18:23 if you're in something of a hurry to replace a failed drive, a full DD write zeroes to the entire HD followed by a SMART long test usually suffices to weed out shipping-damaged drives. It's what I would consider the minimum burn-in test, but it's worked pretty well.
Would love a video on how your notes etc work for maintenance on obsidian seems as you seem to utilise it so much more efficiently that I am at the moment.
Good VIdeo, reminds me to document the serials and bay of any HDD :) Also: Did you look into your BIOS / Storage Config to enabling Hot-Swap for your OnBoard SATA Controller? Often it's just disabled
I find a label printer is useful (put last 4 digits of the sn number and stick it to the front of the bay) Ignore WDDA (and short scan usually finds nothing), just stick with monthly smart extended/long scan (especially before shucking the drive) and monthly scrub it probably has options in the bios to enable hotplug on each on board sata port 😮
My company recently bought a couple dozen of those WD drives and we've had a majority of them fail in the field. Usually they either work for a bit then they drop off the server with a hardware error or they don't make it past the first format. Been very let down by WD over the last couple years. Shucking them is probably smart because my guess is the drive isn't what's failing but the housing/interface. I love watching your little adventures. You give me a lot of ideas of what I want to do when I decide to buy a house and set up all my home gear. Here in GA we have some basements, hoping I get one so I can dump all the noise downstairs lol.
My experience with the shucked drives has been OK. I've bought 14 over the last 5 years or so and had 2 fail, obviously my sample size is not large enough to be meaningful so I'm reluctant to even mention it. But the thing is with a decent backup strategy (which this video is the first part of a multi-part series covering) is that the individual drives don't matter hardly at all. The data on these shucked drives is media, replaceable Linux ISOs. The data I take seriously I store with ZFS, replicate to multiple places and have it on drives that usually cost a bit more and weren't shucked because something in my instincts tells me the shucked drives are likely less reliable - that's just based on "why would they sell these drives for this price in this enclosure if they could get more selling them 'naked'?" As for the format of the video, I didn't do a VLOG style before instead focusing on quality. But that meant the obstacle to making the videos was getting higher and higher and becoming less fun. I had a great time making this less polished video so I think I'll make more - the response has been great so far.
Oh I completely understand the usage and support what you're doing. I don't have as much of a need for backup solutions (yet) as my truly important stuff just sits in my G Drive for now. I started my server with drives I pulled from WD Duo cages when they were actual Red drives in them. It was a mess at first, ended up expanding with more Red drives only to find out they were shingled drives lol. No biggie since it's mostly a media server, but the last batch of drives added were Seagate because my confidence in WD just sank. Though now it's time for me to look at bigger drives, I currently have 10x 6TB drives in just a standard Linux Raid (8 on an HBA and 2 on the MB controller). I'm looking to go to 18-20TB drives, might save some of the 6TB for a backup external enclosure. I like the style of video you did, I think it's just fine. You have a lot of knowledge and experience to give and it's fun listening to you. You and the podcast have helped me along the way of learning and maintaining my home stuff. Now if I could just figure out a damn simple home NVR setup lol. That's me just being lazy. Cheers and stay warm my friend. All the love
Hello, new to your channel, interested you chose 18tb over 20tb drives, they do seem to be better value, question the Shucked hard drives perform as well as non Shucked ones, i mean there is not less cache or something? in terms of performance, also wondering how much money can you possibly save and if drive goes bad, you need to re-pair case again with hard drive for warranty? thanks in advance...
Hey there! 👋 My sample size is one so take it with a pinch of salt but the shucked drives I’ve been running since 2018 have just as reliable and performant as any other for my media serving needs. I have a pair of 20TBs ready for the new build coming up. Keep an eye out!
thank you for the input, just upgraded 40gb network and realizing how impossible it will be to take full advantage of network, 40gb hardware so cheap now , you might try SX6036 switch....i have gone down that rabbit hole...@@ktzsystems
Hi Alex, Great video! Did you get those drives on a Black Friday Deal? Hope so. I'm back in the US for work in a couple of weeks and will get another 16TB or 18TB My Book. I am going to pick up 10x Google nest mini Gen 2, and have already ordered the replacement boards from PCB Way for the Open hardware Home Assistant Voice Assist. Check it out if you haven't already. Best Regards, Don S SRE
It’s all down to the 3.3v rail. I don’t believe the these rosewill caddies carry that to the pin in question on the drives so it’s not an issue. The drives might still reset if they get that voltage but idk.
I should really build a little wooden rack like that. Instead my current "just pile them up on the floor" system. Please do share a video if you modify it 😊
The reason they sell the easy stores for a lower price is because the drive doesn't pass the high quality standard they set for themselves. While you might not ever have an issue that doesn't mean there isn;t one. As someone who's been working in filesystem devel;opment HDD's are usually way worse than you'd think. That why ZFS/BTRFS were developed to not trust the drives but to check the COW functionality paired with checksums.
That’s what backups are for though! Of course my experience is not a meaningful sample. But out of the 14 easy stores I’ve bought over the years, 2 have failed. For the price, it’s worth the trade off. These 18s will only be used for media that’s replaceable. I have a pair of 20tb WD reds coming for zpool which stores data I truly care about on the new 45drives HL15 that’s inbound.
The perils of an unfinished basement! The filters on the front of the server do an excellent job of keeping the inside of the equipment clean. But I've considered a few times framing off a small section of the space and putting some giant fans with furnace filters to fix the issue. I have a minor worry that enclosing the equipment would just be a recipe for heat build up instead though so I didn't do it yet.
18:23 if you're in something of a hurry to replace a failed drive, a full DD write zeroes to the entire HD followed by a SMART long test usually suffices to weed out shipping-damaged drives. It's what I would consider the minimum burn-in test, but it's worked pretty well.
Would love a video on how your notes etc work for maintenance on obsidian seems as you seem to utilise it so much more efficiently that I am at the moment.
Duly noted! ;)
@@ktzsystemsYes, would really like a blog about it.
Great Video! Thank you for all the work you do for the Open Source community & the podcasts! Never miss an episode!
Much appreciated!
Isn't it possible to have a hot-swap setting in BIOS for the onboard SATA controller?
Maybe! I hadn’t considered that but once these drives finish burning in and I can safely reboot the server I’ll take a look. Good tip!
Good VIdeo, reminds me to document the serials and bay of any HDD :)
Also: Did you look into your BIOS / Storage Config to enabling Hot-Swap for your OnBoard SATA Controller? Often it's just disabled
Once these drives have finished burning in I’ll look into it in the BIOS! Great tip!
I'm looking to build a storage server and love the look of yours! Can you (or have you) posted a parts list for it?
Here you go bud.
perfectmediaserver.com/01-overview/alexs-example-builds/
@@ktzsystems Thank you!
where did you get that terminal ascii art ? loving it !
Here's the Ansible role I used to configure it...
github.com/ironicbadger/ansible-role-figurine
At 5:29 the 'Morpheus' is written in color ascii art style. does any one know a tool to create one for linux motd?
Figurine
github.com/arsham/figurine
@@ktzsystems Awesome!
I love this kind of content. It's great to see what you do and your process. I feel like I have learned more than from a tutorial video. Keep it up!
Great to hear!
I find a label printer is useful (put last 4 digits of the sn number and stick it to the front of the bay)
Ignore WDDA (and short scan usually finds nothing), just stick with monthly smart extended/long scan (especially before shucking the drive) and monthly scrub
it probably has options in the bios to enable hotplug on each on board sata port 😮
Stop speaking so much sense. Labels are too sensible.
loving your content and how you present your content. keep up the great work.
Thank you! Will do!
My company recently bought a couple dozen of those WD drives and we've had a majority of them fail in the field. Usually they either work for a bit then they drop off the server with a hardware error or they don't make it past the first format. Been very let down by WD over the last couple years. Shucking them is probably smart because my guess is the drive isn't what's failing but the housing/interface.
I love watching your little adventures. You give me a lot of ideas of what I want to do when I decide to buy a house and set up all my home gear. Here in GA we have some basements, hoping I get one so I can dump all the noise downstairs lol.
My experience with the shucked drives has been OK. I've bought 14 over the last 5 years or so and had 2 fail, obviously my sample size is not large enough to be meaningful so I'm reluctant to even mention it. But the thing is with a decent backup strategy (which this video is the first part of a multi-part series covering) is that the individual drives don't matter hardly at all. The data on these shucked drives is media, replaceable Linux ISOs. The data I take seriously I store with ZFS, replicate to multiple places and have it on drives that usually cost a bit more and weren't shucked because something in my instincts tells me the shucked drives are likely less reliable - that's just based on "why would they sell these drives for this price in this enclosure if they could get more selling them 'naked'?"
As for the format of the video, I didn't do a VLOG style before instead focusing on quality. But that meant the obstacle to making the videos was getting higher and higher and becoming less fun. I had a great time making this less polished video so I think I'll make more - the response has been great so far.
Oh I completely understand the usage and support what you're doing. I don't have as much of a need for backup solutions (yet) as my truly important stuff just sits in my G Drive for now. I started my server with drives I pulled from WD Duo cages when they were actual Red drives in them. It was a mess at first, ended up expanding with more Red drives only to find out they were shingled drives lol. No biggie since it's mostly a media server, but the last batch of drives added were Seagate because my confidence in WD just sank. Though now it's time for me to look at bigger drives, I currently have 10x 6TB drives in just a standard Linux Raid (8 on an HBA and 2 on the MB controller). I'm looking to go to 18-20TB drives, might save some of the 6TB for a backup external enclosure.
I like the style of video you did, I think it's just fine. You have a lot of knowledge and experience to give and it's fun listening to you. You and the podcast have helped me along the way of learning and maintaining my home stuff. Now if I could just figure out a damn simple home NVR setup lol. That's me just being lazy. Cheers and stay warm my friend. All the love
Hello, new to your channel, interested you chose 18tb over 20tb drives, they do seem to be better value, question the Shucked hard drives perform as well as non Shucked ones, i mean there is not less cache or something? in terms of performance, also wondering how much money can you possibly save and if drive goes bad, you need to re-pair case again with hard drive for warranty? thanks in advance...
Hey there! 👋
My sample size is one so take it with a pinch of salt but the shucked drives I’ve been running since 2018 have just as reliable and performant as any other for my media serving needs.
I have a pair of 20TBs ready for the new build coming up. Keep an eye out!
thank you for the input, just upgraded 40gb network and realizing how impossible it will be to take full advantage of network, 40gb hardware so cheap now , you might try SX6036 switch....i have gone down that rabbit hole...@@ktzsystems
What do you use to create the ascii art of the machine name?
It wont let me post a link so search on github / ironicbadger / figurine
Hi Alex, Great video! Did you get those drives on a Black Friday Deal? Hope so. I'm back in the US for work in a couple of weeks and will get another 16TB or 18TB My Book. I am going to pick up 10x Google nest mini Gen 2, and have already ordered the replacement boards from PCB Way for the Open hardware Home Assistant Voice Assist. Check it out if you haven't already. Best Regards, Don S SRE
That’s an incredible project. Hadn’t heard of it. Thanks for sharing.
Are those four drives the one you are going to send to Gary?
Yep!
Great vid!
Now they don't protect drives from Shuck anymore, by "playing" with one of the SATA pins?
It’s all down to the 3.3v rail. I don’t believe the these rosewill caddies carry that to the pin in question on the drives so it’s not an issue. The drives might still reset if they get that voltage but idk.
I should really build a little wooden rack like that. Instead my current "just pile them up on the floor" system. Please do share a video if you modify it 😊
You can do it!
WD has the put in a 3 year "Engineered obsolescence” into their smart tests. It will flash warning regardless if the drive is fine or not.
WD could definitely do better by the customer. It’s frustrating.
Do you have some advice on shopping hard drives internationally?
Plan ahead if you're taking a trip. Otherwise you might find import duties and shipping wipe out any other savings.
@@ktzsystems Sorry, typo. I meant shipping. How do you package them when sending them with your sister?
The reason they sell the easy stores for a lower price is because the drive doesn't pass the high quality standard they set for themselves. While you might not ever have an issue that doesn't mean there isn;t one. As someone who's been working in filesystem devel;opment HDD's are usually way worse than you'd think. That why ZFS/BTRFS were developed to not trust the drives but to check the COW functionality paired with checksums.
That’s what backups are for though!
Of course my experience is not a meaningful sample. But out of the 14 easy stores I’ve bought over the years, 2 have failed. For the price, it’s worth the trade off.
These 18s will only be used for media that’s replaceable. I have a pair of 20tb WD reds coming for zpool which stores data I truly care about on the new 45drives HL15 that’s inbound.
Bruh you are under the floor. A true techguy😂
I’m only allowed out once or twice a year.
nice terramaster nas screwdriver
What did you just call me? 🤙
I'm a ZFS guy in the UK if you need any help over here...
Super kind offer! I have a friend lined up already who lives close.
Sooo much dust 😂
The perils of an unfinished basement! The filters on the front of the server do an excellent job of keeping the inside of the equipment clean. But I've considered a few times framing off a small section of the space and putting some giant fans with furnace filters to fix the issue.
I have a minor worry that enclosing the equipment would just be a recipe for heat build up instead though so I didn't do it yet.
Oh god... the state of that poor laptop screen!!
I swear the camera adds 10lbs (of dirt).
I stopped watching when you started shilling Obsydian
Great!
Huge fan of Obsidian, it's great!