Best Drives - UltraStar? - Deskstar?

Jonathan Bland · May 20th, 2008, 10:53 AM

Quick question:

HITACHI UltraStar A7K1000 Enterprise SATA Drives - 7200 RPM - 1 TB
$419 CAD
5 year warranty

OR

HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000 SATA Drives - 7200 RPM - 1TB
$299 CAD
3 year warranty

OR

SEAGATE Barracuda 7200.11 -7200 RPM -1TB
$299 CAD
5 Year warranty

These drives will be in a FirmTek SeriTek/5PM. I'll need 5 of them.

Pick a drive and tell me why....

Jonathan Bland · May 20th, 2008, 10:54 AM

Quick question:

HITACHI UltraStar A7K1000 Enterprise SATA Drives - 7200 RPM - 1 TB
$419 CAD
5 year warranty

OR

HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000 SATA Drives - 7200 RPM - 1TB
$299 CAD
3 year warranty

OR

SEAGATE Barracuda 7200.11 -7200 RPM -1TB
$299 CAD
5 Year warranty

These drives will be in a FirmTek SeriTek/5PM. I'll need 5 of them.

Pick a drive and tell me why....

Chris Medico · May 20th, 2008, 11:12 AM

My choice is the enterprise class drives. I'm currently using the Seagate flavor. They aren't the fastest but I can say in my own experience they have been trouble free (Unlike the Maxtor or the WD drives I've had).

I have considered the Hitachi enterprise class drives. They are more expensive than the Seagate though.

For me reliability is more important than speed. Saving a few seconds on a render means nothing if you can't actually finish the project. ;)

Mike Teutsch · May 20th, 2008, 11:18 AM

You are only supposed to post a topic in one thread.

Thanks

Johnnie Caraballo · May 20th, 2008, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonathan Bland

SEAGATE Barracuda 7200.11 -7200 RPM -1TB
$299 CAD
5 Year warranty

Pick a drive and thell me why....

I only paid $179.00 for that drive from Best Buy.

Chris Hurd · May 20th, 2008, 04:38 PM

Duplicate threads merged. Please don't cross-post on this site.

Jonathan Bland · May 20th, 2008, 04:43 PM

Sorry. Won't happen again :)

Stephen R. Pruitt · May 20th, 2008, 11:08 PM

Fry's online has the Seagate drive down to $179.99, but I can't tell if it's the same one... definitely not the enterprise version, but all the specs look the same as the standard version other places...

Are these the same, or is that Fry's drive the 7200.10 version? I hate retailers who don't put all the information on the page. I think I read that 32MB buffers are all 7200.11, but the missing 3 in the model number bugs me... anyone have any idea?

Fry's:

http://shop4.frys.com/product/547827...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Seagate 1TB Serial ATA/300 32MB Buffer ST1000340AS-RK

Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822148274

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000340AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s

Christopher Brown · May 21st, 2008, 02:51 PM

If you really want to drill into what drive is best for a particular use, the StorageReview.com site provides excellent in-depth analysis of all drives currently on the market.

Devin Termini · May 21st, 2008, 11:18 PM

Another vote for the Seagate Enterprise Series drives.
Seagate has never let me down. I have heard good things about Hitachi drives also.

Dean Sensui · May 22nd, 2008, 08:10 AM

I have 35 Hitachi SATA drives here, in various states of use. Ranging from 250 to 750 gigs. Some are working striped RAIDS, some are mirrored RAIDS.

None have failed so far. And some are at least four or five years old.

For archive, I'm using the enterprise class drives.

Robert Lane · May 24th, 2008, 05:00 PM

Three HDD manufacturers stand out for reliablility (in no certain order): Hitachi, Seagate and Western Digital.

Currently the Seagate 7200.11 1TB drives w/32MB cache have the greatest single-drive constant throughput of just over 100MB/s which we've tested true (I posted samples of our drive tests a few months ago). The WD Raptors have incredibly fast *seek* times since they spin so fast, but they don't push out the data as fast as the Seagate's, only around 85MB/s maximum.

Any of the Enterprise-class drives from any of these manufacturers will do fine. I have (2) fiber arrays using "old" technology WD500's that have been rock-solid for almost 4 years now, not one failure. We just recently put (4) of the Seagates into our MacPro for daily use.

If I were going to build a new RAID array today regardless of form factor (SCSI, fiber or eSATA) I'd use the Seagates simply because they'll push out the most data per-drive which will turn into even greater output in an array.

The WD Raptor is still an excellent choice as a boot/OS drive because of it's blistering-fast seek times.

Jonathan Bland · May 26th, 2008, 11:43 AM

Very well said Robert. Big thanks!

Peter Wiley · May 26th, 2008, 12:09 PM

Of course the drive is just the start. Heat kills drives over time, so any of them are subject to problems if they aren't in the right enclosure etc. Also the quality of the interface etc. matters.

A lot of video people I know swear by G-Tech products:

http://www.g-technology.com/Products/Products.cfm

They use Hitachi drives

Jonathan Bland · May 26th, 2008, 01:24 PM

I just went with this guy:

http://www.firmtek.com/seritek/seritek-5pm/

with 5 1TB HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000 SATA Drives - 7200 RPM

Fingers crossed!

May 20th, 2008, 10:53 AM	#1
Jonathan Bland Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Way Far Away Posts: 230	Best Drives - UltraStar? - Deskstar? - Barracuda? Quick question: HITACHI UltraStar A7K1000 Enterprise SATA Drives - 7200 RPM - 1 TB $419 CAD 5 year warranty OR HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000 SATA Drives - 7200 RPM - 1TB $299 CAD 3 year warranty OR SEAGATE Barracuda 7200.11 -7200 RPM -1TB $299 CAD 5 Year warranty These drives will be in a FirmTek SeriTek/5PM. I'll need 5 of them. Pick a drive and tell me why.... Last edited by Jonathan Bland; May 20th, 2008 at 04:44 PM.

May 20th, 2008, 10:54 AM	#2
Jonathan Bland Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Way Far Away Posts: 230	Best Drives - UltraStar? - Deskstar? - Barracuda? Quick question: HITACHI UltraStar A7K1000 Enterprise SATA Drives - 7200 RPM - 1 TB $419 CAD 5 year warranty OR HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000 SATA Drives - 7200 RPM - 1TB $299 CAD 3 year warranty OR SEAGATE Barracuda 7200.11 -7200 RPM -1TB $299 CAD 5 Year warranty These drives will be in a FirmTek SeriTek/5PM. I'll need 5 of them. Pick a drive and tell me why.... Last edited by Jonathan Bland; May 20th, 2008 at 11:25 AM.

May 20th, 2008, 11:12 AM	#3
Chris Medico Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Efland NC, USA Posts: 2,322	My choice is the enterprise class drives. I'm currently using the Seagate flavor. They aren't the fastest but I can say in my own experience they have been trouble free (Unlike the Maxtor or the WD drives I've had). I have considered the Hitachi enterprise class drives. They are more expensive than the Seagate though. For me reliability is more important than speed. Saving a few seconds on a render means nothing if you can't actually finish the project. ;) __________________ http://www.LandYachtMedia.com

May 20th, 2008, 11:18 AM	#4
Mike Teutsch Inner Circle Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Port St. Lucie, Florida Posts: 2,614	You are only supposed to post a topic in one thread. Thanks __________________ Chapter one, line one. The BH.

May 20th, 2008, 04:38 PM	#6
Chris Hurd Obstreperous Rex Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: San Marcos, TX Posts: 27,368 Images: 513	Duplicate threads merged. Please don't cross-post on this site. __________________ CH Search DV Info Net \| 20 years of DVi \| ...Tuesday is Soylent Green Day!

May 20th, 2008, 04:43 PM	#7
Jonathan Bland Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Way Far Away Posts: 230	Sorry. Won't happen again :)

May 20th, 2008, 11:08 PM	#8
Stephen R. Pruitt New Boot Join Date: May 2007 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 5	Seagate Drives Fry's online has the Seagate drive down to $179.99, but I can't tell if it's the same one... definitely not the enterprise version, but all the specs look the same as the standard version other places... Are these the same, or is that Fry's drive the 7200.10 version? I hate retailers who don't put all the information on the page. I think I read that 32MB buffers are all 7200.11, but the missing 3 in the model number bugs me... anyone have any idea? Fry's: http://shop4.frys.com/product/547827...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG Seagate 1TB Serial ATA/300 32MB Buffer ST1000340AS-RK Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16822148274 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31000340AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s

May 21st, 2008, 02:51 PM	#9
Christopher Brown Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Champaign, IL Posts: 32	If you really want to drill into what drive is best for a particular use, the StorageReview.com site provides excellent in-depth analysis of all drives currently on the market. __________________ ~ CB

May 21st, 2008, 11:18 PM	#10
Devin Termini Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Mount Pleasant, MI Posts: 177	Another vote for the Seagate Enterprise Series drives. Seagate has never let me down. I have heard good things about Hitachi drives also.

May 22nd, 2008, 08:10 AM	#11
Dean Sensui Inner Circle Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 2,054	I have 35 Hitachi SATA drives here, in various states of use. Ranging from 250 to 750 gigs. Some are working striped RAIDS, some are mirrored RAIDS. None have failed so far. And some are at least four or five years old. For archive, I'm using the enterprise class drives. __________________ Dean Sensui Exec Producer, Hawaii Goes Fishing

May 24th, 2008, 05:00 PM	#12
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,823 Images: 15	Three HDD manufacturers stand out for reliablility (in no certain order): Hitachi, Seagate and Western Digital. Currently the Seagate 7200.11 1TB drives w/32MB cache have the greatest single-drive constant throughput of just over 100MB/s which we've tested true (I posted samples of our drive tests a few months ago). The WD Raptors have incredibly fast seek times since they spin so fast, but they don't push out the data as fast as the Seagate's, only around 85MB/s maximum. Any of the Enterprise-class drives from any of these manufacturers will do fine. I have (2) fiber arrays using "old" technology WD500's that have been rock-solid for almost 4 years now, not one failure. We just recently put (4) of the Seagates into our MacPro for daily use. If I were going to build a new RAID array today regardless of form factor (SCSI, fiber or eSATA) I'd use the Seagates simply because they'll push out the most data per-drive which will turn into even greater output in an array. The WD Raptor is still an excellent choice as a boot/OS drive because of it's blistering-fast seek times.

May 26th, 2008, 11:43 AM	#13
Jonathan Bland Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Way Far Away Posts: 230	Very well said Robert. Big thanks!

May 26th, 2008, 12:09 PM	#14
Peter Wiley Major Player Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Lewisburg PA Posts: 752	Of course the drive is just the start. Heat kills drives over time, so any of them are subject to problems if they aren't in the right enclosure etc. Also the quality of the interface etc. matters. A lot of video people I know swear by G-Tech products: http://www.g-technology.com/Products/Products.cfm They use Hitachi drives

May 26th, 2008, 01:24 PM	#15
Jonathan Bland Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Way Far Away Posts: 230	I just went with this guy: http://www.firmtek.com/seritek/seritek-5pm/ with 5 1TB HITACHI Deskstar 7K1000 SATA Drives - 7200 RPM Fingers crossed!