RAID Drives in non-raid application?

JBNimble · 11-24-2006, 02:25 PM

Western Digital designs some drives for RAID application. I am considering using two or three of their WD2500YD SATA drives without RAID in my next computer.

The motherboard will be either the Intel Bad Axe 2 or a recent Gigabyte Core 2 board (forgot the model).

Is there any downside to using WD's RAID drives without RAID?

**k0NG0** · 11-24-2006, 03:02 PM

No technical downsides. The RAID drives are usually tuned for more enterprise situations that promotes longevity. You'll notice that they usually have a longer warranty period, for example (5 years vs. 3 for the desktop drives IIRC). They may be slightly louder, though, since they aren't primarily designed for desktop use.

Read some about the differences between the 5000KS and 5000YS here:
Western Digital's 500GB Caviar RE2 and SE16 hard drives - The Tech Report - Page 1

JBNimble · 11-24-2006, 04:26 PM

Thanks for your reply, kONGO.

While reading the link you provided, I learned of TLER (time limited error recovery), a "feature" of WD RAID drives. I never heard of this before, since I've never created a RAID array.

Searching the Western Digital website, I came upon the following Q&A:

"What is the difference between Desktop edition and RAID (Enterprise) edition hard drives?"

The WD answer includes:

"If you install a RAID edition hard drive in a desktop computer, the computer system may report more errors than a normal desktop hard drive (due to the TLER feature). Western Digital does not recommend installing RAID edition hard drives into a desktop computer environment."

On another page, WD says that TLER cannot be turned off in their RAID drives.

**k0NG0** · 11-24-2006, 04:46 PM

Hadn't read that. I recently bought the 5000KS, that's how I stumbled upon that Techreport review.

I guess the plentiful error reports is an enterprise "better safe than sorry" setting that alerts even if there may not have been an error.

traveler · 04-19-2007, 05:23 PM

How's your experience so far with the RE2 drives? What does the error report look like now?

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*SRTDodge05* · 04-19-2007, 08:43 PM

Ive been using the wd1600sys as a stand alone drive and it works great i just added a second one and did a raid0.

traveler · 04-20-2007, 02:39 AM

How long have you been using your WD1600YS drive as a stand alone drive?

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11-24-2006, 02:25 PM	#1
JBNimble Registered User Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: MD Posts: 610	RAID Drives in non-raid application? Western Digital designs some drives for RAID application. I am considering using two or three of their WD2500YD SATA drives without RAID in my next computer. The motherboard will be either the Intel Bad Axe 2 or a recent Gigabyte Core 2 board (forgot the model). Is there any downside to using WD's RAID drives without RAID?
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11-24-2006, 03:02 PM	#2
k0NG0 Remembering TQ Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Sweden Posts: 13,623	No technical downsides. The RAID drives are usually tuned for more enterprise situations that promotes longevity. You'll notice that they usually have a longer warranty period, for example (5 years vs. 3 for the desktop drives IIRC). They may be slightly louder, though, since they aren't primarily designed for desktop use. Read some about the differences between the 5000KS and 5000YS here: Western Digital's 500GB Caviar RE2 and SE16 hard drives - The Tech Report - Page 1 __________________ Use Firefox - "the one that blocks all the schmutz" Feeling multicore elation? Remember this correlation: Amdahl's Law.
(Online)

11-24-2006, 04:26 PM	#3
JBNimble Registered User Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: MD Posts: 610	Thanks for your reply, kONGO. While reading the link you provided, I learned of TLER (time limited error recovery), a "feature" of WD RAID drives. I never heard of this before, since I've never created a RAID array. Searching the Western Digital website, I came upon the following Q&A: "What is the difference between Desktop edition and RAID (Enterprise) edition hard drives?" The WD answer includes: "If you install a RAID edition hard drive in a desktop computer, the computer system may report more errors than a normal desktop hard drive (due to the TLER feature). Western Digital does not recommend installing RAID edition hard drives into a desktop computer environment." On another page, WD says that TLER cannot be turned off in their RAID drives.
(Offline)

11-24-2006, 04:46 PM	#4
k0NG0 Remembering TQ Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Sweden Posts: 13,623	Hadn't read that. I recently bought the 5000KS, that's how I stumbled upon that Techreport review. I guess the plentiful error reports is an enterprise "better safe than sorry" setting that alerts even if there may not have been an error. __________________ Use Firefox - "the one that blocks all the schmutz" Feeling multicore elation? Remember this correlation: Amdahl's Law.
(Online)

04-19-2007, 05:23 PM	#5
traveler Where to next? Join Date: May 2001 Location: South Florida Posts: 18,168	How's your experience so far with the RE2 drives? What does the error report look like now? __________________ Visit and chat with the Buds at the #ABxZone channel on EFnet Internet Relay Chat If you don't have it then download mIRC from www.mIRC.com
(Offline)

04-19-2007, 08:43 PM	#6
SRTDodge05 Grab Life By The Balls Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Michigan Posts: 7,830	Ive been using the wd1600sys as a stand alone drive and it works great i just added a second one and did a raid0.
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04-20-2007, 02:39 AM	#7
traveler Where to next? Join Date: May 2001 Location: South Florida Posts: 18,168	How long have you been using your WD1600YS drive as a stand alone drive? __________________ Visit and chat with the Buds at the #ABxZone channel on EFnet Internet Relay Chat If you don't have it then download mIRC from www.mIRC.com
(Offline)

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