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Forum Discussion
WD20EFRX - WD Red with DUO v1
I see some interest in this drive working on the DUO v1 and thought my recent experience could be useful. Other threads reference this topic but are slightly off from the original titles so I hope starting a new post is proper etiquette. If you are a DUO v1 user, are interested in this drive and don't need to purchase urgently it could be worthwhile waiting for the Netgear guys to finish their testing of the WD20EFRX to see if it gets on the HCL.
After a disk failure it was time for a replacement and upgrade to 2TB. I have two backups (one offsite), the mirrored disk and all data can be replicated from other sources so I was not worried at all about my data which is for home use only. A local warehouse stocked the WD Caviar Green WD20EARX, it was on the HCL so off I went. The sales guy warned me about issues with Green drives on a NAS and sold me the new WD20EFRX confirming the WD site shows the ReadyNAS DUO as compatible (no version mentioned). Please no scoffing, but at the time I didn't even know there was a v1 and v2 and didn't even spot this on the HCL (going blind), perhaps WD should amend their site for us numpties.
To sumarise the last 4 days:
--> A couple of weeks ago I had upgraded to RAIDiator 4.1.9 via frontview (it showed there was a new version)
---> Removed the bad disk, backed up all data from the good one (I already had another which is the same but...)
--> Shutdown, inserted the first disk and performed a factory reset. First power up hung, found on forum powering off and on would fix it
--> Format and resync went fine.
--> Added second disk, format and resync went fine.
--> Connected USB backup drive. DUO hung had to power off physically.
--> Resync ran but when complete ran again automatically, restarted with volume scan all ok.
--> Restored approx 360gb data
--> Not happy with previous resync. Ran manually. It went twice again but left it. Finished OK.
Not sure if the double resyncs are normal but apart from that I am impressed. The disks are very quiet, I can't hear them...unlike the old Samsungs. The fan used to run at 2700rpm and now runs at around 1700rpm, it is the stock fan and has made it much more quiet. Access to the data is great from both windows and Mountain Lion.
I did not post this to recomend rushing out to get this disk for a DUO v1 immediately and as mdgm states please use the HCL. But it might encourage you to wait for Netgear as it does look hopeful. I am still a bit uncomfortable with my unsupported disk situation but am not in the warranty period anyway...the double resyncs maybe a concern too. If there are problems perhaps my wife will authorise a "v2" upgrade so not the end of the world, unless I physically trash them.
I have listed the SMART stats from disk one, disk two is similar but 2 degrees cooler. Sorry for the naff formatting. My old Samsungs had numbers all over the place, this to the untrained eye looks pretty good (no LCC's). I searched on the lpstats parameter and it seems to be no issue, indeed when I did a volume scan it seemed to reset this parameter.
After a disk failure it was time for a replacement and upgrade to 2TB. I have two backups (one offsite), the mirrored disk and all data can be replicated from other sources so I was not worried at all about my data which is for home use only. A local warehouse stocked the WD Caviar Green WD20EARX, it was on the HCL so off I went. The sales guy warned me about issues with Green drives on a NAS and sold me the new WD20EFRX confirming the WD site shows the ReadyNAS DUO as compatible (no version mentioned). Please no scoffing, but at the time I didn't even know there was a v1 and v2 and didn't even spot this on the HCL (going blind), perhaps WD should amend their site for us numpties.
To sumarise the last 4 days:
--> A couple of weeks ago I had upgraded to RAIDiator 4.1.9 via frontview (it showed there was a new version)
---> Removed the bad disk, backed up all data from the good one (I already had another which is the same but...)
--> Shutdown, inserted the first disk and performed a factory reset. First power up hung, found on forum powering off and on would fix it
--> Format and resync went fine.
--> Added second disk, format and resync went fine.
--> Connected USB backup drive. DUO hung had to power off physically.
--> Resync ran but when complete ran again automatically, restarted with volume scan all ok.
--> Restored approx 360gb data
--> Not happy with previous resync. Ran manually. It went twice again but left it. Finished OK.
Not sure if the double resyncs are normal but apart from that I am impressed. The disks are very quiet, I can't hear them...unlike the old Samsungs. The fan used to run at 2700rpm and now runs at around 1700rpm, it is the stock fan and has made it much more quiet. Access to the data is great from both windows and Mountain Lion.
I did not post this to recomend rushing out to get this disk for a DUO v1 immediately and as mdgm states please use the HCL. But it might encourage you to wait for Netgear as it does look hopeful. I am still a bit uncomfortable with my unsupported disk situation but am not in the warranty period anyway...the double resyncs maybe a concern too. If there are problems perhaps my wife will authorise a "v2" upgrade so not the end of the world, unless I physically trash them.
I have listed the SMART stats from disk one, disk two is similar but 2 degrees cooler. Sorry for the naff formatting. My old Samsungs had numbers all over the place, this to the untrained eye looks pretty good (no LCC's). I searched on the lpstats parameter and it seems to be no issue, indeed when I did a volume scan it seemed to reset this parameter.
SMART Information for Disk 1
Model: WDC WD20EFRX-68AX9N0
Serial: <REMOVED BY MODERATOR>
Firmware: 80.00A80
SMART Attribute
Raw Read Error Rate ------------0
Spin Up Time ---------------------0
Start Stop Count -----------------4
Reallocated Sector Count -------0
Seek Error Rate ------------------0
Power On Hours ----------------62
Spin Retry Count -----------------0
Calibration Retry Count ---------0
Power Cycle Count ---------------4
Power-Off Retract Count -------3
Load Cycle Count ----------------0
Temperature Celsius -----------36
Reallocated Event Count --------0
Current Pending Sector ----------0
Offline Uncorrectable ------------0
UDMA CRC Error Count ----------0
Multi Zone Error Rate -----------0
ATA Error Count -----------------0
Extended Attribute
Hot-add events ------------------0
Hot-remove events -------------0
Lp stat events ----------------161
Power glitches -------------------0
Hard disk resets ----------------0
Retries ---------------------------0
Repaired sectors ----------------0
26 Replies
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- I'd like to share my success with the WD20EFRX.
Installed cold, factory reset. X-RAID. Rsync took about 6-8 hours. 4K aligned normally. Restored 400GB of data.
Been running for around 600 hours, no problems. Performance averages around 25-30MBps Read / 15-20 Write. This is slightly faster than the 7200RPM Seagates I replaced. Streams HD content flawlessly. They spin up very fast and are silent and cool.
I definitely recommend the WD20ERFX drives for the ol' ReadyNAS Duo V1. gbe92 wrote: Hi,
I installed WD20EFRX-68EUZN0 today, and it seems to work fine on ReadyNas Duo v1 (with latest Raidiator v 4.1.14).
I created a new volume from scratch. I did a factory reset to ensure the sectors were aligned correctly (instead of expending the existing volume).
Best regards!
Gilles
I did the same, some time ago - and so far no issues (but better performance).- Hi,
I installed WD20EFRX-68EUZN0 today, and it seems to work fine on ReadyNas Duo v1 (with latest Raidiator v 4.1.14).
I created a new volume from scratch. I did a factory reset to ensure the sectors were aligned correctly (instead of expending the existing volume).
Best regards!
Gilles - I think the confusion on this thread was because the WD10EFRX is on the NV+ v1 HCL (but not the duo v1 list). No idea why that is, or why the WD20EFRX isn't on either list.
There could also have been confusion over the v1 and v2 NAS lists. StephenB wrote: Given that the duo v1's been end-of-life for a while now, it seems unlikely that your parent's unit is still covered by support. So dropping off the HCL is unlikely to have any consequences (and updating the HCL for EOL models is clearly not a priority for Netgear).
Yeah, but based on this thread, it sounds like they were on one revision of the official HCL before mysteriously disappearing. Ah well, you're right about long off the base support period. :)- I've been running with a WD20EFRX in my duo v1 for about 9 months now, and have had no issues. I recommend using NAS purposed drives in ReadyNAS, and I've had good experiences with WDC Reds in particular (I have 10 running in various NAS).
Given that the duo v1's been end-of-life for a while now, it seems unlikely that your parent's unit is still covered by support. So dropping off the HCL is unlikely to have any consequences (and updating the HCL for EOL models is clearly not a priority for Netgear). - Looking to update my parent's Duo v1 and it's pretty frustrating that NAS-dedicated drives like the WD "Red" WDx0EFRX series are not listed in the published HCL.
Given they sound like they work, I'll probably just bite the bullet and go with either a pair of WD10EFRX or WD20EFRX. Based on this thread, they sound like they should be OK.
I tell you, ever since Netgear took over Infrant, support is just not nearly as top-notch quality as it once was. :( - I'm using two WD20EFRX-68EUZN0 without any problems.
Before that I was using two ST31000528AS (firmware CC38), also without problems.
Previously my disks were not 4k-aligned, the new ones are now.
Now, the I/O is much better - but I cannot tell whether this is due to the disks or due to the 4k-alignment. - Today I upgraded and expanded my two 500GB drives with two WD20EFRX with no issues. Hot swap one disk at a time (once synchronized) two reboots and everything works! Amazing, thank you Netgear! The local supplier should have a HCL disk in stock but when I got there, it showed that it been replaced by another disk not on the HCL so I decided to try the WD20EFRX, which seems to work. I can warmly recommend it. It worked just like it should!
- I called Netgear Team yesterday to have some usefull informations. The guy on the phone said: "since netgear no longer produce Duo products, we can not give any Statements regarding this issue. We can only recommend to follow our published combatibility list"!! In other Words "only discs on the HCL are guaranteed accepted by the device. Installed any other disc type is a matter of gamble!!"
Well. i took this risk and bought two WD20ERFX (exact model description: WD20ERFX-68EUZN0, Frimware 80.00A80, manufactered Oct. 2013), installed them on the bays and inserted the bays in the device, then turned it on: ... after abrox. 15 minutes (boot and resync)......... HURRRRAAAA, the two discs are recognized, redundant and ready to go. :)) :D :D ... I copied all my files and all went fine :thumbsup:
Now to compare:
I first bought two Seagates ST2000DM001 and installed them, but i could not stand that continuously chirping noise (head parking noise), and after i've read about "Cycle-Load" on harddiscs i decided to replace them with Western digital RED devices. NOW: the WDs are really more quiet than the Seagates with less Temp also. BUT: i noticed that the data transfer rate are clearly much lower with the WD discs:
- with 2 ST2000DM001 : PC <--> NAS ca. 30MB/s
- with 2 WD20EFRX : PC <--> NAS ca. 17MB/s
(PC, NAS and Switch are Gigabit diveces) !!!1
Whytega, can you confirm this transfer rate, or is it faster on your side???
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