3.5" Drive Rcommendations?

[Mister Wednesday]

I'd like to see if any of you out there can make recommendations for the best brand/model 3.5" SATA drives that would be suitable for use in a Drobo external multi-disk drive system which I would be using as my primary music storage system connected to a MacBook Pro/Airport Extreme/Express wireless set-up.

 

I'm looking for 1.5 terabyte size drives although I would also consider 1.0 terabyte size as a Plan B.

 

Ideally, since it's going to be used with my main audio system, the drives would be of the quieter variety. Reliability is also a major issue to consider. And if They're low power consumers that would be a bonus.

 

Any thoughts on this?

 

Regards,

 

Mr. Wednesday

 

[jtconte]

As far as I know these are the only 2 1.5 TB's: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010150014%20103530090%201035324341&name=1.5TB

 

The WD Green Power ones had some issues in the Thecus 5200 NAS HDD Compatability list so I went with the Seagates. Does Drobo have a Compatability list?

 

John

 

[Mister Wednesday]

John,

 

Thanks for your tip to ask Drobo about a compatibility list. I subsequently contacted them by email and got a telephone call back from them letting me know about their recommendations. You can see that their current customers are saying that they are having success with Maxtor, Western Digital and Seagate drives (with a caveat for the Seagate 1.5):

 

http://www.drobo.com/support/knowledgebase.php

 

Type 1.5 in the search field and then go to Article ID 0149

 

When you say you went with the Seagate drives did you get them with the updated firmware already installed or did you have to get get the firmware update after purchasing them?

 

Any others out there using any of these three brand 1.5 terabyte drives in a Drobo care to share your experiences?

 

Regards,

 

Mr. Wednesday

 

[jtconte]

Thanks Mr. Wednesday, I checked my serial #'s on Seagate's website and they say my 3 are unaffected. I'll keep my fingers crossed and make sure I figure a way to backup what's on the NAS. I wonder if Chris went ahead and replaced his 1TB's with 1.5TB's as he mentioned he would do. If so, which 1.5TB's did you go with Chris?

 

John

 

[Mister Wednesday]

Just in case any other Drobo users out there are considering using the Seagate 1.5 TB drives here's the note from the Data Robotics Web site about this issue (and how it has been resolved):

 

Article ID 0235: Does Drobo work with the new Seagate 1.5 TB drives?

 

Question:

Does Drobo work with the new Seagate 1.5 TB drives?

 

Answer:

Data Robotics has re-qualified the use of the 1.5TB Seagate drives. The specific model numbers and associated part numbers re-qualified are as follows:

 

Model Number: ST31500341AS

Part Numbers: 9JU138 -300 and 9JU138 -336

Firmware version: SD1A

 

Model Number: ST31500341AS

Part Numbers: 9JU138 -302

Firmware version: CC1J or CC1H

 

To update the firmware on your Seagate drives, please contact Seagate Technical Support at 1-800-SEAGATE (1-800-732-4283) in the US and Canada and 00.800.4732.4283 in Europe.

 

You can not flash the drives with updated firmware from Seagate when they are in the Drobo.

 

Seagate recommends a backup of all data on the Drobo before flashing, as they can not guarantee a firmware flash will not delete the data on the drive. After you have backed up your data, put Drobo into standby mode, remove the drives and follow the Seagate instructions from there. Once the drives are back in the Drobo, power the Drobo back up.

 

Note 1: Only the above mentioned Model Numbers /Part Numbers / Firmware versions have been re-qualified by Data Robotics. Please do not use other unqualified Seagate 1.5 TB drives with the Drobo. The unqualified firmware versions are SD15, SD16, SD17, SD18 and SD19.

 

Note 2: Seagate has identified a number of drives that require firmware upgrades in order to function properly. Please refer to the link below for full details.

 

http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=207931