I’m looking for non-shingled spinning 2.5" SATA drives
- due to data storage policies, it must NOT be a SSD but a spinning drive
- due to the use of ZFS, it can’t be a SMR
- 1Tb or more (2Tb would be nice)
- ideally 9.5 mm or thinner (7mm would be preferred for a better airflow, 15 mm would require a 3d-printed cover)
- ideally new (new-old stock and used drives would require a few days of testing to validate the SMART info and the absence of bad sectors)
I’ve heard the WD Blue 2.5" and the Seagate Exos might be valid options:
- WD Blue report from /u/HTWingNut: https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/1467pi0/til_there_is_a_25_1tb_cmr_drive_from_toshiba_but/jnpeb26/
- Seagate Exos report from /u/Far_Marsupial6303 to /u/MonsieurCellophane who was looking for 4Tb options: https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/12xawar/25_4tb_nonsmr_hdds/jhjc5fk/
If you know about other options, could you please list them?
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The only manufacturers left are WD/HGST, Seagate and Toshiba
There’s a couple of 1TB drives from Toshiba, but they’re hard to find and expensive.
The 2.5" Exos E are available in 1TB-2TB in SATA and 600-2.4TB in SAS. But AFAIK, they all require the additional 12V power like 3.5" drives. And it seems they’re both 15mm according to the specs:
As Sopel97 stated, the 1TB Blue is SMR. There was a 1TB WD Red NAS CMR drive, but it seems to be discontinued.
2TB CMR in a 9.5mm form isn’t possible because the largest 2.5" CMR platter is 600GB, so at least four 500GB platters would be required for 2TB.
Read here for more info about the platters in 2.5" and 3.5" drives.
Bottom line, your choices are Toshiba or old/used drives.
There’s a couple of 1TB drives from Toshiba, but they’re hard to find and expensive.
If they cost less than $500/drive, price will not be a problem
Would you have the reference or model number for these Toshibas?
There was a 1TB WD Red NAS CMR drive, but it seems to be discontinued.
Likewise, would you have the reference or a model number for the WD Red?
Read here for more info about the platters in 2.5" and 3.5" drives.
You may have forgotten a link?
They don’t exist. SSD pricing at 2TB and smaller are basically on par with 2.5" hard drives now. 4TB drives are also dropping in price considerably.
While it should technically be possible to make 2.5" 4TB 9.5mm thick or 2TB 7mm thick CMR HDD’s, there’s no point in investing in the equipment to make them.
Consdering the three remaining HDD manufacturers (WD, Seagate, Toshiba) also make SSD’s, I would expect SATA SSD’s to completely phase out 2.5" HDD’s probably within the next year or two.
SSD pricing at 2TB and smaller are basically on par with 2.5" hard drives now. 4TB drives are also dropping in price considerably
Price is not a concern as long as the costs per drive do not require a special authorization process (>$500 per drive)
They don’t exist.
What about old drives like the Spinpoint M9T ST2000LM003 from Seagate? I have a few leftovers, but I don’t know if they are CMR or SMR.
I would expect SATA SSD’s to completely phase out 2.5" HDD’s probably within the next year or two.
The current plan is to keep things as-is for the next 2 to 3 years, so I will have to purchase a few spares this year.