NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
WD20EARS just added on the official HCL - mistake and issues
The official HCL has (quietly !) been updated for Sparc based machines with a 2TB WD desktop class drive: the WD20EARS (http://www.readynas.com/?page_id=82). This is in principle good news as the WD20EADS which might have been a candidate (if not discontinued in a near future) seems to have a lot a quality and compatibility issues.
But ... :
1) The HCL mentions the exact version to be used: WD20EARS-00R6B0. Googling the reference does not provide any answer (but the WD20EADS-00R6B0 which is well known). AFAIK, the current available version of the drive is the WD20EARS-00S8B1.
There should be an error in the HCL or the new entry is useless !
2) No restriction appears on the RAIDiator version to be used meaning by the way that the new 4K sector size, which implementation starts in high capacity drives such as the EARS, is fully supported since the beginning. It's amazing as other vendors have delivered updated firmwares for that specific purpose (and keep partitions aligned or performance may degrade significantly).
Or will the 4K sector size be supported by RAIDiator 4.1.7 as current beta "adds support for WD drives that don’t support TLER" (= WD desktop drives) ?
And does this new entry in the offical HCL mean that LCC issues are now fully tackled by RAIDiator 4.1.7 (since the EARS has the same green features as the EADS and WDIDLE is not supported by WD on newer drives), even though some users report recent WD firmwares do not count any more Intellipark related LCC in the Smart infos ?
Please Jedis clarify and thanks to still supporting early (Infrant ...) adopters !
Regards.
But ... :
1) The HCL mentions the exact version to be used: WD20EARS-00R6B0. Googling the reference does not provide any answer (but the WD20EADS-00R6B0 which is well known). AFAIK, the current available version of the drive is the WD20EARS-00S8B1.
There should be an error in the HCL or the new entry is useless !
2) No restriction appears on the RAIDiator version to be used meaning by the way that the new 4K sector size, which implementation starts in high capacity drives such as the EARS, is fully supported since the beginning. It's amazing as other vendors have delivered updated firmwares for that specific purpose (and keep partitions aligned or performance may degrade significantly).
Or will the 4K sector size be supported by RAIDiator 4.1.7 as current beta "adds support for WD drives that don’t support TLER" (= WD desktop drives) ?
And does this new entry in the offical HCL mean that LCC issues are now fully tackled by RAIDiator 4.1.7 (since the EARS has the same green features as the EADS and WDIDLE is not supported by WD on newer drives), even though some users report recent WD firmwares do not count any more Intellipark related LCC in the Smart infos ?
Please Jedis clarify and thanks to still supporting early (Infrant ...) adopters !
Regards.
124 Replies
Replies have been turned off for this discussion
- Would really like to know the same details about this specific hard drive. I'm about to consider buying an NV+ (cheapest option for me) and this would probably clinch it. But, I don't want to buy the NV+, and along with 4 of the current model of WD20EARS if it's actually not going to be supported on the HCL -- for obvious reasons.
Any info is appreciated! - Any confirmation yet if it is the WD20EARS or WD20EADS? I'm about to pull the trigger and buy two WD20EARS drives for my ReadyNAS Duo but want to make sure that's the correct drive since I'm ordering online.
chano22000 wrote:
1) The HCL mentions the exact version to be used: WD20EARS-00R6B0. Googling the reference does not provide any answer (but the WD20EADS-00R6B0 which is well known). AFAIK, the current available version of the drive is the WD20EARS-00S8B1.
There should be an error in the HCL or the new entry is useless !
Edit: I don't know if this is an error, but it would be good if a Jedi could clarify.chano22000 wrote:
2) No restriction appears on the RAIDiator version to be used
Although it doesn't mention a RAIDiator version it is advisable to be on the latest RAIDiator version before inserting new disks. NetGear is most likely to have tested disks on the latest version of RAIDiator.chano22000 wrote:
It might be maybe mandatory to use RAIDiator 4.1.7 (currently beta) which "adds support for WD drives that don’t support TLER" (=WD desktop drives).
It could be a good idea to use that beta or 4.1.7 when it is finally released. It shouldn't hurt, though it's not recommended in a production environment as betas can have issues that can result in loss of data and require a factory default to get a working system again.
It would be nice for a Jedi to comment, but with a bit of common sense you can come to a reasonable conclusion.slingload wrote: I'm about to pull the trigger and buy two WD20EARS drives for my ReadyNAS Duo but want to make sure that's the correct drive since I'm ordering online.
You should ask the online reseller if they can supply you with that disk with the firmware version mentioned on the compatibility list then.- Still no news here??
My NV+ is nearly full and the WD20EARS is good priced, big and quiet, so it could be the best option for me, too.
As I was concerned about the 4k fact I read along here but no final answer so far :(
The question is not only if it runs, but also if it runs at normal speed. Translation from 4k to 512bytes seems to lack and be quite slow in many situations as I read in many reports...
The speed of my ReadyNAS mustn't be slower or I'm getting trouble working on it.
Hope to hear from the Jedi soon - or the Sith, if they know the answer :wink:
Related Threads:
http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=37983&p=212798
http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=38181&p=214194
http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=36530
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3691 - Don't worry about the suffix after the WDC part #. This is for internal use by WD to know 1) the original customer (retail, enterprise, which OEM) 2) firmware rev and platter type and 3) whether its new or refurbished.
I suppose Netgear is listing the entire model # of the WD20EARS they approved for one simple reason. WDC has a history of enabling/diabling/breaking things when they revision a drives firmware. Sometimes they play around with TLER settings, etc.
Personally speaking I would NOT use this disk right now. Its the first 4Kb sector disk, and although The Linux kernel is OK with 4Kb sector disks, I'm not so convinced WDC has their firmware "tuned" yet. I would recommend waiting 6 months before jumping into this disk or other 4Kb sector disks. Other vendors will be watching how WDC fares in the real world so I suspect disks that release later in 2010 will be better. By early 2011 drive vendors have agreed to switch over 100% of their product to 4Kb sector. I question whether that will happen in the timeframe they discussed recently.
Thats my 2 cents on the subject. - I have just bought and installed a Duo with 2 WD20EARS-00S8B1. The disks work separately, but they are not recognized when used together (only one is used at a time). I wonder if there is a way to downgrade the firmware of the drive to the one "validated" by Netgear and if it's going to make any difference...
robUx4 wrote: I have just bought and installed a Duo with 2 WD20EARS-00S8B1. The disks work separately, but they are not recognized when used together (only one is used at a time). I wonder if there is a way to downgrade the firmware of the drive to the one "validated" by Netgear and if it's going to make any difference...
Good luck getting firmware out of WDC especially to downgrade. I don't advise it either as its a new disk type and there's bound to be problems. Why trade off RAID compatibility with what may be another fault they corrected.- I just tried with the 7-8 jumpers set on each drive (for XP compatibility) and it gives the same result. I guess I'll have to return the drives, the NAS, or both...
- Well, I installed the 4.1.7 beta firmware and it's getting much further. The second drive is now Resynching (20h left). I think it's going to work fine in the end (I kept the jumpers on, shouldn't hurt).
- Just to follow up and let people know. It works. The 2 drives are now "fully redundant".
NETGEAR Academy
Boost your skills with the Netgear Academy - Get trained, certified and stay ahead with the latest Netgear technology!
Join Us!
