WD 14TB Elements Desktop USB 3.0 External HDD $392.04 + Delivery (Free with Prime) @ Amazon US via AU

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WD 14TB Elements Desktop USB 3.0 External HDD $392.04 + Delivery (Free with Prime) @ Amazon US via AU

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O O on 02/08/2020 - 04:36 amazon.com.au (1541 clicks)
Last edited 30/08/2020 - 13:09

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Yet another WD Elements 14TB HDD deal, maximum 3 units per account.

Product Descriptions

Western Digital elements desktop storage with USB 3.0 offers reliable, high-capacity, add-on storage, Fast data transfer rates and universal connectivity with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 devices. The sleek design features up to 14TB capacity plus Western Digital quality and reliability.

Fast data transfers
High-capacity add-on storage
Plug-and-play ready for Windows PCs
Western Digital quality inside and out
2-Year manufacturer's limited warranty

Price History at CamelCamelCamel.

Computing 14TB Computer Peripheral External Hard Drive Western Digital

2 Sep 2020 3:12am

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closed Comments

JaeTee on 02/08/2020 - 04:37

+1

You beat me to posting this!… Well done!

Might want to put the availability being 11 August in the description.
Millz1422 on 02/08/2020 - 05:36

is this 7200rpm, also is it helium filled ?
- JaeTee on 02/08/2020 - 05:42
  
  +13
  
  Most people have mentioned that it is WD White which is helium filled and is 5400rpm.
venomx2 on 02/08/2020 - 08:14

Good for NAS?
- K1ngJony on 03/08/2020 - 18:47
  
  I'd like to know this too. Wanting to upgrade my Unraid parity drive.
- TightTerry on 07/08/2020 - 09:28
  
  Yep - great for NAS
skysky on 02/08/2020 - 08:16

Reddit says its an Ultrastar data centre @5400rpm
Skramit on 02/08/2020 - 08:33

+5

No cashback makes me sad.
EightImmortals on 02/08/2020 - 08:50

Off topic but what's the largest USB powered external HDD these days?

Cheers
- scuderiarmani on 02/08/2020 - 09:05
  
  +7
  
  5tb I believe
  - EightImmortals on 02/08/2020 - 10:12
    
    Thanks
those on 02/08/2020 - 09:14

Hey is this a good price? Do we need to pin mod to stick in a PC
- kingmoron on 02/08/2020 - 09:26
  
  +1
  
  no mods
- [Deactivated] on 02/08/2020 - 10:57
  
  +1
  
  If you're putting it internally in a desktop PC you'll likely need to cover pin 3 or use a molex to sata adapter (use a crimped one, cheap moulded ones have been known to cause fires if made incorrectly). If you're using in a NAS most backplanes don't provide power on the 3.3v rail anyway so don't have the issue.
  - CarbonTwelve on 02/08/2020 - 11:01
    
    +2
    
    The 3.3v pin mod used to be an issue, however it seems most recent white label drives haven't needed it. I bought 4 of the 12TB about 2 months ago and didn't need to mod them.
    - [Deactivated] on 02/08/2020 - 11:03
      
      What are you using it in? It's never been an issue in some PCs / NAS's anything that doesn't power the 3.3v input.
      - CarbonTwelve on 02/08/2020 - 11:10
        
        @[Deactivated]: A desktop PC using a desktop PSU.
        
        rhangman on 02/08/2020 - 11:25
        
        +1
        
        @CarbonTwelve: Not all PSU's provide 3.3V on SATA power connectors. You can check to see if it is 4 or 5 wires.
        
        Recently tested a shucked 12tb in a machine that has 8 bays. Had previously made a custom molex to 8 sata, but didn't want to power the other drives so pulled the molex and swapped out the top sata. No drive detected because the sata I swapped in did have 3.3V. Swapped in another molex to sata and all good, so 3.3V was definitely an issue there.
kingmoron on 02/08/2020 - 09:27

+9

WD140EMFZ-11A0WA0 drive for me

non SMR

writes 100-140mb/s

no mods necessary
- errorius on 02/08/2020 - 10:54
  
  +1
  
  I get ~210mb/s
  - kingmoron on 02/08/2020 - 11:22
    
    +1
    
    write speed
noshopping on 02/08/2020 - 09:38

+8

Feedback on Reddit:

"All 8TB+ white labels are based on 7200rpm ultrastar drives and factory-locked to 5400rpm."

"My guess as to why: it didn't pass QC at 7200. Keep your data integrity in mind."

"That would also explain why it appears to be the same mechanism, and why they sell these things so cheap — if they're basically rejects from the HC520 production line, they're a sunk-cost and wrapping them in Easystore plastic is a way to recover cost by selling them into a less-demanding market."
- garetz on 02/08/2020 - 10:09
  
  +2
  
  Just because they cant do 7200 rpm, and are downclocked to 5400 rpm, doesnt mean there is a data integrity problem. Some people prefer lower rpms for quiter drives. If they are in fact rejects from HC520, then the mtbf must still be amazing.
- kingmoron on 02/08/2020 - 11:23
  
  also gets very hot in external mode even at 5400rpm. doubt it would last at all 7200rpm in the enclosure
  - rhangman on 02/08/2020 - 11:37
    
    +4
    
    /dev/sda: WDC WD120EMFZ-11A6JA0: 36°C
    /dev/sdb: WDC WD120EMFZ-11A6JA0: 38°C
    Running badblocks. In a case with fans though.
    - vrsac on 02/08/2020 - 19:08
      
      +2
      
      my 3x 8TB WD Helium drives run at 25 degrees in a case with a dedicated fan. 38 degrees seems to be very high for a Helium drive!
      - rhangman on 02/08/2020 - 21:36
        
        @vrsac: Definitely helium filled:
        22 Unknown_Attribute 0x0023 100 100 025 Pre-fail Always - 100
        
        25deg idling? Because those temps are with badblocks running on both drives. Under normal usage wouldn't be under that kind of load (reading/writing every sector).
        
        Fans were set to a low speed, turned them up, but didn't make much difference to the temperature. Standard tower case though with fans on the front/back with HDD bays in the middle.
        
        Not efficient like my 4U server where the fans are on a mostly sealed midplane so that most of the air is forced through the drive trays at the front. Then again, since I have no spare bays, when I've previously replaced drives, used an external mount with a dedicated 120mm fan blowing straight at the bottom. Looking at temps ~20deg for air cooled drives mounted that way. So fans/airflow definitely make a huge difference.
        
        vrsac on 02/08/2020 - 22:06
        
        +1
        
        @rhangman: I've just checked it again. Surrounding temperature is 19 degrees. Idling at 25 and getting around 27-28 degrees at full load.
        I have an Antec 300 case like this:
        https://www.pccasegear.com/products/6754/antec-three-hundred… and all fans installed. Those temps are for my 8TB drives.
        I haven't shucked the 12TB drives yet, but it will be interesting to see how hot they get (I bought them for $310 each).
        
        rhangman on 03/08/2020 - 09:53
        
        @vrsac: Also in an Antec case, but P101 Silent. Included front 3x120mm and rear 140mm fans.
        
        Another potential issue that came up for me. No centre side screw holes on the WD120EMFZ, which is likely also the case on the 14TB if they are EMFZ. The 3.5" bays in the P101 have plastic trays with moulded pins for the four outer screws, with holes to add screws to the centre to better secure. Obviously can't use them on the EMFZ. On the other hand my main server uses 4 screws in the trays, so makes no difference.
        
        rhangman on 03/08/2020 - 11:10
        
        @rhangman: Huge difference with front of case open:
        /dev/sda: WDC WD120EMFZ-11A6JA0: 29°C
        /dev/sdb: WDC WD120EMFZ-11A6JA0: 32°C
    - kingmoron on 02/08/2020 - 20:31
      
      sorry, meant internally. in the case it was 45c when preclearing
CarbonTwelve on 02/08/2020 - 10:54

+1

12TB Elements is also down to $343.

https://www.amazon.com.au/12TB-Elements-Desktop-Drive-WDBWLG…
- rhangman on 02/08/2020 - 11:27
  
  +5
  
  Was $336.64 a few days ago, then $341.19. Might drop again Monday if the AUD goes back up.
- vrsac on 02/08/2020 - 19:10
  
  +2
  
  12TB at $310 in a recent deal is the sweet spot for mass storage. I got 3x12TB from that deal and they're all Helium filled. Currently checking for bad blocks before shucking them.
  - johnmelb on 02/08/2020 - 23:54
    
    You probably meant 12tb @ 281 as sweet spot
    - vrsac on 03/08/2020 - 10:44
      
      +1
      
      I bought my 12TB drives a day before $281 deal:
      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/551895
      
      Considering that some people reported that their orders at $281 were cancelled, I don't regret paying $310. I also got a 6% cashback so, the effective price was $291. (It would've been even lower if I had those Suncorp Amazon vouchers handy).
      - jace88 on 04/08/2020 - 15:03
        
        @vrsac: Same here. I was happy with cashback + discounted gift cards (although I think I only had a small amount left by then..). Currently doing HD Sentinel surface test on mine now… using a VM on my DS1019+ :)
        
        vrsac on 04/08/2020 - 20:52
        
        @jace88: I'm using badblocks Linux utility to do surface test. It's been running for the last three days and still going! (doing the test on all three at the same time).
        Still no errors reported (touch wood). This does three passes of write/read operation for each block. as you can imaging, it takes a lot of time on a 12TB drive. Will have to check S.M.A.R.T. stats when it's finished to ensure no bad blocks have been re-allocated.
        
        jace88 on 05/08/2020 - 10:30
        
        @vrsac: I'm not sure if you'd have a view on this but it seems like running a VM on my NAS to do the surface test is significantly slower than my desktop PC but I assume is also much more power efficient (I'm very mindful of electricity usage since WFH and my recent bill went up significantly over previous bills/last year).
        
        My desktop PC however is much more power hungry given it has no iGPU and is using a 2080Ti with loads of other drives/etc inside (i.e. sucking electricity at 110w+ even at idle). I assume that the NAS with the Celeron processor is much lighter on power usage even if it takes double the time (68 hours?) to do the full write/read surface test on the 12TB drive probably due to some overheads from VM/USB passthrough/etc.
        
        vrsac on 05/08/2020 - 14:12
        
        @jace88: Unless your NAS has badblocks utility, I don't think that running a surface test on a VM is a good idea. It needs to be done on a physical machine.
        If you have UnRAID or FreeNAS, you can install badblocks on the physical NAS Box and run it.
        
        jace88 on 05/08/2020 - 21:40
        
        @vrsac: Does it make a difference though if it has a USB 3 driver though?
        
        vrsac on 06/08/2020 - 11:21
        
        @jace88: yes. I've run out of USB3 ports on my laptop and the WD disk connected via USB2 is very slow running surface scan.
        
        jace88 on 06/08/2020 - 12:35
        
        @vrsac: Would your answer change if the NAS had USB3 ports on it (such as the Synology DS1019+)? Sorry I should've mentioned this earlier on.. but not sure whether it's the port or the processor or the VM which causes the surface scan to run about half the rate of my desktop. I might try running CrystalDiskMark later too just to see how that turns out.
        
        vrsac on 07/08/2020 - 10:00
        
        @jace88: check the CPU load on your NAS. NAS machine have typically a lot less processing power than desktops.
        In my case, badblocks completed four pass surface test in ONE WEEK!! (i7 Laptop with 16Gb RAM). Zero errors.
        
        jace88 on 07/08/2020 - 10:07
        
        @vrsac: Honestly I didn't think CPU performance (which seems to be hovering around the 58% mark of the dual core VM; or 37% at the host level) would have that much of an impact on ability to do a surface test (figured this was a relatively lightweight thing) but looking at the time taken to do the WD 12TB (68 hours), it's about double how long it takes to do on my desktop (3700X/64GB/2080Ti/etc). That being said, I'm still pretty sure this is far more efficient on electricity usage than my desktop PC even if it takes twice as long as I have kept other things running at the same time (i.e. the NAS is used as a NAS, and I have PiHole in a docker).
OzzyBrak on 02/08/2020 - 11:47

+2

The 8TB is still slightly cheaper per TB. Are people only buying these as they are short on SATA connectors and really need all of this space? I need some new drives and am trying to find the sweet spot at price per TB to upgrade from my failing Samsung 2TB Spinpoints.
- Scrobo on 04/08/2020 - 13:57
  
  I am replacing my 10TB with 14TB drives, I run 8 drives, that is the max I can fit in my case.
  Remember the size is the unformatted size. With the 14TB drives you end up with 13TB usable space.
  In my case, yes I need the space, so with 8TB drives I'd be limited to 64TB in the case (unformatted), with 14TB that jumps to 112TB in the case (unformatted), so it's an extra 48TB in the one box.
  - OzzyBrak on 05/08/2020 - 11:03
    
    I assume you're a regular on r/datahorder then. Far out that is a lot of stuff to store, and then keep another backup of. I think 4x 8TB will do me. I am surprised you're losing 1TB due to formatting, how are you formatting these disks?
    - rhangman on 05/08/2020 - 11:39
      
      Issue would be TB vs. TiB. HDDs are measured in TB, data is measured in TiB. 14TB = 14,000,000,000 Bytes / 1024*3 = 13.04TiB.
matey on 02/08/2020 - 13:17

+4

Here's the SMART status of my 14tb Elements after I shucked it and threw it behind a fan in my rig. Note attribute 22 -> Helium Containment Status.
My drive is a flat out ripper and complements the 2 12tbs I also shucked, same HGST attributes. Temps are great. Better than my 10tb Barracuda Pro (still sitting in its Backup Plus case):

1,Raw Read Error Rate,1,100,100,OK,000000000000,0,Enabled
2,Throughput Performance,54,135,135,OK,00000000006C,0,Enabled
3,Spin Up Time,1,82,82,OK,000701580182,0,Enabled
4,Start/Stop Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),00000000000C,0,Enabled
5,Reallocated Sectors Count,1,100,100,OK,000000000000,0,Enabled
7,Seek Error Rate,1,100,100,OK,000000000000,0,Enabled
8,Seek Time Performance,20,133,133,OK,000000000012,0,Enabled
9,Power On Time Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),0000000000D9,0,Enabled
10,Spin Retry Count,1,100,100,OK,000000000000,0,Enabled
12,Drive Power Cycle Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),00000000000C,0,Enabled
22,Helium Containment Status,25,100,100,OK,000000000064,0,Enabled
192,Power off Retract Cycle Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),000000000017,0,Enabled
193,Load/Unload Cycle Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),000000000017,0,Enabled
194,Disk Temperature,0,62,62,OK (Always passing),002700110019,0,Enabled
196,Reallocation Event Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),000000000000,0,Enabled
197,Current Pending Sector Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),000000000000,0,Enabled
198,Off-Line Uncorrectable Sector Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),000000000000,0,Enabled
199,Ultra ATA CRC Error Count,0,100,100,OK (Always passing),000000000000,0,Enabled
ozb88 on 02/08/2020 - 15:54

Tempted to grab 3 of these for my unraid NAS. Can never have enough storage….
- K1ngJony on 03/08/2020 - 19:10
  
  Is this good to put in an unraid server, along with the other two 10TB desktop elements I have? I assume unraid is better with non NAS (as opposed to actual NAS hardware) labelled drives because it "spins down" the ones not in use?
  Thinking of grabbing this one as a parity drive.
  - ozb88 on 03/08/2020 - 22:27
    
    +1
    
    As long as the drive inside is not a junk drive, I can't see why it would be an issue.
    
    I primarily use Unraid as it does not spin up drives that are not in use which in theory should extend the life.
Goldenra1n on 02/08/2020 - 17:50

+1

Tempting to buy 2 of these babies and mirror them
kzrocky on 02/08/2020 - 20:17

I grabbed 4 in the last deal.
I received delivery 2 days ago.

The box is from somewhere else, its not usa.
Shucked, its a red drive WD120EMAZ.
- O O on 02/08/2020 - 20:21
  
  Thailand?
- jace88 on 04/08/2020 - 15:04
  
  I think we really need to be careful around calling these 'red' drives since the white labels are similar but not identical - whereas in the Seagate case, you actually can get the labelled drive inside (eg Iron Wolf, X16, etc).
jason andrade on 02/08/2020 - 20:48

Not sure why there is a cashrewards or shopback link as it doesn't appear this is eligible for either ?
- CarbonTwelve on 02/08/2020 - 21:14
  
  Cashrewards & Shopback links are automatically shown based on the site (Amazon), not whether or not there's actually an offer for that item.
Automan on 03/08/2020 - 08:52

Never count on s single unit.
- TightTerry on 07/08/2020 - 09:30
  
  dont think many people buying these would
monchee on 03/08/2020 - 09:01

Can I connect this to my RPi 3b+ via USB and use that as my external drive until I get to build an UnRaid machine? How would I go then to transferring all my data then? Apologies for off-topic question.
- vrsac on 03/08/2020 - 10:46
  
  Don't know much about Raspberry Pi. You probably can, just need to use ExFAT or other file system that supports large drives. You can copy data to your new NAS via network once you finish building it.
  - rhangman on 03/08/2020 - 11:05
    
    Think they mean start filling the drive via the RPi, then later move to an UnRaid machine to use as part of an array with the data intact. Don't believe that is possible. Now could setup with an ext4 or similar partition, fill up on the pi, connect to the UnRaid machine and read the data, but in order to import the drive as part of an array, the disk would be precleared, so all data lost. Now if you had two, could fill up one on the pi, then when you built the UnRAID machine, setup an array with the 2nd, connect the original, copy everything to the array, then add the original to the array.
    - Scrobo on 04/08/2020 - 14:00
      
      How fast is the Pi3 USB and Ethernet throughput? If someone made a NAS with a Pi and just plugging the drives into the Pi's USB ports and accessing it over ethernet, what transfer speeds can be obtained? I thought someone said once that the 1Gbit ethernet only runs at half the speed of a full PC's 1Gbit connection, is that the case?
      Looking for a cheap option to rip the UHDs and stream them without having to go to the expense of a dedicated off the shelf NAS.
      - johnmelb on 06/08/2020 - 10:25
        
        @Scrobo: If you care about speed and want a RPi solution, I would suggest to go for a RPi4 - which has USB3 and gigabit ethernet.
        The older RPis are sharing the usb hub for ethernet - so you won't get gigabit speeds.
        
        I didn't do a test myself, but you can search a bit (this is what I found)
        Raspberry Pi 3 speeds show from 55Mbits/s to 178Mbits/s with average transfer speeds kept high, stable and consistent.
        
        I use a RPi2 - with external HD, and it's good enough to stream HD content to my media player.
        
        Scrobo on 06/08/2020 - 13:21
        
        @johnmelb: Yeah, that's what I remembered reading, that the Pi3 was slow on the Gbit connection.
        
        108mbs is the max I believe for UHD, so I guess I'll go the Pi4 to be sure.
        
        monchee on 06/08/2020 - 13:51
        
        @Scrobo: Yes, Pi3 only good for 1080p x264 for me. It was a gift from a mate a few years back. Go Pi4 even if its just the 2/4gb variants.
        
        Scrobo on 06/08/2020 - 15:41
        
        @monchee: Ordered the 2GB to try it out. Thanks!
        
        monchee on 06/08/2020 - 15:51
        
        @Scrobo: Exciting stuff for it with the new 64-bit OS and loading stuff from an SSD instead of the SD card. I hear these are very welcome improvements. I'm pretty much a noob tho
Taegukgi on 28/08/2020 - 08:43

Deal is back. $400.71
- etchomojay on 28/08/2020 - 14:19
  
  Thanks, grabbed one.

This was posted 4 years 3 months 20 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

WD 14TB Elements Desktop USB 3.0 External HDD $392.04 + Delivery (Free with Prime) @ Amazon US via AU

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