Question 1

Efax suffix means these drives are using smr, right?

Accepted Answer

Western Digital's complete lack of information regarding this particular drive's use of SMR or PMR would lead me to believe that they are still shipping drives that could use either. (They also produce them from more than one contracted facility) It is my understanding that older versions of this drive use PMR while the more recently manufactured versions will use SMR. If you call customer support to inquire, they will tell you that they are only able to give a definitive answer on whether the drive uses SMR or PMR if you provide them a serial number. This would indicate to me that they have drives with the same product number using both technologies. Also, if you review the specs for the drive on their site, there is absolutely no mention of PMR or SMR. However, if you look at some other WD manufactured drives, such as the Ultrastar DC HC520 12 TB it is clearly marked and identified as a PMR drive.

Question 2

Can you please confirm if this drive is smr or pmr? drives with smr are inappropriate for in zfs storage pools and may cause loss of data.

Accepted Answer

SMR. Western digital was hit with a class action lawsuit because they did not advertise this fact. I bought one in 2020 and it failed just past the 2 year mark. Dont buy this drive for a NAS, which is exactly what's its marketed as.

Question 3

Wd red 8tb is smr or cmr? it is the same "efax" suffix in the model number as 6tb or 4tb, and those are smr

Accepted Answer

WD does not specify SMR versus CMR.  WD has confirmed that the EFAX line has transitioned to SMR for the 2T to 6T drives.  That's only for today, and subject to change at any time.  Just my opinion, but it seems unlikely to me that all EFAX drives will not transition to SMR eventually.  The only thing we know for sure is that WD is super secretive on the subject and will not disclose the information until forced to do so.  If CMR is important to you, your choices in the WD brand are Black or Red Pro.  Personally, I'm switching my brand loyalty to Seagate for being completely transparent as to which of their drives are CMR and which are SMR.

Question 4

Why only support for up to 8 bays? What would be the impact of running 12 of these in a single appliance?

Accepted Answer

Your limitation in drives is variant on your case and software.  You can have more than 8 bays if you know what you are doing.  Personally I run a Plex server and have 28 bays among 3 servers linked and raided to be able to lose 3 drives without losing data.

You can literally buy all the hardware on Amazon and build it yourself.

Software I use is a lifetime license from StableBit Drive Pool.

ASIN	B083XVY99B
Additional Features	Portable
Best Sellers Rank	#172 in Internal Hard Drives
Brand	Western Digital
Built-In Media	Internal HDD
Cache Memory Installed Size	256
Color	Red
Compatible Devices	Storage System
Connectivity Technology	SATA
Customer Reviews	4.5 out of 5 stars 12,477 Reviews
Data Transfer Rate	180 Megabits Per Second
Digital Storage Capacity	4 TB
EU Spare Part Availability Duration	3 Years
Enclosure Material	Information Not Available
Form Factor	2.5 in\|3.5 in
Global Trade Identification Number	00718037861036
Hard Disk Description	Mechanical Hard Disk
Hard Disk Form Factor	3.5 Inches
Hard Disk Interface	Serial ATA-600
Hard Disk Rotational Speed	5400 RPM
Hard-Drive Size	4 TB
Hardware Connectivity	SATA 6.0 Gb/s
Hardware Platform	Mac, PC
Installation Type	Internal Hard Drive
Item Dimensions L x W x Thickness	5.79"L x 4"W x 1.03"Th
Item Type Name	computer-internal-hard-drives
Item Weight	560 Grams
Manufacturer	Western Digital
Media Speed	150 MB/s
Mfr Part Number	WD40EFAX
Model Name	WD Red
Model Number	WD40EFAX
Number of Items	1
Read Speed	180 Megabytes Per Second
Special Feature	Portable
Specific Uses For Product	business, personal
UPC	718037861036 071803786033
Unit Count	1.0 Count
Warranty Description	3-year manufacturer's limited warranty

Western Digital 4TB WD Red NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, SMR, 256MB Cache, 3.5" - WD40EFAX

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