Replacement Hard Drive - Shingled?!! SMR vs PMR vs NAS

Angus · 13 May 2020, 21:15

Hi guys,
I'm after some advice. My pc's hard drive is around seven years old, so I thought, I'd buy a replacement, clone my current drive on to it, and put it on the shelf to await the inevitable. My existing drive is a Seagate Barracuda, and given how long it's lasted I thought I'd get the same again, only bigger.

I found one on Amazon but on reading a few reviews, technology has moved on, and there seems to be a lot of concern about this "shingled" thing. SMR as opposed to the older PMR. It can utilise the area better but in some conditions it's cache becomes full and it will slow down dramatically, or so the theory goes.

Obviously, you can always find people over-reacting to this sort of thing, but on the other hand, there seems to be quite a lot of widespread concern, and the manufacturers have been rather furtive in implementing it, without it appearing on their spec sheets.

I could get an ironwolf NAS hard drive for a bit more money, but apparently they are louder, use more voltage and prefer to be run 24/7?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

hooverphonique · 14 May 2020, 11:16

As far as I've understood, SMR shouldn't be a problem unless you're rebuilding a RAID array. I don't have any personal experience with this though.

Angus · 15 May 2020, 11:50

Thank you, sir. I appreciate the response. Anybody else have any info?

13 May 2020, 21:15	#1
Angus Amiga Games Database Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: South West England Posts: 1,240	Replacement Hard Drive - Shingled?!! SMR vs PMR vs NAS Hi guys, I'm after some advice. My pc's hard drive is around seven years old, so I thought, I'd buy a replacement, clone my current drive on to it, and put it on the shelf to await the inevitable. My existing drive is a Seagate Barracuda, and given how long it's lasted I thought I'd get the same again, only bigger. I found one on Amazon but on reading a few reviews, technology has moved on, and there seems to be a lot of concern about this "shingled" thing. SMR as opposed to the older PMR. It can utilise the area better but in some conditions it's cache becomes full and it will slow down dramatically, or so the theory goes. Obviously, you can always find people over-reacting to this sort of thing, but on the other hand, there seems to be quite a lot of widespread concern, and the manufacturers have been rather furtive in implementing it, without it appearing on their spec sheets. I could get an ironwolf NAS hard drive for a bit more money, but apparently they are louder, use more voltage and prefer to be run 24/7? Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
why cannot I boot hard drive directory or hard disk image	jotd	support.WinUAE	2	31 October 2017 18:00
Samba/Accessing synology NAS	zeGouky	support.Apps	17	22 September 2017 22:31
Looking for an A600HD Hard Drive Replacement Guide (n00be)	c0dehunter	support.Hardware	11	05 June 2011 01:26
ClassicWB scsi.device replacement for large hard disks	Bloodwych	project.ClassicWB	1	05 November 2010 17:10

14 May 2020, 11:16	#2
hooverphonique ex. demoscener "Bigmama" Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Fyn / Denmark Posts: 1,624	As far as I've understood, SMR shouldn't be a problem unless you're rebuilding a RAID array. I don't have any personal experience with this though.

15 May 2020, 11:50	#3
Angus Amiga Games Database Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: South West England Posts: 1,240	Thank you, sir. I appreciate the response. Anybody else have any info?

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)