WD Ultrastar DC H550 SAS3 16TB EAMR ZFS?

[CyklonDX]

(WUH721816AL5204 512M cache)

Hi,
Has anyone played with WD EAMR disks in ZFS? (there's little documentation available, and its not clear if those are CMR after all)
Do they have same issues as SMR disks?

Regards

 

[sainsworth]

Since I am in the market to upgrade my 8TB WD Red Plus drives for higher capacity, and currently considering the 20TB WD Red Pros, the I have been wondering the same thing. Here is what I have learned and believe:

• WD EAMR is also called ePMR.
• in addition to the WD Ultrastar 16TB, ePMR is used in some (but not all) WD Red Pro and WD Gold drives.
• All three datasheets say the drives are CMR not SMR.
• Tom's Hardware has several good articles on ePMR and drives:
  • Meet ePMR, The New Tech Behind WD's Gold 16TB and 18TB HDDs
  • Western Digital Red Pro 20TB HDD Review: OptiNAND on a Platter

So, I believe EAMR will perform just as any other CMR drive using ZFS.

Anyone with hands-on experience who can weigh in?

Thanks!

 

[ericloewe]

I have a dozen of HC560s currently being deployed for use with ZFS and am not expecting any issues. On the HC550s, "CMR" is quite literally the second bullet in the list of highlights. These are, for better and for worse, perfectly typical boxes of spinning rust.