My current 1 TB HDD is failing and I need a new one. Does anyone have any recommendations? I want something really reliable, but I don't want to spend too much money if I can avoid it and I don't need a super high capacity drive, I am thinking 2 to 3 TB should be fine. I was looking at the 2 TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000 HDS722020ALA330 because of the low failure rate reported by BackBlaze, but it concerns me that they where manufactured around 2011.
That one should work just fine.
Edit: did not see the 2011. I guess if it was new in box it would be ok.
I would potentially stay away from older models of HDDs as some of them are surplus drives with falsified S.M.A.R.T data to make them look like new drives. I recently bought an Ultrastar 7K3000 which had over 32385 hours power on time with the S.M.A.R.T data wiped and I had to check the selftest logs to find its true age.
I use two hitachi 4tb drives also based on their reliability rate. They seem to be ok so far. use your 1tb drive to back up your OS every now and then and that'll REALLY increase your systems reliability.
All spinning rust is in a state of dying, so just get something at a good value. Manufacturing date isnt a problem as long as they're unused. It is a wee bit odd to see several years old drives though.
can't say i've ever seen aluminum or glass rust lol
1 Like
Just go for HGST instead.
It should be fine, as long as I can get it new in the box? I was not sure if manufacturing date would be an issue or not.
That really sucks, sorry that happened to you.
That would be one use for it once I get a new one I suppose.
I am considering doing that. Just picking an HGST drive that looks good. I thought I would ask if anyone had any specific recommendations before though.
I mean, you can peruse Blackblaze's data to see which specific models have the lowest annual failure rate but general consensus is anything HGST right now is pretty good. WD isnt bad either. Old seagate is garbage but new seagate might not be so bad. Each manufacturer is bound to have problem children within their models. Just like car manufacturers, there are good models and there are bad ones.
WD Re, Re4 or Gold. Out of eight Re drives bought about 4 years ago, I've had to RMA two. Not because they failed, just because reallocated sector count slowly started to grow. No problem with RMA at all, even though actual counter value was really low (below 30, iirc). The second one was replaced after the model line went EoL - WD just gave me a larger Gold one instead.
I have had this for a few years as my backup with no issues.
1TB - $63, 2TB - $85, 3TB - $111.
I also have a really old WD Green 2TB with all of my data on it, no issues either.
Happy user of WD Black drives here.
Sometimes you find nice deals where the WD Blacks are the same as WD Gold drives. The Gold ones beeing enterprise drives with long waranty makes them very nice.
The newser WD blues are 5400 rpm drives. No idea why, but kay.
HGST 7200rpm drives.
I think I am going to go with a 4 TB HGST Deskstar 0S04005. They are much newer than the 7K2000 and I don't have to worry about getting one that has been S.M.A.R.T wiped and sold as new. I originally wanted a 2 TB drive, but they only go as low as 3 TB with the new Deskstars, I figured I might as well go up to 4 TB. The only problem I can see with the drive is people say they are noisy, but I don't think that will be too big an issue.
I was also looking at the Western Digital Red and Black drives, but decided not to go with either of them. With the Red drives, I will have to get the pro version to get 7200 RPM, and the pro line is way more expensive than the regular Reds. The Black drives are just too expensive, a 2 TB Black cost the same as a 4 TB HGST Deskstar.
Thank you guys for all your suggestions and info, really helpful 
2 Likes
They got rid of the "Green" product line, so the 5400 RPM "Blue" drives are basically the former green range.
ive had 5 WD drives in 10 years, none have failed
1 Like
Get Seagate FireCuda Gaming SSHD 2TB
The cheapest name brand if you dont have an SSD Totally second the FireCuda Gaming SSHD.
I personally own the following 2:
You can't go wrong w/ either of them
OP has chosen, this will be considered as a necro.