From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Thu, 2/19/2026 11:19 AM, jerryab wrote:   
   > On Wed, 18 Feb 2026 19:26:32 -0000 (UTC), Lars Poulsen   
   >  wrote:   
   >   
   >> Any experience and recommendations?   
   >   
   > I am using a pair of Sabrent 4-drive external USB boxes.   
   >   
   > Well made, quiet, and have front loading of each drive in its own bay.   
   > I use 4TB and 16TB drives. All run in the 35-39 degree C range, so no   
   > issues. I use HD Sentinel software to monitor hard drives.   
   > Recommended.   
   >   
   > I like the 4-bay because they have an EXTERNAL power supply. Been   
   > using external 4-bay boxes for 20+ yrs. Gave up on most as they all   
   > had an internal power supply that would die--and the only replacement   
   > source was to buy from China--until the cost of swapping the power   
   > supply became stupidly expensive.   
   >   
   > New, much larger capacity drives coming, so there will be changes in   
   > data transfer speeds (i.e. to make back-ups, etc). Can't say how this   
   > will impact the need to replace boxes/cables due to those changes.   
   >   
      
   The air breather versus Helium aspect of drives, has moved   
   from 6-8TB to 12TB. Drives above 12TB are still likely   
   to be Helium drives, and the mounting holes may not be   
   in the right place for some of the single drive boxes.   
      
   I have a home made drive support for drives next to my   
   daily driver PC. And the daily driver now no longer has   
   the side panel on it (doesn't need the cooling). I can fit   
   Helium drives with the holes in the wrong place, as the   
   rack does not use screws.   
      
   There are fans strategically placed to compensate for the   
   situation (the CPU cooler is a blow down style Noctua).   
   The downgraded AM4 CPU I use, means the box no longer   
   has the "big power draw" it once had.   
      
   Helium drives can have a "guaranteed" life of five years.   
   Of the two brands, one is supposed to have a SMART value   
   for Helium pressure, but it is unknown how that   
   works or what the numbers mean. The other brand may have   
   an indicator, but nobody knows the register offset. The helium   
   drive relies on an "adhesive" for retaining gas -- the welded   
   plate on the top is not intended to be gas tight, and it   
   is a mechanical protection for the adhesive-coated cover   
   underneath that.   
      
   At the current time, the read channel is getting close   
   to 300MB/sec at 7200RPM. At one time, only a 15K drive   
   could manage 300MB/sec (and at relatively low capacity   
   for the drive). A typical number might be 285MB/sec   
   on the outer diameter, for one of the larger drives.   
   If you look at a table of drives from the same product   
   family, the speed is all over the place as the capacity   
   changes. And that's on CMR/PMR, not SMR drives (which would   
   have their own issues).   
      
   WD has recently unleashed a "PR Blitz", but exactly   
   what purpose this serves is unclear. It's not like   
   splitting the company in two, has made any difference   
   to the difficulties the engineering department faces.   
   They talk, for example, of dual actuator or other silly   
   things, but the chances of a consumer being able to afford   
   crap like that, is slim to none. Once you surpass   
   certain price points, only the AI boys can afford your stuff.   
      
   A 40TB drive, with a 285MB/sec transfer rate, isn't all   
   that appealing when you're doing transfers from one   
   disk to another and cleaning up. That's otherwise been   
   known as the "backup window problem", where you wake up   
   in the morning and last nights backup is still running.   
   The larger the drives get, the more of a nuisance they are.   
      
      Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)