Seagate Expansion 8TB Desktop External Hard Drive USB 3.0 $139 USD (NZD ~$233.84 Shipped) from Amazon US

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Monk on 22/09/2018 - 23:45 amazon.com (200 clicks)
Last edited 24/09/2018 - 00:33 by 1 other user

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Seagate Expansion 8TB Desktop External Hard Drive USB 3.0
$139 USD
NZD $233.84 Shipped from AMAZON US

Pricespy - ~$366 at the PBTech sale. Usually ~$400

I read they are shuckable and have Seagate BarraCuda SMR drives.

Easy and simple to use - simply plug in the power adapter and USB cable
SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port (required for USB 3.0 transfer speeds or backwards compatible with USB 2.0 ports at USB 2.0 transfer speeds). Compatibility may vary depending on user's hardware configuration and operating system
System Requirements : Windows 8, Windows 7 operating system
Drag and drop file saving for Windows, right out of the box.Dimensions (L x W x H):6.93 x 4.75 x 1.44" (176.00 x 120.60 x 36.60 mm)
Mac compatibility Requires reformatting. Reformatting the Drive will erase all content unless it is backed up to another Drive. Refer to application guide for guidance

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• 

  syrys on 23/09/2018 - 11:50

  +1

  "I read they are shuckable and have Seagate BarraCuda SMR drives"

  ive done that to about 3 or 4 of these drives in the past year or two, each of them turned out to be ST8000DM004. But i did read that there is a chance that you can get a Seagate Archive drive too (but ive never gotten one, maybe just been lucky so far). opening up the case isnt the easiest thing, it will turn out to be fairly destructive on the enclosure (aand voids warranty).

  • 

    Nil Einne on 24/09/2018 - 05:02

    +1

    Note that the ST8000DM004 is almost definitely an SMR hard drive. I have a Seagate Mac hub 8TB. I've never opened it up but I'm pretty sure it has a ST8000DM004-2CX188 since that's what it reports the model number as under certain circumstances. And from my tests I'm certain it is an SMR hard drive. I've managed to trigger the classic SMR slow down under the right circumstances. It basically becomes almost inaccessible for 30 mins - 1 hour. However I've found it very hard to do so.

    I mean I know certain combination of tests which will trigger it but these are specific benchmarks of HDtune. I can also trigger it as an NTFS formatted disk but if only I've done things with HDtune not long before hand. I've never figured out a way to trigger it solely as an NTFS formatted disk even with a combination of deleting content, multiple streams etc. I mean I'm sure it can happen, it's just not easy. Interesting there also seems to be a difference between whether it's running in UAS or in mass storage showing how sensitive minor differences make.

    I wouldn't recommend it as a boot disk, or for anything where you require reliable continuous speed like connected to like video surveillance. But practically, for most usage patterns you probably won't know it's an SMR disk. I presume Seagate have figured out the right combination of PMR regions and firmware settings to prevent most problems.

    If you have removed it from the casing, you can likely figure out whether it's SMR from the weight. There's no evidence anyone has made, or even can make PMR platters of sufficient density to fit 8TB on 5 platters. And Seagate HAMR is still too new. So if it's not SMR, it must be a 6 or 7 PMR platter helium filled drive. These weigh more than a 5 platter drive. Note also that the ST8000DM0004 and ST8000DM004 are different drives. From what I've read, the former is probably a helium filled 6 or 7 platter drive.

    I posted a slightly more detailed, slightly outdated version of this in Geekzone.

    • 

      themitchnz on 24/09/2018 - 08:57

      Would this still be suitable for a NAS running Plex?

      • 

        PANiCnz on 24/09/2018 - 09:07

        +2

        If it’s a SMR drive as suggested I would avoid any form of RAID with parity as the rebuild times will be horrendous. But if using JBOD or something similar and you use is primarily write once and read multiple times it’s probably fine.

      • 

        Nil Einne on 24/09/2018 - 14:25

        +1

        @PANiCnz: Oh yes RAID is another I forgot to mention you probably should avoid.

        That said, as mentioned from my experience at least, I don't think you have to be that paranoid about deleting and just using it like a normal HD. Even with an older archive HD I have, I've frankly never bothered to worry that much. It is a lot easier to trigger the SMR slow down but IMO still something you won't encounter with many normal usage patterns. (But I still don't suggest you use it as a boot drive, RAID or for video surveillance and similar uses.)

        • 

          syrys on 25/09/2018 - 22:43

          @Nil Einne: Ive been using these (in combination with Seagate Archives) on my unraid NAS (software raid with 1 parity) for years. No real issues to note. First setup takes a while (parity/rebuild etc), but it hasent been that bad for me. No complaints, im buying more to add to my NAS.

          Oops, hit reply on the wrong msg :P