2TB 2.5" Hard Drives?

[Mr. F]

Is anyone using 2.5" 2TB drives in any kind of RAID scenario? The only ones I really see available are some skinny 5400RPM models for laptops, and a 15mm height WD Green model. None of these seem to be worth the price.

I'm trying to set up a small 3 disk RAID5 set or a 2 disk mirror for bulk storage on my VM system... doesn't need to be super fast.

 

[HellDiverUK]

I have used the Samsung M9T 2TB. I had 4 of them in RAID6, just to try it. They worked perfectly. I had the WD Green 2TB before that, they were pretty rubbish. The M9T is a much nicer drive.

 

[Mr. F]

I have used the Samsung M9T 2TB. I had 4 of them in RAID6, just to try it. They worked perfectly. I had the WD Green 2TB before that, they were pretty rubbish. The M9T is a much nicer drive.

Thanks for the recommendation! How long did you run the RAID set? Was it with software or a physical controller?

I just can't buy green drives for RAID - especially at a price premium. Too bad 1.2TB 10K SAS 2.5" are so expensive, otherwise I'd just go that route and live with less space...

 

[EffrafaxOfWug]

Haven't used them in a RAID but I've also used the M9T 2TB as a linear LVM over eSATA/USB as a backup shunter; seems like a great drive. Won't be any great shakes for random IO performance though due to its low spindle speed but at £90 each they seem well worth the dosh.

 

[HellDiverUK]

Probably no more than a month. RAID6 was just linux mdraid, I think I ran it on RAID5 off a M1015 too (well, the real LSI version of the M1015). The array was split up and the drives reused for various other uses, and they're still working in various external boxes, NUCs, etc.

 

[mrkrad]

I'd stick to seagate constellation with raid controllers due to TLER support!

 

[HellDiverUK]

Personally, for home users I see no reason to use hardware RAID. Software RAID with modern CPUs is as quick, if not quicker, and its easier to move when/if the controller dies.

Even a basic i3 will do dual-gigabit speed on software RAID 6.

 

[Mr. F]

I ordered a Toshiba MQ01ABB200 to try out. It's a 15mm 2.5" 2TB drive that runs at 5400RPM. TOSHIBA MQ01ABB200 2TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 2.5" Hard Drive - Newegg.com

So far, it seems to stack up with other 2.5" 5400RPM drives for sequential speeds, but I wouldn't call it fast. It is almost dead silent, though. The temp sensor is also picked up by my HP RAID card.

 

[Chuckleb]

If I remember correctly, latency was much higher with software RAID when we tested it last, thigh that was about 6 years ago which is like 4 generations in the compute world. But yes, software raid rocks.