by 8 reviews.
MDD MAXDIGITALDATA 4TB 7200RPM SAS 12Gb/s Internal Enterprise Hard Drive Review
If you're in the market for a high-capacity, high-performance enterprise-grade hard drive, the MDD MAXDIGITALDATA 4TB 7200RPM SAS 12Gb/s Internal Enterprise Hard Drive (MD4TSAS12872E) might have caught your eye. This renewed drive offers a compelling combination of storage capacity, speed, and reliability, making it a strong contender for data centers, servers, and RAID systems. But is it worth the investment? Let’s dive into the details based on real customer experiences.
Product Overview
The MDD MAXDIGITALDATA 4TB SAS hard drive is designed for enterprise environments that demand high performance and reliability. With a 7200 RPM speed, 128MB cache, and a SAS 12Gb/s interface, this drive is built to handle intensive workloads and data-heavy operations. It also features helium technology for reduced power consumption and increased storage density, making it a solid choice for 24×7 operations.
Key Features:
- 4TB Storage Capacity: Ideal for large-scale data storage needs.
- SAS 12Gb/s Interface: Faster data transfer rates compared to SATA drives.
- 7200 RPM Speed: High-speed performance for demanding workloads.
- 128MB Cache: Enhances data access speed and system responsiveness.
- Helium Technology: Reduces power consumption and increases storage density.
- Enterprise-Grade Durability: Built for servers, NAS systems, and data centers.
Pros and Cons
Quality and Performance
Pros:
- High Performance: Customers have praised the drive’s read-write performance, noting that it outperforms other drives in their setups. One user mentioned that the drive’s performance exceeded their expectations, especially considering the price point.
- Reliability: The drive is designed for 24×7 operation, and users have reported no significant issues during extensive testing. One reviewer ran multiple tests, including
badblocksandluks + shred + cmp, and found no errors. - Enterprise-Grade Build: The drive’s durability and reliability make it suitable for demanding environments like data centers and RAID arrays.
Cons:
- SMART Data Tampering: Some users reported that the SMART data had been altered, with the original manufacturer and model information replaced by the refurbisher’s details. This raised concerns about transparency and potential hidden issues.
- Labeling Issues: A few customers noted discrepancies between the drive’s label and the product listing. For example, the sticker indicated a 6GB/s SAS interface, while the listing claimed 12GB/s. While the seller confirmed the correct specs, this inconsistency caused initial confusion.
Usability and Compatibility
Pros:
- Backward Compatibility: The drive is backward compatible with existing SAS infrastructure, making it easy to integrate into current setups.
- Easy Installation: Despite being a bare drive, users found the installation process straightforward, provided they had the necessary SAS controller interface.
Cons:
- Power Supply Compatibility: One user highlighted a common issue with newer SATA and SAS devices—older power supplies that supply voltage to pin 3 of the SATA/SAS power connector may not work. This can be resolved with an adapter, but it’s something to be aware of.
- Formatting Required: The drive requires formatting for detection on your system, which might be a minor inconvenience for some users.
Durability and Longevity
Pros:
- High Reliability: With a Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) of 2.0 million hours and an Annualized Failure Rate (AFR) of 0.44%, the drive is built to last. Users have reported no significant issues during extended use.
- Refurbished Quality: Despite being a renewed product, customers have found the drive to be in excellent condition, with no signs of wear or performance degradation.
Cons:
- Refurbished Concerns: While most users were satisfied with the drive’s condition, some expressed concerns about the refurbishing process, particularly the tampering with SMART data. This made them more cautious and led to additional testing.
Conclusion
The MDD MAXDIGITALDATA 4TB 7200RPM SAS 12Gb/s Internal Enterprise Hard Drive is a solid choice for those in need of a high-capacity, high-performance storage solution for enterprise environments. Its impressive specs, including a 7200 RPM speed, 128MB cache, and SAS 12Gb/s interface, make it well-suited for data-intensive tasks. However, potential buyers should be aware of the issues with SMART data tampering and labeling discrepancies, which could indicate a lack of transparency in the refurbishing process.
Final Verdict: If you’re looking for a cost-effective, high-performance enterprise hard drive and are willing to perform thorough testing to ensure its reliability, the MDD MAXDIGITALDATA 4TB SAS drive is worth considering. However, if transparency and peace of mind are top priorities, you might want to explore other options or purchase new drives instead of refurbished ones.
Specification MDD MAXDIGITALDATA 4TB 7200RPM 128MB Cache SAS 12Gb/s 3.5inch Internal Enterprise Hard Drive (MD4TSAS12872E) - [ Not a SATA HDD ] (Renewed):
Comments from Amazon:
I took a gamble with these since they are refurbs of an unknown-brand from an unknown refubisher with not reviews, but the listed specs and price were just too tempting. Since these are supposedly enterprise-grade, are SAS, are backed by Amazon's renewed program, and will be part of a RAID array with ample additional backups anyway I bit the bullet and purchased two. So far they are exceeding expectation except for a couple annoyances. 1. Unpackaging. First annoyance, the sticker says they are 6GB/s SAS, but the listing was for 12GB/s SAS. A message to the seller confirms they should be 12GB/s. I can't confirm until I upgrade my controller, but really that's minor considering these are spinners anyway not SSD, and the price is amazing even if 6GB/s. 2. SMART: Out the gate, I examined with smartctl -a and found my only gripe. These report as new drives, low runtime, and have the original manufacturer and model replaced by the refurbisher's info, which can't be real. Refurbished or not, do not tamper with SMART data! Not great, and could be used to hide something bad, so this made me want to do a lot more testing. "smartctl -t long" passed no errors at least. 3. f3probe: Usually f3 is used for finding fake capacity flash drives, but it works for HDDs too. No issues there. I didn't use f3write/f3read but may on another drive. Will update if so. 4. Full write/read tests, 2 methods: Since I bought two I used two methods for this. First drive, I used the standard badblocks command. No issues and took a few hours. badblocks -b 4096 -c 65536 -t random -wsv /dev/sdb Second drive, I used the supposidly faster and more reliable "luks + shred + cmp". First, luks encrypt the drive, then write all zeros with shred, then compare this to /dev/zero with cmp. No issues here either, it just took 3x as long as badblocks. cryptsetup open /dev/drivetest name --type plain --cipher aes-xts-plain64 shred -v -n 0 -z /dev/mapper/drivetest pv /dev/mapper/drivetest | cmp -b /dev/zero I am now in the process of replacing older drives in my BTRFS RAID array with these. So far with all of the reading and writing the SMART errors have not shot up. Looking good so far. Read-write performance is great and outperforms my other drives. I'll update again in a few weeks if they survive (or not). A rebalance and scrub are still in order after the replace process completes. If they survive a few weeks I'll rebalance the RAID level from 1C3 to 10/4 to get a little more usable space. Other thoughts: I may test one with Spinrite level 4 later just to see if it finds anything unusual. Only reason I'm giving the 4 stars for now instead of 5 is the SMART and label issues. If they survive several weeks this will be reconsidered.
Once more received the items correctly, needed a few more so I ordered some in good confidence. No transport damages, are recognized correctly and working as hoped and expected. My NAS is now a trustworthy machine once more.
One word of caution which has nothing to do with this device, but with NEW SATA and SAS devices in general. If you have an older power supply which supplied voltage to pin 3 of the SATA/SAS power connector, NEW devices will NOT power up and you'll think HDD or the interface is faulty. Can be easily fixed with an adapter such as Cable Matters 3-Pack 4 Pin Molex to Dual SATA Power Y-Cable Adapter- 6 Inches which fixed the problem for me. I gave it 5 stars but one of the devices could not be formatted and the device itself was listed as read only. Sent it back and the replacement arrived in about 10 days and is working fine.