First off, I’d normally ask this question on a datahoarding forum, but this one is way more active than those and I’m sure there’s considerable overlap.
So I have a Synology DS218+ that I got in 2020. So it’s a 6 year old model by now but only 4 into its service. There’s absolutely no reason to believe it’ll start failing anytime soon, and it’s completely reliable. I’m just succession planning.
I’m looking forward to my next NAS, wondering if I should get the new version of the same model again (whenever that is) or expand to a 4 bay.
The drives are 14 TB shucked easy stores, for what it’s worth, and not even half full.
What are your thoughts?
oh you are dancing with the devil. not sure there’s a way to check actual SMART data in Synology’s OS but I would be very interested in those logs.
I’ve found over the years that the second I think about backing up the drive is about to fail.
I would update to a 4bay and invest in actual NAS drives. (and I will personally be looking for 10gbe lan but this isn’t homelab)
There’s nothing wrong with shucked drives, and they are frequently relabelled NAS drives anyway.
just a dice you don’t need to roll
Packaging a drive for sale in an external enclosure doesn’t make it any more prone to failure compared to one that wasn’t.
except you don’t know what you’re buying.
the fact it’s typically cheaper than buying the naked drive should tell you everything you need to know about the risk involved.
There is not even any proof from any independent media that special certified drives have a longer lifespan. You can see it when you compare OEM prices for different drives. Quite often Data Center labeled cards are more expensive then the prosumer drives, because consumers are idiots and buy into marketing.
There are other problems with shucking like warranty but the dice role is not certainly it.
You have an idea of what you’re buying and you know what you have once you’ve shucked it. The worst case scenario is that it’s not what you expected, isn’t suited for that use case, you can’t find another use for it, and you can’t return it… but it’s not like anyone is forcing you to add an unsuitable drive to your setup.
This is misinformation, I have always known what drives to expect when shucking. Not only that, but you can tell what drive is inside just by plugging it in before shucking to check. I’ve shucked over 16 drives so far and all were exactly as expected.
The drives for WD are white label, but they’re WD Reds. They’re cheaper because they’re consumer facing, no more, no less. Have you been bitten by shucking in the past? I’m confused why else you’d be saying it’s a risk. The only risk associated is warranty related.
That the market buying internal drives is generally willing to pay more for the product vs the people buying an external drive? Because cost of the parts (AKA Bill of Materials, or BOM) is only a small part of what determines the price on the shelf.
The fact the WD has a whole thing about refusing to honor the warranty (likely in violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act) should tell you what you really need to know.
People have tested them long term at this point. Outside of a few rare exceptions, there’s not a noticeable difference in reliability between shucked drives and ‘normal’ drives. They’re the same stock but just rebranded and have to be cheaper because they’re marketed primarily for retail as opposed to enthusiast/enterprise who are willing to pay more.