[mythtv-users] Quiet, reliable hard drives

[Tim Draper]

 ---- On Mon, 11 Dec 2017 23:52:34 +0000 Mark Wedel <mwedel at sonic.net> wrote ---- 
 > On 12/11/2017 01:44 PM, Hika van den Hoven wrote: 
 > > Hoi Tim, 
 > >  
 > > Monday, December 11, 2017, 10:19:52 PM, you wrote: 
 > >  
 > >  
 > >  
 > >  
 > >>   ---- On Mon, 11 Dec 2017 20:48:23 +0000 Mark Wedel <mwedel at sonic.net> wrote ---- 
 > >   >> 
 > >   >>   Any recommendations for a quiet & reliable hard drive for mythtv?  SSD would 
 > >   >> fit the bill, but at 2 TB capacity (what I'm looking at), still a bit pricey. 
 > >   >> 
 > >   >>   I'm currently running 2 machines - a system with enterprise quality HD that 
 > >   >> stores the data in a far way room (drives going on 5 years of operation and 
 > >   >> still strong) and a frontend/main linux computer with all SSD.  Ideally, I'd 
 > >   >> like to consolidate, but those enterprised HDs are quite noisy, and I like the 
 > >   >> relatively quietness I have now. 
 > >   >> 
 > >   >>   Mythtv pretty much never records more than 1 thing at a time.  The storage is 
 > >   >> also used for zoneminder & other minor storage use. 
 > >   >> 
 > >   >>   I'm tempted by the 2.5" lap top drives - those generally seem quieter & lower 
 > >   >> power, but I'm not sure if they'd be up to long term use.  Though the Firecuda 
 > >   >> comes with a 5 year warranty, suggesting some degree of robustness. 
 > >   >> 
 > >   >>   I currently mirror all of my data, and I'd probably want to do that with the 
 > >   >> new setup.  I'll probably free up an SSD, so can use that as read/write cache. 
 > >   >> 
 > >   >>   Looking for thoughts/suggestions. 
 > >   >> 
 > >   >>   Thanks. 
 > >  
 > >> i too would like to fully SSD my home server, but a raid1 of 4TB's 
 > >> is prohibitly expensive for a nicety. 
 > >> are you interested in a new case? best advice i can give is one 
 > >> with HDD vibration kits. some sort of rubber mounted mechanism really is the way to go. 
 > >  
 > >> i personally go for WD or Hitachi for mechanical. fwiw, crucial for SSD. 
 > >  
 > >> aside from performance, i've not had much issue between 2.5 or 3.5 
 > >> drives, they've all been much of a muchness for reliability. 
 > >  
 > >> your setup sounds similar to mine. I'm running a Pentium G3240, 6GB 
 > >> ram, ssd boot, 2x 4tb WD Red in raid1, and the quietest 2.5" drive i 
 > >> could find for mythtv recordings which turned out to be a spare 
 > >> 250gb WD laptop HDD. The Reds had an annoying churning noise when 
 > >> mythtv recording. ZM runs as a partition on the raid1 Red to go with file server. 
 > >  
 > > My backend has 4 4T WDreds and I do not really hear them. The sound I 
 > > mostly hear are the fans to keep the system cool. Also why bother 
 > > about a little bit noise on your backend, it does not need to be in a 
 > > room you normally use and if it is a little bigger machine you do not 
 > > even want it there for its looks! Just put it somewhere with enough 
 > > ventilation and out of sight and hearing. 
 > >  
 > > A frontend is something different. 
 >  
 >   That is one reason I was also thinking 2.5" drives - there is the drive noise,  
 > as well as associated noise, like cooling requirements.  2.5" should generate  
 > less heat, thus need less cooling, and then also less noise.  It is a total  
 > system problem.  Quietest hard drives in the world are not useful if the cooling  
 > fans make a lot of noise. 
 >  
 >   In my case, I want to get down to 1 system that is backend + frontend +  
 > general linux machine, for a variety of reasons.  The system is more than  
 > capable of doing that in terms of cpu & memory - its just storage that is the issue. 
 >  
 >   The 2 TB HDDs currently in the file server are Hitachis, and as said, going  
 > strong, but very noisy.  I know when they are working as I can hear the seeks  
 > (and this during activity, so this is not a head parking issue) 
 >  
 >   I think I actually might have an old laptop HDD, from when I updated my laptop  
 > to an SSD.  I should plug that in and see how it goes. 
 >  
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my BE in our study, so is focused on low noise. used to be in the loft but the HDD's vibrated the chassis so it echoed through the joists and made it noisier than it should of been.
the hardware is a CFI A7879 case, and as i mention before: Pentium G3240, reasonably early model 4tb WD Red, and the quietest 2.5" drive i had spare. SSD boot drive.
stock intel CPU cooler, stock PSU. I've replaced the standard 120mm fan and fitted a quiet noctua version which was the main noise culprit. while the drives are quiet, they are the most obvious noise coming from it. I've got to the point where i'm chasing my tail with it and would require SSD's to make it practically inaudible.

so yeah, the biggest issue is finding the right drives at the right price. anything i've bought new has always been quieter than previous generation disks. however one of the biggest noise killers is anti-vibration HDD trays. ime the majority of HDD noise can be attributed to vibration throughout the PC case. much like running a HDD on a wooden desk, vs running it on some foam. foam vastly reduces the noise levels. you'll still get the head churning noises.
i'd take a look at the DB levels of in-budget drives. WD blue or greens (do they still make?) are probably the quietest, then red, then blacks. i'd have no problem running WD blues outside of RAID and thats purely down to the HDD firmware being tweaked for RAID usage so should work more reliably.