard RAID for the 3 - 4TB dives and I've been reading how that might not be the best configuration, and that perhaps I should get a RAID card. (Budget around $100) Would something like this be better and onboard? http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B007P77WAW/ref=gno_cart_title_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I have past experience with drive failure (twice now), which is why I am leaning towards RAID for internal and external. My current setup of 4 - 3TB external separate drives is a pain for backups. I'd just like something more streamlined.

I don't need to share files at home so suppose I could go with a RAID tower vs NAS. Something like this maybe? http://smile.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HFR2-SU3S2-PRORAID-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B003YFHEAC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1424439472&sr=8-2&keywords=RAID+enclosure+built+in+controller

Thanks and any advice/suggestions are appreciated. I know just enough to get myself into trouble.

 

[greyskyblue]

Hi SuperSoph_WD -

I checked and the drives are out of warranty. I figured I'd try and save about $400 by repurposing the externals to internals. I suppose I can try one like you suggest, and if that doesn't work then I will have to buy new ones.

Thanks for your help!