10x Toshiba MG03ACA300 3TB Enterprise SATA $950 BO'd $800

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Continuum

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Jun 5, 2015
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I'm so happy, just got the drives today and the Toshiba warranty tool shows I have 4+ yrs remaining on the warranty! For $20/TB I'm stoked. I'll be putting them in my server tonight for burn-in and testing.

Out of curiosity, how many power on hours is SMART reporting?
 

CorvetteGS

Member
Jan 20, 2014
40
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Atlanta, GA
Wow, didn't realize the seller relisted more 3TBs since the last listing I purchased from, but it looks like those have already sold too. Odd that he wasn't taking $60 again, supply and demand had a hand I'm sure.
 

PithyChats

Active Member
Feb 3, 2015
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Wow, didn't realize the seller relisted more 3TBs since the last listing I purchased from, but it looks like those have already sold too. Odd that he wasn't taking $60 again, supply and demand had a hand I'm sure.
He would not take under $70 before, and not now. I think the exposure from this thread made a difference.
 

JayG30

Active Member
Feb 23, 2015
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I tried $140 for 4 and was declined =/
I would suspect he meant he offered $70 each based on qty 2 for $140 total. Not $35 each for $70 total. I'd buy all of them at $35 each ;).
LOL, sorry guys. I meant $70 each (total of $140). I guess I should have been a bit more clear. If they were $35/each I would have bought the whole lot. Still, $70 (or $60 that Corvette payed) is an absolute steal IMO for a enterprise grade 3TB drive with substantial warranty still left on them and low hours.

The two I got had less than 200 hours and warrantied the same as Corvette (4+ years). They were actually better then the first batch I got from the original seller in this thread. Those had more hours (I posted about in earlier in this thread) and obviously the one died on me which is why I was looking to get replacements in the first place (didn't want to wait 2 weeks for Toshiba standard warranty service or agree to a $300+ potential charge on my CC if they denied the warranty). Although the disk that went bad was still under warranty and the replacement from Toshiba just showed up today, so it is now going on the shelf as a spare as well.

Also, it clearly looks like he noticed people were buying them up at $60-$70 and people were interested in them. Also looks like he has sold at few at the buy now price of $75 (no longer taking offers). So clearly he took notice that the price was a bit low. I'd say it is still a good deal at $75 (EDIT: just checked, I paid $85/each for 6 from the first seller) as they have low hours and good warranties still. Maybe I should have keep quite until I needed a few more. :)
 
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CorvetteGS

Member
Jan 20, 2014
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Atlanta, GA
one died on me which is why I was looking to get replacements in the first place (didn't want to wait 2 weeks for Toshiba standard warranty service or agree to a $300+ potential charge on my CC if they denied the warranty). Although the disk that went bad was still under warranty and the replacement from Toshiba just showed up today, so it is now going on the shelf as a spare as well.
How was the RMA process with Toshiba? Were you responsible for any S&H charges? I assume they didn't ask for proof of purchase since we bought these on eBay and you successfully received a replacement. Did they allow the option to cross ship the new drive?

I haven't had any issues with my drives but just was curious for reference in case I encounter that situation in the future.
 

JayG30

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Feb 23, 2015
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How was the RMA process with Toshiba? Were you responsible for any S&H charges? I assume they didn't ask for proof of purchase since we bought these on eBay and you successfully received a replacement. Did they allow the option to cross ship the new drive?

I haven't had any issues with my drives but just was curious for reference in case I encounter that situation in the future.
The process is very painless. I'd also mention that I called and talked to them and they were very friendly and helpful. For Web RMA inquiries, contact Customer Service at 1-877-689-4899.

Go HERE to create an account. You can check warranty status, pending RMA's, they have a Help section that shows you all the steps in the process even. When you check the warranty you can create an RMA right within the tool. You will provide basic information for shipping, but nothing about purchase information. You pay for shipping to them, they pay for shipping it back. They have two RMA methods (I'll give my explanation for each);

Standard Exchange (REPLACEMENT): Standard replacement process where you ship the bad drive, they receive it and verify that the drive isn't physically damaged on the outside (casing isn't dented, labels are intact, etc) and if that checks out they will ship you a replacement.
Advanced Replacement Program (ADVR): They will cross ship you a replacement drive. However, you will have to provide your Credit Card (Visa, Discover, American Express) in case when they get the drive it is damaged (casing, labels, etc) and therefore not covered by warranty. At which point they will charge you for the cost of the disk at what sounded like MSRP. I forget exactly but I think it was $320 for this disk (call customer service and they will let you know the potential charge).​

I decided that ADVR wasn't worth the potential $320 charge if they denied it for whatever reason when I could buy one on Ebay for $70. So I purchased 2 on Ebay (as mentioned) that got here really quick (I think 2 business days). Used one of those to replace the failed disk, put 1 on shelf as spare, and waited for the replacement from Toshiba to put on shelf as spare.

Make sure you follow the return shipping requirements (bubble wrap and make sure it is tightly fit inside a box so not to shake all around. Include the RMA packing slip they provide in the box. Write the RMA # on the outside of the box. Honestly, it was one of the simplest returns I've had to do.

My account at Toshiba shows that I was authorized for a return on 7/28/15, pretty sure I didn't ship it out until the 31st, shipped it out FedEx 2day for like $6 (our company ships everything 2day FedEx so we have rates that make it cheaper than Ground) and the replacement was shipped and case closed on 8/5/15. Shipped FedEx Ground and I got it today 8/10/15.
 
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CorvetteGS

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Jan 20, 2014
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Great, thanks for the super detailed info! Hoping I never have to go through this process, but glad to know it is straight forward if I do!
 

JayG30

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Feb 23, 2015
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No problem. I wanted to give a good explanation because;
(1) When I did it I wasn't sure what the advanced replacement program was
(2) I was prepared for the worst
(3) I've dealt with crappy RMA processes and felt this was really easy. I think Toshiba should be commended for making it so simple and standing behind their product for the life of the warranty regardless of how many hands it might have passed through. I'm sure that crummy EBay shipments have damaged at least a few of these disks internally (probably what happened to mine from the first shipment TBH) and they just handle it as long as the exterior labels and casing aren't beat up. I'd certainly buy a Toshiba again after this experience.
 

CorvetteGS

Member
Jan 20, 2014
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Atlanta, GA
Bought another 3 drives, all in good warranty, and AMAZINGLY low power on hours!!!!

1) 109 power on hours
2)107 power on hours
3)96 power on hours

 

Boddy

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Oct 25, 2014
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Hi. I was thinking of picking up box of 20 of these drives for my future wiki build in a 16 bay 3U case. Utilising a Intel RS25DB080 RAID Controller.

An article I was reading suggested less hard drive errors using SAS drives, but SAS drives would be way too expensive for me.

Do you think I'd have problems using these SATA drives in a mega raid setup, e.g. not having too many drives drop out/rebuilds?

Thanks in advance for your advice.
 

Boddy

Active Member
Oct 25, 2014
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@Boddy most of us here use SATA drives, so I think you'll be fine :)
I thought the article may have been bit over the top. But I did not want my system to 'hang' too much doing disk rebuilds.

Many thanks T_Minus for the heads up and valuable help. :)
 

JayG30

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Feb 23, 2015
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I know on the ZFS side there have been quite a bit made of using SATA disks + SAS expanders. You can find a long discussion of that HERE. Some Nexenta employee I believe it was made a huge deal about it. A few people called BS on it and said to provide proof since lots of people had been doing it for many years. The best information that was ever found to substantiate such a claim from my memory was some very old bug reports on Sun/Oracle boards I think it was. And I think the conclusion most people drew from it was bugs (or just nexenta specifically) breaking system drivers. After years of running SATA disks, and so many others doing the same, I think it is all a bit of BS. I would absolutely pick SAS disks if given the option but not for this reason, mostly for multipathing.
 
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tby

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Aug 22, 2013
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My take-away from when that was all fresh was: Avoid MPT -> SAS Expander -> SATA on Solaris.

Before last year I worked for a hosting company with > 50,000 deployed servers. Many thousands of them with expander backplanes and SATA disks. Never did we suspect a problem with that combination of hardware but we also weren't deploying any Solaris.
 
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