Question 1

Does this have an external case for an external drive set up?

Accepted Answer

No extras included. Just basic esata hard drive that can be used in any esata desktop, Nas system,  or an optional enclosure. Ensure the enclosure you purchase supports this size drive. 3.5 inch enclosure,  not the smaller 2.5 inch.

Question 2

Can i format this and use in a normal pc as a normal drive (not nas)?

Accepted Answer

Yes, this is a plain old SATA drive. I think the NAS qualifier is just in reference to its high reliability. I use it as a normally formatted drive under Linux, single partition, single mount point, to backup a RAID system. I'm sure Windows will work just the same.

Question 3

I run a RAID 10 in my desktop machine. Do I need to purchase NAS drives, or will standard desktop drives be adequate? I am looking to purchase 6TB drives to store all the old photos and home videos.

Accepted Answer

The better the class of hard drive the more reliable they are.  Standard desktop drives would work but NAS drives are designed to be more reliable in a RAID configuration.

Question 4

Should this drive only be used for storage, or can it also work well in high read/write work environments where we need a lot of space?

Accepted Answer

This drive IS designed for high read/write environments.   It is a NAS drive drive so it is designed to basically stay on for years without shutting down for access to data either in a network storage device or a home server.  It is also designed to handle RAID environments.

Since it runs at 7200 it will run a little hotter.  Personally if you are using it for server quick access of data I would recommend the slower 5400 drive WD red drives as it is cooler and accessing data of a network you would not know the difference as your network will be the bottleneck.

However, about half of the drives I have in my 2 15 drive RAID (so 30 6TB drives) are these drives and they posses a 4 second delay response to prevent raid communication failure where the WD reds do not.  But if you are not going to RAID the drives then it is a feature you do not need.

I bought my drives about 2 years ago and they have been running non-stop handling my family's storage needs including the ones that use a VPN tunnel through the internet to connect.  I have not had 1 Drive failure and all SMART tests are still looking REALLY good.

So in short, using either WD reds or this drive if you want the extra speed will handle everything you need and you can run the drive for years without any issues with one exception.  Statistically speaking drive failure happens within the first 3-6 months of the drive from defects.   So if the drive does not fail within that time, most likely you will not have a failure for over 5 years.  At that time, failure chance then grows again.   Nothing is for certain but back up your data in at least 2 places.  So have at least 3 copies of all your data.

Question 5

Can I use this to replace my current hard drive in my desktop computer?

Accepted Answer

That depend on how old your desktop is.  Some models do not support drives over 2TB's.  If your desktop is a newer model is should support it with no problems.  If you are going to use this for a boot drive make sure your system support GPT.

Question 6

Hey, can I use this NAS drive in my Desktop? I have been hearing that this drive is kind of loud with lots of tick-tock sounds and so, is this true?

Accepted Answer

Hey Greg,

I believe you can use this drive in your desktop. I am currently using it in a 4 bay enclosure with 3 more of these drives and it runs great. It doesn't seem to be louder than I normal drive, however that may change once you put it in your system rather than in an enclosure.

I am very satisfied with this drive.

Hope this helps!

Question 7

is this drive compatible with  Dell Studio XPS?

Accepted Answer

As long as your computer has a 3.5" drive bay

Question 8

This driver is not registering with my MSI computer. What can I do to fix it?

Accepted Answer

You need to give a little bit more information.   Is it plugged into through a USB or SATA?
First did you check the drive under Disk Management.  Sometimes Windows will not give a drive a letter until you actually set it as an GPT drive, assign it a letter, and then format it.  
How old is your computer.   6TB drives are larger than the 2.2TB threshold of the older bios.   However in disk management you should see the drive still and would be able to break it up into 3 separate drives.   However this does sometimes cause problems.
If that does not work:
If plugged in through SATA I would advise checking and just replacing the cable.   As cliche as this is, check the power cable and make sure both cables are secured properly.  Then check your Bios to make sure that the drive is even seen.  If the drive is not seen in your UEFI or standard BIOS then the drive is faulty and return it.
If put into a housing and plugged into a USB, make sure the drive is making the proper SATA and power connection inside.   Then make sure your external enclosure USB ports are working properly and the external enclosure is using the right cable USB 3 or 2.  Do not worry if your computer is 2 or 3 as a USB 3 will automatically downgrade itself to a 2.  Again if you still can not see the drive chances are it is faulty.
Other than that without specific information I can not be much help.

Questions & Answers