I’m not anywhere close to the point where I’ll be constantly transferring data. I’ll be using it mostly as a plex server, not yet remotely for other people or myself either. Is the premium for NAS drives truly warranted for the average user? Or at that point, are NAS rated drives more just the only way to get drives over 5TB~ capacity in the first place?
+1
You’ve listed all the 3.5" consumer drives. Though WD Red is listed as a NAS drive.
Barring an unfounded conspiracy, there is no >8TB DM-SMR drive drives. There are >8TB HM-SMR drives in the NAS and Enterprise lines, but they require specialized hardware and software.
In addition for completeness, all consumer 2.5" Seagate and WD drive >500GB are SMR. The 9.5mm Toshiba L200 1TB is CMR, but the 7mm model is SMR.
I know CMR vs SMR but what is HM/DM?
Also, I have a couple of those “Max Digitsl Data” drives, 4 & 10TB. Do you happen to know which those are?
DM-SMR is Drive Managed-SMR. All the write/read activity is handled by the onboard electronics.
HM-SMR is Host Managed-SMR. All write/read activity is handled by specialized external hardware and software. They’re far from the capabilities of most home users today.
The current 26TB WD Ultrastar and upcoming 28TB WD drives are HM-SMR. The upcoming 30TB Seagate is also HM-SMR.
https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/13z7w96/lets_discuss_dmsmr_hmsmr_hasmr_and_dropbox/
https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/146hb9k/information_about_cmr_to_smr_manufacturer/
Your MaxDigitalData (MDD) drive is likely CMR because they’re almost surely used enterprise drives. However, be careful as there was a user whose drive was HM-SMR and unusable.
MDD is a division of GoHardDrive and IMO, are drives that GoHardDrive doesn’t want to sell under their own name. Also Avolusion (externals) is a division of GoHardDrive and has been reported to contain used drives.
DM is death match. HM is a clothing brand (Hennes & Mauritz)