this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2024
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Beginner question: Searching for my first dedicated server setup, and I have no idea what to look for in a hard drive. I see a huge difference between drives of the same capacity, so what makes the difference? I am looking to eventually have a media server that can run "-arr" programs, Jellyfin, Immich, sync music, books, etc.

What are the factors I should be paying attention to other than capacity? Is it a lot of branding and smoke and mirrors, or will I see a significant change in performance/reliability with different drives?

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[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 28 points 2 months ago (10 children)

Also pay attention to SAS vs SATA. SATA drives are usually usable in SAS backplanes, but a SAS drive physically will not fit a SATA connector.

Also avoid SMR drives. They're very slow because their tracks are overlapping, so one write results in many writes to update the downstream sectors.

Other than that, just pick a big name like WD, Seagate, HGST and you'll be fine. Just buy at least one spare to have on hand, and practice 3-2-1 backups for anything you can't afford to lose.

[–] exu@feditown.com 5 points 2 months ago

There aren't any non big name manufacturers left for harddrives. And if you have the time, consider buying with some separation to reduce the risk of hard drives failing at the same time due to age.

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