TV
Samsung 8 Series (55) TV UE55KS8000
Plex for Samsung 3.3.4
Tizen 2.4.0
SERVER
iMac 5k Retina i7 . OSX 10.12.6 . USB 3.0 / Thunderbolt
Media server version: Version 1.14.1.5488
Hiya,
I’m thinking of adding a 4TB or 6TB external hard drive as my principal storage, consolidating my older portable drives storage to this one device.
Portable rather than powered external is my thinking because they are generally fan-less, and therefore silent. the downside is that portables appear to have a 5tb ceiling.
It’s a minefield, with so many manufacturers and models of drive, so I’m after some advice to narrow down the choice, from the expert experienced users on this forum.
Examples:
WD My Passport 4TB Portable Hard Drive - Black (Bus powered) “software allows user to disable green option so HDD never goes into standby”
Mfr part code: WDBYFT0040BBK-WESN
Seagate Backup Plus 5tb Portable Drive (silver) (Bus powered)
Mfr part code: STDR5000201
Seagate Backup Plus 6TB External Hard Drive (AC powered)
Mfr part code: STEL6000200
6TB Porsche Design 3.5 USB 3.0 light-grey (AC powered)
Mfr part code: STEW6000400
Seagate 8 TB Expansion Amazon Special Edition USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard (“Silent” and reviewer says they use it as a Plex Media Drive)
Mfr model number: STGY8000400
WD My Book 8 TB Desktop Hard Drive
Mfr model number: WDBBGB0080HBK-EESN
What drive(s) would you recommend for external storage to attach to my plex media server?
Ideally something silent. I’m thinking that some of you may have bought drives recently, and may have do or don’t buys?
Thanks.
“It’s a minefield, with so many manufacturers and models of drive, so I’m after some advice to narrow down the choice, from the expert experienced users on this forum.”
I have a WD Elements I use for backups (3.5" desktop, powered). Works great. Never hear it. No idea if it has a fan or not. Here’s info from Crystal Disk Mark / Crystal Disk Info:
not completely sure I understand your goal here. if it is just storage ok that is one thing but if you are really starting to look at storage greater than 5TB you might be wanting to think about how important this data is to you and be thinking about avoiding a single drive setup. as hardware can and will fail. your post did not suggest anything about price point and while I am going to describe my setup I am not sure if it will meet your goal and or cost limitations.
I have a FreeNAS Mini ($1000) but 4 - 4TB western digital RED drives ($125) so total cost about $1500. what this gives me is 8 TB of usable storage as the other 8 TB is used for a Raid-6 like setup to support a 2 drive failure without data lose.
like i started with its about your goals , available money and how important the data is to you.
8TB Seagate Backup Plus Hub drives on my Mac Mini Plex server. No fan, quiet and work great. I’ve since shucked them out of the cases and added them to an external case.
My requirement is for a drive to consolidate my media onto, not for backup, but as a working drive which will be used as the principal Plex storage / streaming point for all my movies and TV shows.
Is your WD Elements drive used just for backing up your library?
For my long term solution I have a Fantech 4 bay mini NAS, but I can hear it running, so it has been sidelined for now.
I’m starting a refurb in the next 2-3 months, and at that point I can look at a location for this Fantech, because with a RAID setup it will provide the drive failure safety net you mentioned.
For now, I was looking for a silent 5, 6 or 8TB solution to use externally, connected to my iMac server as my main Plex storage / streaming source.
The iMac is in the main lounge at the mo, hence my need for a silent drive.
As I said, I acknowledge that a RAID NAS is the sensible long term solution.
Were you using these 8TB Seagate Backup Plus Hub drives to serve working data to your TV and devices via your Mac Mini Plex Server, or as just as backup drives?
And, as a side note, do you have a Mac OS utility that you use to check / monitor / maintain the performance and integrity of your drives?
The thing with portable (USB Powered) drives is that you can only use so many of these devices on a computer before having power issues. I use the Seagate and WD (preferred) desktop drives that are USB 3. They are self powered but make the same amount of noise as any other drive, and they do not have fans. Power saving on the WD can be disabled just the same and highly suggested to do so. I guess in my mind they are more reliable, can hold more, often are faster and come in larger sizes.
Side note, to increase the performance when several drives or other high I/O USB devices are being used (Actually not making it faster, just less likely of slowing down due to bottle necking) using a multi-port USB card with dedicated ports opposed to internally hubbed ports will help. I don’t know if you can but this will make a difference after attaching a few drives, if this applies to your needs. See the model listed below.
Models that I am using and can speak for…
WD drive - 8TB WDBBGB0080HBK or similar
Seagate Drive - 8TB STEB8000100 (SRD0NF2)
USB 3 PCI - StarTech PEXUSB3S44V
I had four of these for Plex to serve video from daily and four as a backup. Now I’ve moved eight of them to a Mediasonic USB-C direct attach storage box and use SoftRAID to create a RAID 5 volume. SoftRAID does monitor the drives. Another reason I wanted to move to a RAID box. Took a long time to get there as I bought the drives when budget/sales allowed!
WD markets the Elements Desktop as desktop expansion. The drive inside is a standard WD 5900 rpm drive. Search for “WD100EMAZ” and you’ll see that many people use these for their NAS, as the price is less than WD’s 10TB NAS drive (note that “shucking” technically voids the warranty). There are also teardown videos showing exactly what is inside the unit.
I use it as a backup drive. I needed a backup drive and caught it on sale.
