Multi-Client Access - NAS Environment

We configured three of the HGST Deskstar NAS drives in a RAID-5 volume in the QNAP TS-EC1279U-SAS-RP. A CIFS share in the volume was subject to some IOMeter tests with access from up to 25 VMs simultaneously. The following four graphs show the total available bandwidth and the average response time while being subject to different types of workloads through IOMeter. IOMeter also reports various other metrics of interest such as maximum response time, read and write IOPS, separate read and write bandwidth figures etc. Some of the interesting aspects from our IOMeter benchmarking run are available here.

HGST Deskstar NAS Multi-Client CIFS Performance - 100% Sequential Reads


 

HGST Deskstar NAS Multi-Client CIFS Performance - Max Throughput - 50% Sequential Reads


 

HGST Deskstar NAS Multi-Client CIFS Performance - Random 8K - 70% Reads


 

HGST Deskstar NAS Multi-Client CIFS Performance - Real Life - 60% Random 65% Reads


We see that the sequential accesses are still limited by the network link, but, this time, on the NAS side. On the other hand, our random access tests show markedly better performance for the 7200 rpm drives. The HGST Deskstar NAS manages to almost reach the performance levels of the Seagate Enterprise Capacity v4 and the WD Red Pro at a much lower price point. There is only a slight premium over the WD Red and the Seagate NAS HDD, but the performance for simultaneous multi-client use-cases with non-sequential workloads is much better.

Single Client Access - NAS Benchmarks RAID-5 Benchmarking - Miscellaneous Aspects
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  • abhaxus - Sunday, November 23, 2014 - link

    According to WD, the Red Pro is rated at 1 in 10^15 not 10^14 before URE. Are you working from some other data or is your comparison chart inaccurate? Planning on purchasing several drives in the next few weeks and that was going to be the key factor in my decision.
  • ganeshts - Sunday, November 23, 2014 - link

    Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

    When the WD Red Pro was launched, the datasheet had URE < 10 in 10^15, which I had denoted as 1 in 10^14 in our initial review. Backed up by a third-party post on another forum here: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/western-...

    It looks like WD has fixed this 'error' in their latest datasheet. I will update the table shortly.
  • abhaxus - Monday, November 24, 2014 - link

    I do remember that from their launch now that you mention it. Still torn about my purchase.
  • Julian Boolean - Saturday, December 5, 2015 - link

    Fact : As of Today (Dec 5th 2015) the Western Digital Spec Sheet for The Red Pro STILL lists the URE rate as 10 in 10^15. It is not "a mistake in the specs sheet". It has been listed that way since product launch and has never been corrected. 1 in 10^14 = 10 in 10^15. This is a 1 in 10^14 drive. I called WD myself to confirm this. Three days later I got the answer I suspected all along. It IS 10 in 10^15 ( which equals 1 in 10^14). This is just clever marketing, and it irks me to no end that countless review sites such as this have incorrectly listed the URE rates.

    I cannot tell you how many review sites have made the mistake of listing it as 1 in 10^15.
  • jota83 - Monday, November 24, 2014 - link

    Read throughly the backblaze report on reliability of hard-disks, as pointed out above. HGST (former hitachi) build very robust hard disks, and they deal with vibration pretty good. Thats one of the factors (not sure if mentioned in the article) that the NAS deskstar incorporates,and which could be rated as "enterprise only".
  • Mikemk - Sunday, November 23, 2014 - link

    I'd like to see http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8... reviewed
  • AbRASiON - Sunday, November 23, 2014 - link

    7200rpm? Sorry but as far as I'm concerned, that's not a NAS drive. Nope nope nope nope and nope. Too hot, too noisy, silly - just silly design choice.
  • Daiz - Sunday, November 23, 2014 - link

    hmm, you might want to tell the likes of HP about that since they let you stuff their NAS appliances with up to 15k RPM drives. Not all NAS appliances sit in your living room ;)
  • MikeMurphy - Sunday, November 23, 2014 - link

    Reliability of HDDs has become a huge problem. I bought this drive as it's apparently the most reliable consumer mechanical drive out there. I was hoping there would be some commentary on this.
  • NoSoMo - Monday, November 24, 2014 - link

    Anyone interested in HDDs and their reliability should check this article out...

    https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-reliabil...

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