Hardware RAID 'Green' Drive Options

[fnc1]

So I'm building out my new RAID finally (mainly for media)

I am trying to decide which drives to use (rather what my options are).

Originally i was thinking the WD Green drives with the proper firmware, but it looks like they put a stop to that - as from what I've read you can no Longer Change the TLER options.

I see a lot of people recommending the Hitachi's here, thats cool, although I've had issues with them in the past.

I have 20 Drives already WD ES - which would work, but they are only 1TB - so I may sell them - maybe not - i dont know yet...

But i would like to find some Green drives with a Good price point, 2TB or Larger.... So......

Questions:
1) Do the Hitachis work well in HARDWARE RAID (specifically raid 6)
2) What other Options are out there, considering the above?

Thanks All!

PS: here is the other thread with the RAID card and SAS expander i am looking at...
http://forums.servethehome.com/show...rds-and-Drives-recomendations&p=2495#post2495

 

[dealcorn]

WD Green Raid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-Limited_Error_Recovery does a pretty good job explaining why Mdadm (software Raid in Linux) is immune by the TLER issue. I think the statement about Intel "Matrix RAID" also means it works ("...a pseudo-hardware controller, not real hardware raid.") The fun, unanswered question is whether the use of a SAS/Sata card in sata mode is inherently immune to this issue. What would cause a card to drop a sata port?

If you are a genuine Raid card fan, you can check out your card's firmware to see whether the error recovery parameter may be adjusted to avoid the issue. I have some recollection that some combination of OS and drivers may permit this parameter to be fixed though software. You are on your own there.