"shucking" external hdds always cheaper than bare drives?

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MyCoR

New Member
May 14, 2019
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I heard that people shuck external drives when they're on sale to get cheap high capacity HDDs, but is it always cheaper?

I'm looking for an >4TB internal drive and it seems like all the external 3.5" drives are usually $50 less. Is there a better place to buy bare HDDs from?

Thanks
 

nikalai

Member
Oct 26, 2018
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Yes, usually are cheaper.
Regarding prices, It depend's on your location. You can find sometimes deals on Ebay, Amazon etc.
WD sometimes have recertified drives in their store but are they are selling them very quick.
Usually i look for 4TB on local auction sites from my country.
 

ReturnedSword

Active Member
Jun 15, 2018
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Santa Monica, CA
For my latest workstations I shucked two 10TB EasyStores and run them in a mirrored Storage Space. It's hard to argue with the price when it's so much cheaper than new, bare drives. In most US jurisdictions, the warranty is honored even if it's shucked. However, they're cheap enough that self-warrantying them by using the saved money to buy cold spares is also an option.
 

Jeggs101

Well-Known Member
Dec 29, 2010
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Way cheaper. If you're buying $200 drives and saving $50/ drive you can just buy an extra.
 

BLinux

cat lover server enthusiast
Jul 7, 2016
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Take a look at SAS drives too, I've found them cheaper than the consumer SATA drives sometimes.
yes, that can be true on the used market. brand new SAS HDDs is usually more expensive than SATA, but on the used market, i guess there are more used SAS drives or something and often cheaper than SATA of the same size/performance.
 

MyCoR

New Member
May 14, 2019
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Thanks for the help. I will go with shucking a drive for now as I just need a single one. When I put together my NAS I may consider used or refurbished drives.
 

Spartacus

Well-Known Member
May 27, 2019
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yes, that can be true on the used market. brand new SAS HDDs is usually more expensive than SATA, but on the used market, i guess there are more used SAS drives or something and often cheaper than SATA of the same size/performance.
Its my assumption they’re cheaper due to lower market demand, most consumers don't have SAS capability and most businesses getting SAS buy new, folks like us are the oddballs that want the enterprise stuff :D.

Thanks for the help. I will go with shucking a drive for now as I just need a single one. When I put together my NAS I may consider used or refurbished drives.
The best deal is generally around black Friday or Christmas if you are getting alot of the shucked drives. But if you only need one the best buy wd easystore 8tb are regularly on sale about once a month for $140-150 and 10tb for +170-180 (excluding tax), the lowest I've seen them is 120/160 respectively during the holidays.