WD Easystore 18TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive (WDBAMA0180HBK-NESE) - Black $379.99

These drives are excellent for NAS. you can shuck them.

Previous year discussion went hard and long. Very easy to use these drives for your storage needs.

irfan1729 wrote: ↑ Previous year discussion went hard and long.

You can refer to this post for more knowledge about usage of these external hard drives. https://forums.redflagdeals.com/costco-western-digital-mybook-8tb-154-99-2421206/

Older RFD threads about Costco's WD MyBook 8TB:
costco-wd-8-tb-my-book-external-hard-drive-179-2356387/, $179.99, Feb, 2020
[Costco] Western Digital Mybook 8tb $199.99, April, 2020

Mind you that the HDD inside these might be different now [YMMV].

Current promo prices:
$169.99 online
$159.99 in store

Some summaries are in these posts:
* WD My Book 8 TB Hard drive: costco-western-digital-mybook-8tb-169-9 ... #p33550673
* FAQ / Background: costco-western-digital-mybook-8tb-169-9 ... #p33550749

by: robfun costco-western-digital-mybook-8tb-169-9 ... #p33550673
costco-western-digital-mybook-8tb-169-9 ... #p33550749

Here is my summary from reading through the threads... There was a lot of info!

*** Western Digital My Book 8 TB (from Costco) ***
- Model # WDBBGB0080HBK-NESN

- New Internal hard drive model #: WDCWD80EDAZ-11TA3A0 (in the new orange top boxes.) (credit @cba123)
-- CMR
-- Air filled (latest batch)
-- Features: S.M.A.R.T., APM, 48bit LBA, NCQ (credit @cba123)
-- @vancouverie: "WD Ultrastar air filled one no TRIM so it's not SMR but run hot"
-- @rob187 "Sitting on a desk in the open air with no active cooling, this bare drive idles @ 50°C". "Helium filled drives are around 27°C"
-- @vancouverie: "Air filled one , so no need 3.3v mod".

- Old Internal hard drive: These have EZAZ in the model #
-- These have green top box (credit @cba123) and are helium filled.
-- @Lucidlife " Got one 24 Nov 2020 and asked the clerk to get one from the bottom of the stack (older ones) and luckily I got another EZAZ. S/N started with numbers (1Exxxx) instead of letters (WVxxxx) I have a WD PR4100 4 bay and no mod for me."
-- Old Thread here: costco-western-digital-mybook-8tb-199-99-2364467/

- Warranty: 3 years manufacturer or 2 years Costco
-- Note: if shucking, keep the enclosure in case of warranty claim. Record the matching enclosure serial # and hard drive serial #. Some report having warranty denied if they don't match.

Before shucking:
- Test the drive to make sure no problems.
- Confirm the internal hard drive model # & make sure someone hasn't returned it with a used internal drive in it (used hours?)
- @Keigotw "Hard disk sentinel ( there is free trial)" https://www.hdsentinel.com/download.php
- @Keigotw "DiskCheckup ( free for personal use)" https://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup/
- @EggRollz "CrystalDiskInfo is free, though I do use Hard disk sentinel for testing before removing." https://crystalmark.info/en/software/crystaldiskinfo/
- @alpovs "There is a free tool GSmartControl: https://gsmartcontrol.sourceforge.io/ho ... /Downloads It will give you more information than you want to know. You can also do a Conveyance self-test with it. "Conveyance self-test is intended to identify damage incurred during transporting of the drive." It's only slightly longer (5 min) than a short self-test. I test all new drives with it before deciding if they need to be returned/exchanged." costco-western-digital-mybook-8tb-199-9 ... #p32465621


Shucking:
- @rob187 "I’ve got it down to a science. On the top side you slip in 4 credit cards along the cracks, card just barely has to be in the crack. Then push firmly on the small rectangle from the other side and the whole cage will release." costco-western-digital-mybook-8tb-169-9 ... #p33528509
3.3v pin:
- If hard drive is not recognized, then may be due to new 3.3v pin.
- Some say the 3.3v pin is not a problem in the newer air filled drives.
- 3.3v pin does not require modification for use with Synology NAS (credit @tvisforme) (costco-western-digital-mybook-8tb-169-9 ... #p33545946)
- (credit @aviador) https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Fi ... el-Disks-/

******** Background info / FAQ *****************

Shucking
- Remove the internal hard drive out of an external hard drive (i.e. remove the enclosure around it).
- This allows the internal hard drive to be placed in a NAS, computer, PS4, xbox, etc.
- A shucked hard drive is often cheaper to buy than the retail version of the internal drive.
- External hard drives are slower than the internal hard drive.
- As of 2020, $20/TB is a good price.

Before shucking:
1. Do not write any data to the hard drive. It sounds like this can cause encryption issues making the internal drive hard to read after shucking.

2. Test the drive to make sure no problems.
- sounds like for WD, "WD Data Lifeguard" is being used
- sounds like for Seagate, their "seatools" software is being used.

3. Confirm the internal hard drive model # & make sure someone hasn't returned it with a used internal drive in it (used hours?)
- @Keigotw "Hard disk sentinel ( there is free trial)" https://www.hdsentinel.com/download.php
- @Keigotw "DiskCheckup ( free for personal use)" https://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup/
- @EggRollz "CrystalDiskInfo is free, though I do use Hard disk sentinel for testing before removing." https://crystalmark.info/en/software/crystaldiskinfo/
- @alpovs "There is a free tool GSmartControl: https://gsmartcontrol.sourceforge.io/ho ... /Downloads It will give you more information than you want to know. You can also do a Conveyance self-test with it. "Conveyance self-test is intended to identify damage incurred during transporting of the drive." It's only slightly longer (5 min) than a short self-test. I test all new drives with it before deciding if they need to be returned/exchanged." costco-western-digital-mybook-8tb-199-9 ... #p32465621


Helium vs Air-filled
- Helium filled are quieter, cooler and use less energy (~20%?).
- They are a newer technology, and helium can reportedly leak out, so life span for these drives is not yet known.
- How to tell if hard drive is air filled or helium filled
-- "Under the SMART attributes look at the Helium level attribute." (credit @Keigotw)
- @Keigotw "hard disk sentinel - the trial one and then you can see model and if any Helium motor in SMART INFO" https://www.hdsentinel.com/download.php costco-western-digital-mybook-8tb-199-9 ... #p32464560


SMR vs CMR:
"CMR: It depends on your application of the device. If you constantly read/write/move/delete cmr is the way to go.
SMR: If you read/write and you don't move/delete smr works just as well."
Credit @IceCreamGee
staples-seagate-8tb-expansion-desktop-h ... #p33548647


***** NAS *****:
RFD super thread: nas-superthread-current-deals-nas-devices-1132685/
Synology RAID calculator: https://www.synology.com/en-ca/support/RAID_calculator
Common media server apps (2020): Plex, Jellyfin

@mindabsence "Centralized file storage is also a very useful NAS use and falls into "everyday user" type of needs. Our house has several laptops, a desktop, a tablet, many phones, etc. We store all our digital photographs, videos, documents, etc. on the NAS. Each user of the house has a login which gives them access to their personal files + relevant shared files (family photo albums, etc.). Now no matter what device they're on, or even if they're away from home, they can access their files. The computers themselves really only store applications and games - everything else is stored in the NAS, and the NAS also takes care of ensuring those files are backed up and protected against drive failure too! Second to that, I also run Jellyfin which you've already covered the benefits of for most users too." costco-western-digital-mybook-8tb-169-9 ... #p33534893

You can use Rakuten for additional 1% off.

18 tb is cheaper than 16 right now.

m3lkgch wrote: ↑ 18 tb is cheaper than 16 right now.

It's on special Black Friday sale. That's why. the 16TB is not priced aggressively. I wonder how much noise do the drives inside these make.

irfan1729 wrote: ↑ These drives are excellent for NAS. you can shuck them.

any idea what's in there?

aZian_ wrote: ↑ any idea what's in there?

CMR drive for sure and not SMR.

This is a great deal by today's standards. It's getting close to the glory days of 20$/TB (this comes to 21.11$). These drives are usually great to shuck and use in a NAS.

Just please don't do as the description says and "store all your important files" on this thing. As reliable as the drive may be, it's still a single point of failure if it stopped working for any reason. Always remember the 3-2-1 golden rule of backup: 3 copies of your data (the "live" copy you use daily, plus 2 backup copies); on 2 different storage methods, like hard drive and cloud storage; with 1 off-site copy (cloud backup, for example), in case of disaster (ex: your house burns down).

dhomas wrote: ↑ This is a great deal by today's standards. It's getting close to the glory days of 20$/TB (this comes to 21.11$). These drives are usually great to shuck and use in a NAS.

Is 21.11$ before or after taxes? Coz after is 24$

Hot price! Can't beat this density right now if you value your drive bays.

TheDuffMan wrote: ↑ Hot price! Can't beat this density right now if you value your drive bays.

For my 920+ NAS, I feel better to invest right now in 18TB rather than 14TB so that I don't later regret not filling my bays to the maximum density.

irfan1729 wrote: ↑ For my 920+ NAS, I feel better to invest right now in 18TB rather than 14TB so that I don't later regret not filling my bays to the maximum density.

For sure. That would give you 54TB with one drive redundancy in a 4 bay NAS, which is incredible.

VanillaPep wrote: ↑ Is 21.11$ before or after taxes? Coz after is 24$

Before tax. Since tax rates differ nationwide, convention is usually to list pre-tax price.

TheDuffMan wrote: ↑ For sure. That would give you 54TB with one drive redundancy in a 4 bay NAS, which is incredible.

Thanks.
I already have one 10TB in my 4 bay 920+ NAS. How do I go about adding three 18TB to it? Which Raid to select?

irfan1729 wrote: ↑ Thanks.
I already have one 10TB in my 4 bay 920+ NAS. How do I go about adding three 18TB to it? Which Raid to select?

You can try their calculator here but it only goes up to 16TB: https://www.synology.com/en-ca/support/ ... TB|16%20TB. You'd want to use SHR. Looks like you'd get about 45TB of space.