How to tell if a new HDD is SMR or CMR
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How to tell if a new HDD is SMR or CMR
Is there a way to tell, when looking at the specs for a new HDD I might be considering buying, if the drive is SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording) rather than CMR (Conventional Magnetic Recording)?
I see some tests you can run after you get the drive, but what if you just want to avoid these drives?
I have a Toshiba X300 5TB in this rig, and nowhere in the specs does it mention the technology used.
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I have a Toshiba X300 5TB in this rig, and nowhere in the specs does it mention the technology used.
I found this for the X300 series, but there's no 5TB one listed, 4TB, 6TB and all the way up to 18TB are though, and they all use CMR.
※9 SMR means Shingled Magnetic Recording. CMR means Conventional Magnetic Recording.
X300 Data sheet｜Toshiba：Personal Storage
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Will you look at that! The technology information is right there - front and center - where it belongs!
That spec was NOT there when I bought this drive in 2019.
Glad to see it is being addressed (by some).
I am shopping for a new larger drive and noticing the lack of a clear spec.
I guess we just need to dig into it once the list of possibilities is narrowed down to a few.
I hope more companies will understand this is an important spec.
@Paul Black - Yes, that will help if I am looking at WD drives!
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@TV2
Do yourself a favor. Get a Western Digital Black HDD.
They have a 5 year warranty and they a large cache, and are fast.
Yes, they cost a bit more... but I've never had one die, and I've probably got about 20 of them.
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Take also a look at the WD Gold. they have 512 MB cache, 20TB under 500$ and they are rock solid Enterprise class Drives.
I use Gold and Purples and sleep very well with, over 2 thousands deployed at the moment. And they are all CMR drives.
For the kind of job they are doing... They simply outlast the competition...
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Is there a way to tell, when looking at the specs for a new HDD I might be considering buying, if the drive is SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording) rather than CMR (Conventional Magnetic Recording)?
I see some tests you can run after you get the drive, but what if you just want to avoid these drives?
I have a Toshiba X300 5TB in this rig, and nowhere in the specs does it mention the technology used.
Ask their customer service if not in the spec sheet. If they don't reply then they are inefficient so choose another brand.
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Toshiba X300 5TB Performance & Gaming 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive – CMR SATA 6.0 GB/s 7200 RPM 128 MB Cache - HDWE150XZSTA
Amazon.com
This is getting funny. It seems the manufacturers and sellers are already adding the spec in current listings and I was unaware.
Or they read my post and changed immediately!
Yeah, that's it.
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TV2
Do yourself a favor. Get a Western Digital Black HDD.
They have a 5 year warranty and they a large cache, and are fast.
Yes, they cost a bit more... but I've never had one die, and I've probably got about 20 of them.
I have always used WD black drives, they are great. I took a chance on this Toshiba for price and I have been pleased.
I have a couple of 640GB Blacks running in a 2009 rig right now. Nary a problem, still good on tests.
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