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Started by zoran1 | | 7 answers
equipping my direct storage drive bay
Im planning on getting a Direct Storage drive bay and want to know which WD drives are best suited for this kind of use. WD doesnt have any suggestions for DStorage drives i can only see NASs, or am i wrong?
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June 17, 2014 6:48:53 PM

hmm no WDblue in the list!

Best solution chosen by ErVivek

a c 971 G Storage
June 17, 2014 6:24:46 PM

From OWC:
Qualified Hard Drives
Serial ATA drive models OWC has tested and qualified for use with the Qx2:

Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C (Recommended),
Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 (Recommended),
Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 (Recommended),
Hitachi Deskstar A7K2000 Enterprise (Recommended),
Western Digital Caviar Black (Recommended),
Western Digital RE3,
Western Digital RE4 (Recommended),
Samsung Spinpoint F1 RAID-Class,
Samsung Spinpoint F3,
Samsung Spinpoint F4EG
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12,
Seagate Barracuda LP,
Seagate Barracuda ES.2,
Seagate Barracuda XT,
Seagate Constellation ES



Not Recommended Drives
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 series – all models, particularly the 1.5TB 7200RPM model p/n ST31500341AS due to stability and performance concerns.
Western Digital Green drives – all models, due to potential critical operational issues attributed to the IntelliPower technology providing inconsistent variable transfer rates.
Note: Regardless of drive model used, OWC recommends all drives used in RAID configurations match exactly for proper RAID operation.
June 17, 2014 5:55:31 PM

Then WD blue most suits your needs. If you ever feel you need a bit faster spinning drives, use WD black. But keep in mind that it can be a little less reliable than blue.

P.S. pick a solution so readers will know
June 17, 2014 11:31:17 AM

Well its certain that they will not be used 24/7. Their main use will be for backing up with TimeMachine (not RAID). I will also be working live with files stored in them.
Their use will not override 4-5 hours per day!
June 16, 2014 7:12:25 PM

zoran1 said:
I think that Green and Red due to their variable speed rate they are not appropriate for my case if i want to use RAID, is this true?


I would not advise using different capacity, or different speed drives when putting them in RAID. Also, nevermind green. They're not rated for extended use. If i'm right, that you'll be using the drives 8-12 hours a day, everyday.. Depending on what you use it for, it would be best to use WD Blue or black. now if you'll be running it 24/7, use the red. These three are fine with raid, it's just how you use them that you need to think of.
June 16, 2014 12:02:44 PM

I think that Green and Red due to their variable speed rate they are not appropriate for my case if i want to use RAID, is this true?
June 16, 2014 7:34:01 AM

If you would like relatively fast drives, use WD black. If you want drives who can run 24/7, use WD red. if you'll use them as mainly for storage or backup, use WD green. WD blue is kind of an all around hard drive, while the VelociRaptor is their "superfast" HDD lineup.

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