Question 1

Hi, I am not clear about drives labeled "NAS" drives. Is this drive suitable as purely a backup drive in my desktop and will never be a drive with the OS on it?

Accepted Answer

NAS = Network Area Storage. These drives usually use less power and generate less heat. They are geared toward multi disk setups and work great. Many so called NAS drives use lower spin rates and less cache to keep heat low. HGST does not. They are 7200 rpm drives with 64mb cache. You could easily partition it and use it as a OS drive but we have SSD's for that. I have 2 of these 4 tb NAS drives and I use one in a usb 3.0 external enclosure and one in a icey dock bay in my tower. Nice drives. HDTune shows avg transfer rates of 149.3 MB in my external enclosure. Single disk so very cool. I have many other 2tb in other setups and I really like the HGST drives. So yes, perfect for a backup drive.

Question 2

Is this appropriate to use as just a regular solo drive in a workstation? No NAS or RAID.

Accepted Answer

Should work fine. The NAS drives are designed to be running all the time, so they are designed to be a little more robust than typical desktop drives.

The only thing I can think of that may not be optimal, is that most desktops with spin up and spin down drives pretty regularly. Since these drives are designed to be running 24/7, I'm not sure if they are designed for the constant spinning up and down. Something to check into.

Question 3

I want to purchase this drive to put in a single external hardrive case to be a work horse for my video editing.  Is this compatable for that or is it only for the NAS/RAID configurations?

Accepted Answer

So the way it works is that you shouldn't have problem using an external case as long as it is compatible with it.  NAS drives are just like your regular drives but because they are server grade drive they are design to last longer.  I haven't seen external enclosure that are compatible with 4tb drives as for they are hard to find unless you had a previous 4tb external hard drive that the drive went bad and you can just use the enclosure.

Question 4

can this only be used in a NAS system or can I use it as a back up hard drive?

Accepted Answer

This hard disk can be used for any use that a hard disk is needed whether for a system disk (to boot your operating system from), or to store photos onto, or in a hard disk enclosure(where you can  choose and purchase a hard disk to install into it, very easily done, just screws and proper care needed to insert it correctly), or as a disk to place your program files onto, such as Photoshop or other programs or games. The  disk is especially good for Network attached storage systems due to its characteristics, such as low temperature ability(NAS systems may be always on as mine is, and just powered down, etc.) and hours of life(from testing by the mfr). I do highly recommend HGST disks. If you do research, they are more highly recommended due to testing results by Backblaze and others, than any other brand. Highly recommend. I have several HGST disks.

Question 5

Does this have to be used with a NAS system or could I just use it for a back up hard drive?

Accepted Answer

I have it installed as a backup hard drive in my Dell Precision T7400 workstation. It's been running for almost 2 years now. I have a scheduled task that copies everything from another, older and smaller data drive every week just in case the older data drive dies.

Question 6

I know this is a NAS drive, but will it work as a stand alone drive as well? I need to replace a dying 500GB drive and would like to use this one in it's place for storing data.

Accepted Answer

I've used this drive as a standalone for nearly a year (gaming and audio production), and it works great.

Question 7

Does this item have any compatibility requirements? For example, a specific motherboard that is can run with?

Accepted Answer

Obviously a motherboard with a SATA connection, and due to limitations in Windows, you need a driver, supplied on HGST's site.  You will also need to have up to date software to handle partitioning the 4T.  There are some USB-SATA adapters that can't handle (and therefore won't recognize) this drive. For example, a fairly new Sabrent USB-SATA adapter won't, but an old masscool UHB-360US does. Go figure.

Question 8

My drive arrived, today. I see it requires a download of the HGST GPT Disk Manager to get Windows to see all 4 GB.

What happens after I run that and have data on it and then need to install this drive on another computer?

Will I need to run the Disk Manager on the new computer, too? Will my data stay intact?

Accepted Answer

In order to use the drive you have to have it formatted at
as a GPT drive. Once your have it formatted at a GPT drive,
and put data and files on it, you can move it to another
Windows 7 or Windows 8 computer and it will work fine.

Question 9

Does this come with a SATA cable?

Accepted Answer

Even if it does, I would recommend purchasing high-quality cables if you are going to be using this for a NAS, or a NAS Server. The cables that typically come with these are also super short, i.e. 6" or less.

Question 10

Are these drives backwards compatible to 1.5 Gb/s connections?  (I have an older PowerPC-based PowerMac that I want to turn into a NAS rather than buying a new enclosure, so am wondering if these would work well for that purpose.)

Accepted Answer

Yes, SATA drives are backwards compatible. Just check to make sure that you have SATA connectors and not PATA connectors in your PowerMac. Also check the OS to make sure that you are able to use all 4GB and not limited to 2.2TB (MBR partition limit).

Brand	HGST
Series	Deskstar NAS
Model	H3IKNAS40003272SN (0S03664)
Packaging	Retail Packaging

Interface	SATA 6.0Gb/s
Capacity	4TB
RPM	7200 RPM
Cache	64MB
Average Latency	6Gb/s

Features	The Deskstar NAS hard drive is a 7200 RPM 3.5-inch hard drive that provides an exceptional blend of reliability and performance, making it an ideal solution for consumer and commercial desktop NAS systems. This NAS-ready hard drive from HGST delivers media transfer rates that are as much as 20% faster than 5400 RPM drives and seek times less than 12ms. Furthermore, Deskstar NAS hard drives incorporate a rotational vibration sensor and achieve reliability of 1M hours MTBF. All HGST hard drives are designed to the highest quality standards with field-proven components. They are backed by HGST worldwide technical support and integration services, enabling customers around the globe to bring their products to market quickly. Features & Benefits: - 7200 RPM performance - 1 million hours MTBF - 6Gb/s SATA interface - No additional hardware required
Usage	For NAS systems

Form Factor	3.5"
Height (maximum)	26.10mm
Width (maximum)	101.00mm
Length (maximum)	146.00mm

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