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Western Digital Ultrastar 7200 RPM DC HC320 8TB Data Centre HDD $279.99 + Delivery ($0 w/ Prime) @ Amazon US via AU

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Designed with a workload rating up to 550TB per year, 10X desktop rating (Workload rate is defined as the amount of data transferred to or from the hard drive. Workload Rate is annualized (TB transferred X (8760/ recorded power on hours). Workload Rate will vary depending on your hardware and software components and configurations

2.0M hours MTBF with a 5 year limited warranty

Rotational Vibration Safeguard (RVS) technology for vibration protection

Datasheet available here

With thanks to OP for this earlier deal

Price in title is current as at 3:00pm 07/08/2020 Sydney Time

Price History at C CamelCamelCamel.

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closed Comments

  • data center, is it equal to seagate archive?or better else

    • +7

      More like the Seagate Exos X drives.

    • +2

      Oh wow… Chalk and cheese.

      See Pielo's response. Compared to this, Seagate Archive is đź’©

  • +7

    This is a CMR drive, not SMR according to the data sheet.

  • +7

    Beat me by one minute!

    $36.30 / TB
    It will only allow you to checkout 1 per order, but you can order again straight away.

    I have two of these in my DS918+ which is unenclosed next to my TV in a fairly large living area. Sometimes there is an audible read/write sound, but generally it is not distracting and we can watch movies/TV without sounds interfering.

    Amazon has 5% cashback via Cashrewards for "PC" and "electronics" categories - hopefully this qualifies?

    • +1

      It should qualify, I got 5% for my 4 x 12TB Wd's the other night (2 sep orders)

      • Shopback is 6% and I got that on the 12TB Easystore the other day

      • Damn, 2 sep orders… same account? Or different account?

        • -1

          same account

        • Were you asking me? I ordered those 2 x 2x12TB orders on 2 accounts as they say if you order twice within a week on the same account 1 order can get rejected. I don't know for sure if that's true but I didn't want to risk it.

          • @Click_It: I ordered two on the same account within minutes of each other a while back, got both. Shipped from different warehouses and arrived separately a few days apart. I did this twice a few weeks apart for a total of four drives.

            • @Sike O: Oh, good to know for future! đź‘Ť

  • Are these noisy when just spinning with an audible Hummmm sound of the motor?

    • +6

      They play 8 bit tunes

    • +8

      They are definitely noisy.

      I've had Ultrastars and Deskstars since HGST originally manufactured them and I'm currently running four of the WD DC H510 10TB models in my DS918+ and 2 older HGST-branded 4TB Ultrastars in my PC; these have never been quiet HDDs unfortunately and there is a noticeable difference compared to your run-of-the-mil 5400RPM NAS-qualified drives. The trademark grinding/thumping noises when performing sustained writes is something you can hear through a shut door in another room (hence why I had to shoehorn my NAS into a very confined space at the back of the house).

      Data Centre/Enterprise HDDs are not designed with acoustics in mind, since data centres are just aisles upon aisles of fan and disk noise that usually exceed dBA thresholds considered dangerous to human hearing and are typically not frequented by people that often.

      On the plus side, these babies have a proven track record of reliability and better performance than 5400RPM HDDs.

      • Thanks mate

      • Good link. Thanks for the useful comment.

      • Pretty sure these are just rebranded WD Gold RE drives. Not all that noisy from past experience but do get a bit warm; solid reliability and performance though.

        • Look at the acoustical benchmark I linked to. The HGST drives score near or at the top (along with the WD Gold 10TB) for a reason. They're noisy.

          These are not WD Gold REs. The specs between Golds and Ultrastars are different. The SMART name for this model shows up as HUS726T6TALE6L4, following the HGST naming convention (not beginning with the WD prefix like every other WD-branded HDD), and the firmware version numbers begin with four-letter prefixes instead of WD's usual all-numeric codes.

            • @OldSchoolHarry: Where exactly does it state that they are internally/mechanically the same? That's a blog written by nobody, hence not a definitive source.

              WD Golds and WD Ultrastars both sit in the same tier in WD's line-up, yes, but that doesn't mean they're produced in the same plant with the same architecture/design, programmed with the same firmware to the same specifications.

              But getting back to the matter at hand: they are noisy. I've got a house full of HDDs; literally too many to count at this point and if I have a 5400RPM WD Red sitting side-by-side with a WD or HGST Ultrastar in a 2-bay HDD dock, and I alternate copying files between the two, the difference in acoustics is night and day.

              One of the key reasons why 5400/5900RPM HDDs became the de-facto standard for "prosumer" NAS-oriented HDDs: they're much, much quieter.

    • Ive found the spinning isnt overly loud. But the noise from the heads seeking during read/write is quite loud.

    • Lot louder than my WD red drives when seeking, sounds like a 90s hard drive when the heads are moving around fast

  • +1

    Looking at the numerous 1 star reviews, they say these comes with no warranty.

    • After a hard-fought battle with Amazon, I managed to get someone from the Amazon leadership team to provide written confirmation that they will honour the full 5-year warranty irrespective of whether WD will honour it. (Note: WD also confirmed to me that they won't honour warranties). To me, it makes no difference as I am happier to just get a full refund than go through WD's return process.

      • Wait, what? Is this because it's fulfilled via Amazon US?

        • +1

          No, I just think the rep that dealt with me was not very well trained.

      • Hmm, thats good to know, but i put more faith in what WD sais about their own disks, than what amazon sais about the warranty. Just cause they say that now, doesnt mean they will say the same thing and honor it 2-3 years from now. I would take what amazon says with a grain of salt.

        • +3

          I think WD is in the right when they refuse warranties on this - because the disk appears to be sold to an OEM (most likely Amazon), so this disk is no longer their problem.
          On the other hand, it is definitely Amazon's problem as a retailer that sold me the drive and advertised 5-year warranty on its product page. Refusal to honour the stated warranty on that basis alone should be sufficient to be a breach of the ACL. Now with formal written confirmation, I doubt Amazon would dare to walk away from this representation that they will honour the warranty for 5 years. It is not worth risking the greater of 10 million or 3x the AmazonAU turnover for an ACL breach over a 300ish hard drive.

          • +2

            @infi8ite: can we get a screenshot for that written confirmation just in case?

            • +1

              @yfxsmike: That confirmation was in relation to a specific order, so I doubt it is of any use for others. I would be inclined to always get written confirmation for your specific order. Confirmation extracted below.

              Hello,

              My name is Lokesh, I am part of the Leadership team at Amazon, we spoke on the telephone earlier, thank you for taking the time to speak with me today.

              I'm sorry for the incorrect information provided earlier by our representatives regarding the warranty of the product "Western Digital Ultrastar DC SATA HDD - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 3.5" DC HC320 8TB" from your order xxxxxxxxxxx

              The 5 year limited warranty for this product is provided by the manufacturer "Western Digital". However, if the manufacture is not honoring the warranty or is not able to assist you due to any reason please contact us.

              We will be able to help you in returning the product for a refund within 5 years of purchase (xxxxxxxx). I have also made a note of our conversation on your order and will be available for the next associate if you require any assistance.

              I hope this helps. We look forward to seeing you again soon.

              Kind regards,
              Lokesh

              • @infi8ite: I wonder if they will pass the ball to Amazon US then refuse it.
                Technically speaking Amazon US is a different entity, and the platform is similar to a eBay if you were to try to get ACL on Amazon US they technically have to comply, but often enough Australian Government has no jurisdiction to make them comply. There was a article written awhile back saying all sellers on eBay even if Australian or Foreign needs to abide by ACL, but getting them to comply is a different issue due to jurisdiction.

                Great that you got Amazon to say it, but that is only Amazon AU saying it on behalf of Amazon US, law enforceable probably not (unless a lawyer on Ozb can confirm).

                They could technically get you to ship it all the way back to the US for warranty purposes, which often companies will get you to pay for return shipping.

                • +5

                  @lplau: I had to email Jeff Bezos to get an Amazon US via AU warranty honoured. It broke after 1 year and 7 months and the manufacture warranty was 2 years.

                  The manufacture refused to honour the warranty as it’s sold by Amazon US via AU. Amazon refused and also said they can’t make an exception as the order was more than one year ago, and said it was “not possible”. I tried calling twice and even talking to the manager.

                  Emailed Mr Bezos and got a reply from his executive team responding to his emails, who processed a refund.

                • +1

                  @lplau: To answer the first question, ACL has extraterritorial application. The ACCC had successfully sued Valve (US) and Sony (EU) for ACL breaches and obtained multi-million dollar payment.

                  Amazon AU is likely to be a related body corporate to Amazon US. Furthermore, the call I received from Lokesh was from the United States and he represented himself as the leadership team at Amazon rather than Amazon AU. Given that Amazon has done way more generous things in the past (like getting people to keep the goods and provide full refund after delayed shipping), I doubt that would be the approach they will take (i.e refer back to Amazon US and get them to refuse it) especially after someone senior enough gave that assurance.

                  Lastly, they also in an earlier email confirmed that they would be responsible for return shipping. I understand that to be their usual practice anyways even though they don't have to under the law.

                  I think i am just as cynical as you in terms of dealing with big businesses like Amazon - but what set out above is how I got comfortable with it. I in fact just bought another identical drive from them.

                  • @infi8ite: Multimillion payments by valve and sony is chump change to them, cost of doing business. They make much more money breaking australian laws, than fines they are forced to pay in compensation.

                    Amazon is even bigger, they could care less about the ACCC.

                    • @garetz: Hence the turnover provision. 10% of any annual turnover (and not profit) is got to hurt big business.

                      I wouldn’t say they dare to tell Rod Sims that they could not care less. A confidential investigation by the ACCC could cost them upwards of 2-3 million in legal fees. That is just the investigation. If it goes to litigation, it would cost them a heck a lot more. These investigation goes on for years which is another drain on resources.

                      ACCC also asks those companies to provide enforceable undertakings that are a pain in the neck to incorporate for a long period of time.

                      If I was Amazon and I have a problem customer like that, I would pay them 300 than fight on - it is just not worth it. Amazon might not care about the ACCC - they certainly know how to do the maths. Anything has millions, in the end, is worse than a couple of hundreds here and there.

                      • @infi8ite: We are assuming that every company thinks logically like that, however there are always other motives in play.

                        I know of companies right now during COVID19, and their logic dumbfounds me.

                        Company getting Jobkeeper for all staff, and is reducing hours so they don't have to pay a cent. Then they decide to make 3 people redundant, which in their contracts have a loyalty clause which they had to pay almost 60k each to those people. Not to mention their redundancy payment + leave.

                        Logic says they should just keep them on, since they are getting free labor.

                        • @lplau: Yeah, that is fair enough. In case Amazon is reading this thread - Although I am still a very happy customer, if you dare to renege on your promise and not give me a full refund if my hard drive dies within 5 years, you can bet your bottom dollar that I will start a petition to get hopefully enough people affected to complain to the ACCC and NSW fair trading such that they will start an investigation. If that doesn't work, I will pay that filing fee just to drag you and your lawyers through NCAT.

          • @infi8ite: Does ACL count when the item is actually sold by Amazon US on the Amazon Au Store?

            • @Tehcookiemonsta: Can’t see why not, they are engaged in trade or commerce in Australia by selling us a hard drive.

            • @Tehcookiemonsta: Technically yes, according to australian Law. But how much effort you will need to go to, to make them comply might not be worth your time. I guess people do have heaps of time nowadays being cooped up at home during iso.

              How I usually work out if i get it overseas or not, is depending on percentage saved, e.g. if it is 50% cheaper than even without warranty i can easily risk it since if i had to buy a 2nd one, it would still cost the same as buying in Australia.

              Also depends on the item, how likely is it going to break down within the warranty period. Like for example a Amplifier i got was 60% cheaper than getting in Australia. Good Amps usually don't die that often within 2yrs.

  • Bought 3 for my DS916+

  • +4

    Hitachi? Is that you?

    • Yes. It is hitachi inside

      • Correct. Likely Hitachi or HGST, as WD purchased the company back in 2012.

  • Two of my WD 5TB Red's are dying in my NAS - pretty sure they're CMR drives. Would these be suitable to replace them?

    • 1.- What did your drives say? HELP I'm dying, or are you hearing scraping noises?
      2.- Yes these will be a good replacement.

      • +1

        Getting CRC errors when reading (which also stalls the array in Windows).
        SMART reporting multiple bad sectors on two of the drives.
        Hard Disk Sentinel also reporting 30%-ish health on the two drives. The other two drives are showing no issues in SMART or HD Sentinel.

        Probably looking to tear it all down and rebuild this as an unraid server if I end up changing HDDs

        Thanks in advance.

        EDIT: Looks like the WD50EFRX I currently have might be SMR? Would explain why two of them have died so early.

      • Synology will inform you when your drives have errors, CRC, re-identifying, dead blocks etc…

        • How and where to run the test and how to read the result?
          And will that report reliable enough for us to panic and go buy a spare?

        • I'm running a Windows 10 NAS currently as I can run plex, sonarr, radarr, custom powershell scripts, scheduled copies/mirrors, etc.

          Unfortunately as it's not a dedicated NAS device, it doesn't warn of dying drives unless you perform health checks on the drives.

          I am looking to replace with unraid so I can run containers for the applications and run a Windows 10 VM for any custom scripts/copies, etc I can't do natively inside unraid.

          • +1

            @ozb88: If you want to keep Windows, look at Stablebit Drive Scanner. Will run checks and email you of drive issues. Isn’t free however.

            • @Smigit: I'll give unraid a try, seems to have some nice features i like. i.e. powering down drives that are not in use.

              I ended up purchasing two of these to replace the failing ones. Hopefully the other two can hold out for a few more years until I can also replace them.

            • @Smigit: Absolutely love Stablebit. I've run Scanner and Drivepool for years and they're the most stable and useful bits of software I own. Can't recommend them highly enough.

  • This thing is going to need good cooling

  • +6

    I used to be a hoarder, now I'm like… just delete it, you'll never want to watch/play it again.

    • Unlike a house full of crap, there’s no inconvenience in a full NAS that’s pruned as needed.

  • DataCenter mean SAS style or normal NAS?

    • -4

      GIGN

      • What is GIGN means, Gig Network?! lol

        • Groupe d'intervention de la Gendarmerie nationale

          • @Void: I asked a simple question about if SAS style or NAS , we ended up in French special forces?! :O….looool

            • @SamyKn: Well why would it be Special Air Service?

              • @Void: Dude…….you are way offf….hahahah

                In Datacenter world SAS means ===> Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) is a point-to-point serial protocol that moves data to and from computer storage devices such as hard drives and tape drives.

                That's why i asked if it's SAS drive or NAS style HDD… dohhhhh

    • This is normal SATA, SAS is a different connection type which actually has double the speed of SATA disks. I've got a couple of these in the 14TB models. Can be a bit noisy sometimes when copying but otherwise quiet and super fast for a HDD. Top of the line from WD! I'm guessing there's lots of cheaper prices now because they just released the 18TB drive

      • Thanks mate , I know what SAS is, Have few in my home UCS C-series chassis :)
        Wasn't sure why they name it as Datacenter while it's a bit irrelevant, thanks anyway

        • +1

          Companies will use SATA in data centres. Hell Blackblaze has traditionally had 1000’s of consumer grade drives as part of their offering because it was cheaper to stock up on those and accept a percentage will fail than buy much more expensive enterprise gear and still need to run backups anyway because they also could fail.

  • -1

    I'm 99.99% sure I got this drive as a "white label" inside my WD Elements that I "shucked" a while back (based on a bit of googling on the model number on the label)… these are air-filled drives and mine runs warmer than my other WD Red drives. Still though, so far… so good!

  • Great timing, just this morning had to remove a 2 year old Toshiba MG05ACA800E 8TB out of the storage pool because SMART said it was failing with 765 bad sectors.

    • Mine is starting to fail too… just less than 2 years old, quite disappointing. Ebay seller not responding to RMA request :(

      • Systemax-Online ?

        • Yup, bad hard drives/seller in general… other ppl having issues https://forums.overclockers.com.au/threads/rma-of-toshiba-hd…

          • @nehz: Ouch, thanks. Hmmm …. Toshiba direct RMA? Know where to start that process?

            • +1

              @auMouth: I had a look, but seems they only have RMA options on their website for their consumer drives. Likely will need Systemax to process it but they so far are unresponsive.

              I got 2 of these drives and both are failing, I'll probably write this off as a lesson to never go toshiba (and systemax) and just stick with WD (despite the whole SMR fiasco, their drives have never failed me… touch wood)

              • +1

                @nehz: In the same boat from the same seller, all 4 of my drives died in a year and seller unresponsive. I've tried to get Toshiba to assist but they are OEM drives and they just point me back to the seller. Anything would have been better than these Toshibas.

                Also on another note I bought 4 of these HGST drives not long ago:
                * 2 are fine with full 5 year warranty.
                * 1 is mechanically fine however warranty already expired when I received. WD tell me it's an OEM drive so I've sent it back to Amazon who will refund me (not send me another).
                * 1 drive had uncorrectable sectors out of the box and I'm waiting for RMA from WD since it was too late to go back to Amazon.

                fun.

                • @russbot: Did you check that warranty expired when you registered them with WD or something?

                  Also for reference, I bought 8 of these drives as replacement for toshiba + upgrade, haven't checked warranty (good call), but all seem to be mechanically fine, no uncorrectable sectors after 4 pass of badblocks + long SMART scan

                  • +1

                    @nehz: No need to register, just checked on the hgst section of the wd site. Hopefully you're all good mate!

      • @nehz
        @russbot
        Are you certain Systemax actually sold you the drives advertised with warranty beyond one year ?
        I also have two Toshiba drives purchased from them - https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/264684 - but they were advertised as "brand new with 1 year warranty" at the time…

        • Can't remember now but going by previous deals I might have picked up 5 years from the ozb comment section. Either way it seems many people have issues with these drives just scouring the interwebs. Hope you have better luck!

  • That's OP, got 2 for my QNAP

    • -5

      For your… quick nap?

      • QNAP is a brand

        • -1

          Oh lol.

    • This

      • Why?

    • Ultrastar DC H3xx is air-filled, while WD Black D10 (Ultrastar DC H5xx) is helium-filled, if that's matter to you.

      • So H5xx is better than H3xx?

        Look to remove it from the case for PC.

        • Yea. Helium filled is better. Quieter and lower temps.

          • @dualcore: Yea, i agree. However, I actually cancelled my D10 order for $395 mainly due to warranty coverage. I prefer to calculate cost, not on $/TB basis but rather $/TB/warranty year basis.

            • @infi8ite: But if you carefully shuck it, you could always reassembled it? Hence keeping the warranty?

              • @congo: Even if you do carefully shuck it, you will get three year instead of five year warranty. It is probably just my irrational fear of dead hard drives, I fully believe a HC520 inside a D10 will last 5 years just like their bare drive counterpart but I prefer a piece of mind and calculate the cost of drive based on guaranteed year of use rather than likely year of use.

                • @infi8ite: Thats not a good way to look at it, you should always calc based on $ per tb, so if you can get the d10, at $400 each, vs $800 locally for the internal disk, you can buy 2 for 1 disks, so lets say you buy 4 disks locally, you can get 8 disks from amazon usa.

                  So you use 4 disks, and got 4 spare in case anything goes wrong. That backup availability is much much more important than length of warranty being 5 years.

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