Seagate 6 TB NAS drives

[danb35]

So after losing confidence in my 6 TB "white label" drives (see https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/smart-results-are-these-drives-bad.43457/), I replaced the last two that failed with new Seagate NAS 6 TB drives. My 6 x 6 TB drives are all in one column--the third from the left--on the front side of a Supermicro 847 chassis. And I'm finding that the Seagate drives are running quite a bit warmer than my other drives, even those immediately adjacent to them. All the drives in that chassis run warm, right about 40C (yes, I know), but the Seagates regularly exceed 45C.

This concerns me for two reasons:

1. I'd like to keep the drives cooler for best lifespan, and
2. These drives are running quite a bit warmer than their neighbors, and also quite a bit warmer than the other drives that used to occupy the same drive bays.

I think ultimately some HVAC changes are going to be needed in my server closet, but that's a longer-term issue. But has anyone heard of or experienced the Seagate NAS drives running warmer than others?

 

[Mirfster]

Not sure on the Seagate drives, but as far as HVAC; have you considered simply adding a path for hot air to simply vent out on the ceiling? I am actually considering doing this and maybe even just tossing in a really quiet bathroom type vet/fan that will pull hot air up and out. Of course I would want to have an opening going into the closet (like near floor level) to bring in cooler air as well. But right now, I haven't gotten around to even putting the door back on. ;)

 

[nojohnny101]

I have 6 x 3TB Seagate NAS drives in a raidz2 and they are a constant 30-32C during idle and only creep up a few degrees during use. They top out at 37-38 during an hours long scrub on a hot day (95F).

You can see my sig for the details on the config including aftermarket fans, case and everything else (it's the primary system).

 

[BigDave]

This drive model is not the same as yours, so take this with a grain of salt.
Ambient 25 C while streaming a 5GB movie file...

After 15min. it's up to 29 C

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

has anyone heard of or experienced the Seagate NAS drives running warmer than others?

I've observed Seagate desktop drives running warmer than WD desktop drives, but have no experience of Seagate NAS drives.

 

[Stux]

I've observed Seagate desktop drives running warmer than WD desktop drives, but have no experience of Seagate NAS drives.

Annecdotally, 5 WD 3TB Green/Reds seemed hotter than 8 4TB NAS HDs....

The NAS HDs were doing scrubs, the 5 WDs were running solnet. They were intermingled in my chassis in alternating order, and the NAS HDs were multiple degrees cooler.

See this post:
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...o-x10-sri-f-xeon-e5-1650v4.46262/#post-316183

I think its fair to say that WDC 3TB NAS drives run hotter than Seagate 4TB NAS drives. Either that, or writing to a drive with badblocks generates a lot more heat than reading with a scrub.

 

[CookiesLikeWhoa]

Might be completely unrelated but with a SM 846 we have, we experienced a similar issue. The issue stemmed from how the drives were mounted in the caddie and then mounted in the chassis. We had only used 2 screws to hold the HDD into the caddie. It was secure, with a little bit of give up and down. We were able to slot them into the chassis just fine, and everything worked well, except they ran warm or at least warmer than was expected. (WD RE drives)

After a lot of trouble shooting it was found that the drives, while connected to the backplane fine, where angled slightly when inserted into the chassis causing the air flow around them to be blocked on one side of the drive. After that we decided to use all 4 screws to keep the drive from flexing and the issue went away.

No idea if this is your issue, but might want to check around the drives with some incense or something to see if the drives are getting proper air flow.

 

[danb35]

Interesting thought. I've used all six screws in all of the caddies, so if there's an airflow problem that wouldn't be the reason, but it sounds worth looking into--though perhaps after the hurricane has passed.

 

[Z300M]

So after losing confidence in my 6 TB "white label" drives (see https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/smart-results-are-these-drives-bad.43457/), I replaced the last two that failed with new Seagate NAS 6 TB drives. My 6 x 6 TB drives are all in one column--the third from the left--on the front side of a Supermicro 847 chassis. And I'm finding that the Seagate drives are running quite a bit warmer than my other drives, even those immediately adjacent to them. All the drives in that chassis run warm, right about 40C (yes, I know), but the Seagates regularly exceed 45C.

This concerns me for two reasons:

1. I'd like to keep the drives cooler for best lifespan, and
2. These drives are running quite a bit warmer than their neighbors, and also quite a bit warmer than the other drives that used to occupy the same drive bays.

I think ultimately some HVAC changes are going to be needed in my server closet, but that's a longer-term issue. But has anyone heard of or experienced the Seagate NAS drives running warmer than others?

All my drives are Seagate but not the NAS ones. One of the ST32000641AS drives has reached 38C but is currently 36C. At least one of my ST6000DX000 drives has reached 45C (once), but none is at present above 41C; these drives have been in 24/7 use for almost 18 months without a single SMART error. All my drives are mounted in iStarUSA BPU-350SATA drive cages.

For at least some models of their "Desktop" drives (which all of mine are), Seagate gives a maximum operating temperature of 60C.

 

[Ericloewe]

Seagate gives a maximum operating temperature of 60C.

There's a long way between "drive life expectancy drops sharply" and "Phew, your drives got waaay too hot, we're not replacing them under warranty. Try, you know, cooling them next time".

 

[Stux]

Might be completely unrelated but with a SM 846 we have, we experienced a similar issue. The issue stemmed from how the drives were mounted in the caddie and then mounted in the chassis. We had only used 2 screws to hold the HDD into the caddie. It was secure, with a little bit of give up and down. We were able to slot them into the chassis just fine, and everything worked well, except they ran warm or at least warmer than was expected. (WD RE drives)

After a lot of trouble shooting it was found that the drives, while connected to the backplane fine, where angled slightly when inserted into the chassis causing the air flow around them to be blocked on one side of the drive. After that we decided to use all 4 screws to keep the drive from flexing and the issue went away.

No idea if this is your issue, but might want to check around the drives with some incense or something to see if the drives are getting proper air flow.

I must admit, the 5 drives that ran warm were only screwed in with 2 screws as a temporary install!

 

[CookiesLikeWhoa]

I figured someone else had to have taken the same shortcut at some point! Lesson learned, they provide 4-6 mounting points for a reason. Who woulda thought?

 

[Mirfster]

So let me get this straight, if you do not use all four screws the drives will run hotter? Is the system on its side or something? Seems to me like it would not wiggle up or down unless you have some serious vibration going on in there.

Weird, I run all my drives with just two screws (diagonally) in my systems. While it is a different make/model, I may test this to see if there are any temperature drops (even though I am not currently worried about my temps). ;)

 

[danb35]

So let me get this straight, if you do not use all four screws the drives will run hotter?

I think the thinking is that, with only two screws installed, it's possible that the drive would be skewed in its bay, which could result in impaired airflow. Seems plausible to me, but as I mentioned above, it's not directly applicable to my situation (resisting the temptation to make a joke about screws...)

 

[CookiesLikeWhoa]

So let me get this straight, if you do not use all four screws the drives will run hotter? Is the system on its side or something? Seems to me like it would not wiggle up or down unless you have some serious vibration going on in there.

Weird, I run all my drives with just two screws (diagonally) in my systems. While it is a different make/model, I may test this to see if there are any temperature drops (even though I am not currently worried about my temps). ;)

Was the case for us at least. It wasn't a huge obvious skew to one side but just a slight upward push. It was just enough to divert most of the air flow to only one side of the drive.

But back on topic. Are the Seagate drives 7200 RPM models vs 5400 RPM White Label drives?

 

[mattbbpl]

I'm running 10 Seagate 6 TB drives cooled with standard fans and they've been fine. That being said, I've noticed drastic differences with subtle air flow changes with that cluster size of drives.

 

[depasseg]

All my drives are mounted in iStarUSA BPU-350SATA drive cages.

According to the product page description, it sounds like the cages have a "Aluminum Design with Conductive Dissipation Grooves" which given the large space around the drive, leads me to believe that the screws are important for heat transfer to the cage. http://www.istarusa.com/istarusa/products.php?model=BPU-350SATA

 

[Ericloewe]

According to the product page description, it sounds like the cages have a "Aluminum Design with Conductive Dissipation Grooves" which given the large space around the drive, leads me to believe that the screws are important for heat transfer to the cage. http://www.istarusa.com/istarusa/products.php?model=BPU-350SATA

I expect that effect to be minimal. A few screws aren't going to do much for heat transfer.

 

[depasseg]

A few screws aren't going to do much for heat transfer

I was thinking that the screws provide better attachment to the mating surface, not that the transfer would go through the screws themselves. But your point is taken, there probably isn't that much of a difference.
I'm surprised by the unbalanced airflow around the drive in these cages.

 

[Stux]

I figured someone else had to have taken the same shortcut at some point! Lesson learned, they provide 4-6 mounting points for a reason. Who woulda thought?

Which screwholes did you use? I always used diagonally opposite holes.