[tech] Request for Final Approval to purchase Seagate Exos X14 12TB Drives

[Nick Bannon]

On Thu, Apr 18, 2024 at 09:57:37PM +0800, realroyxu--- via tech wrote:
> Following the tech meeting on Monday, I recommend we go for 8 Seagate Exos X14 12TB ST12000NM0008 drives from East Digital. You can review the details through:
> https://east-digital.myshopify.com/products/st12000nm0008-seagate-12tb-exos-x14-6gb-s-256mb-sata-3-5-enterprise-hard-drive
> 
> If everyone agrees with this choice, I would like to request that the committee proceed with placing the order.
> 
> Cheers,
> Roy [ROY]

Thanks for the email/link.
I think this is pretty well researched and good value/affordable.

As seen here:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/836897

...and at A$191 each (A$15.91/TB), similar to:
- https://serverpartdeals.com/collections/seagate-exos-enterprise-drives/products/seagate-exos-x14-st12000nm0538-12tb-7-2k-rpm-sata-6gb-s-512e-256mb-3-5-manufacturer-recertified-hdd
  - USD$104.99 / AUD$163.51 plus p&p?

Shuckable new external drives of decent capacity in recent months:
- https://www.ozbargain.com.au/tag/external-hard-drive
- 14TB AUD$399 at JB https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/824160
- 14TB AUD$359.10 at JB https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/820173
- 16TB AUD$427.93 at Amazon USA https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/832996
- 20TB USB 3.0 WD Elements Destop External Hard Drive US$343.81
  (~A$503.81) Delivered @ Amazon US https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/823030

> > On 10 Apr 2024, at 23:26, realroyxu at icloud.com wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > As part of our backup server rebuilding project, we are in the process of setting up two identical backup servers to replace the existing offsite backup machine. For more details please refer to https://wiki.ucc.asn.au/DellR710 . 
> > 
> > We are now looking for suitable HDDs, current candidates are:
> > 1. Seagate Exos 12TB ST12000NM0008 A$191 each (A$15.91/TB) 
> > 2. Seagate Exos 18TB ST18000NM000J A$287 each (A$15.94/TB)
> > Reseller is East Digital (Shopify/eBay). Both models are factory recertified (claimed to have 0 usage time), coming with 3yr warranty from the reseller. 

I'm slightly sad that we're not going for 18TB/20TB, or SAS drives,
also available at the above store, but the option hasn't gone away and
we might upgrade to 18TB or higher in a couple of years, perhaps, or
when we have some drive failures. (Getting lots of the same drive does
increase the risk that they all fail at similar times, of course)

We can make that easy on ourselves by staying away from parity RAID
so that we have fast replace/rebuilds for single drives, and can
upgrade/replace just a pair at a time.

If the 12TB drives are about AUD$191 each (AUD$15.91/TB), USD$122
(USD$10.17/TB); that sounds good versus the shoppable alternatives,
including all of the below:

USD$199.99 Seagate Exos X14 ST12000NM0558 12TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 256MB
Cache 512e 3.5-Inch Enterprise Hard Drive - 5 Year Warranty HSMR - (Host
managed HSMR - terrible choice for us)
https://www.newegg.com/seagate-exos-x14-st12000nm0558-12tb/p/1Z4-002P-02KJ2

USD$189 Seagate ST12000NM0127 12TB SATA 6Gb/s 256MB 7200RPM 3.5"
Enterprise Hard Drive
https://www.newegg.com/p/2RC-02PD-00198?Item=9SIA6CCK6E3681

USD$199.99 Seagate IronWolf 12TB NAS Hard Drive 7200 RPM 256MB Cache
SATA 6.0Gb/s CMR 3.5" Internal HDD for RAID Network Attached Storage
NE-ST12000VN0008
https://www.newegg.com/seagate-ironwolf-st12000vn0008-12tb/p/1JW-001N-00027

USD$697.67 Western Digital 24TB WD Gold Enterprise Class SATA Internal Hard Drive
HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD241KRYZ
https://www.newegg.com/gold-wd241kryz-24tb/p/N82E16822234556?Item=9SIA1K6K9C6128

USD$762.13 WD Ultrastar DC HC580 WUH722424ALE6L4 - hard drive - 24 TB - SATA 6Gb/s
Model 0F62796
https://www.newegg.com/wd-ultrastar-dc-hc580-24tb/p/1Z4-0002-01P24?Item=9SIAKACK580241

AUD$1076.95 WD 0F62796 Ultrastar DC HC580 24TB SATA 7200RPM 512e/4Kn SE Hard Drive
Mwave Australia logo Mwave Australia (NSW) | www.mwave.com.au | updated: 18-04-2024

AUD$1099.00 ST24000NT002 Seagate IronWolf Pro 24TB 7200RPM 3.5in NAS Hard Dri(In Stock)
UMart/MSY 18-04-2024

AUD$1199.00 Seagate ST24000NM002H Exos X24 7200RPM 3.5" SATA Hard Drive 24TB
Computer & Parts Land logo Computer & Parts Land (VIC) | www.cplonline.com.au | updated: 18-04-2024

AUD$1199.00 ST24000NM002H Seagate Exos X24 24TB 7200RPM 3.5in SATA Hard Drive(In Stock)
UMart/MSY 18-04-2024

> > 2. FR drives might have higher failure rates.

Yes, though still good value when used in RAID or for backups. See discussion at:
- https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/836897
- https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/840464

> > 3. Capacity: Higher capacity drives can save slots (6 in total) but will increase failure/data loss rate.

Confusing? The more drives and parts we have, the more likely that we're
have a failure at any given time. However, we're specifically building
these machines for backups and backup staging, to reduce data loss overall.

> > 4. We have no prior experience with this reseller.

See the ozbargain links, above.

> > We are keen to hear what you think, and if you have any other ideas or suggestions, please share them on discord or via this list. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
> > 
> > Cheers,
> > Roy [ROY]

Nick.

-- 
   Nick Bannon   | "I made this letter longer than usual because
nick-sig at rcpt.to | I lack the time to make it shorter." - Pascal