[ale] Refurbished HDDs
Alex Carver
agcarver+ale at acarver.net
Thu Feb 5 01:40:48 EST 2026
One would think so. But in my case there's tons of files to back up.
Solid body CAD models get huge now. One of my "smallest" models is
around 30 GB.
On 2026-02-04 10:45, Boris Borisov via Ale wrote:
> Are you guys are trying to make backup of the whole internet :)
>
> On Wed, Feb 4, 2026, 13:33 Jim Kinney via Ale <ale at ale.org
> <mailto:ale at ale.org>> wrote:
>
> No problem.
>
> I have 18+/- 2TB 3.5" Dell SAS 6G bps drive, a Dell drive array and
> sleds with sas2sata interposers. Array supports both. Cables and a
> pci card come with it.
>
> You haul. My knee hurts.
>
> --
> James P. Kinney III
> ////
> ////Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail.
> What you gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a
> dog on his own tail. It won't fatten the dog.
> - Speech 11/23/1900 Mark Twain
> ////
> http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/ <http://
> heretothereideas.blogspot.com/>
> ////
>
> On Wed, Feb 4, 2026, 2:30 AM Alex Carver via Ale <ale at ale.org
> <mailto:ale at ale.org>> wrote:
>
> I'm not in Georgia to take them and I really am looking for TB-
> sized
> disks so I will say thanks but I am declining the offer.
>
> On 2026-02-03 05:33, Chuck Payne via Ale wrote:
> > Alex,
> >
> > When Jim offers hardware, he offers it. I recived a lot from
> him. Still
> > grateful for the haul. I just saying.
> >
> > On Tue, Feb 3, 2026 at 7:58 AM Jim Kinney via Ale
> <ale at ale.org <mailto:ale at ale.org>
> > <mailto:ale at ale.org <mailto:ale at ale.org>>> wrote:
> >
> > Manufacturers don't refurbish hard drives. It doesn't
> happen. Third
> > parties "refurbish" by wiping and resetting drive firmware.
> > Manufacture warranties are void.
> >
> > I was not clear in my offer. I'm not asking for money. I
> just want
> > this hardware hauled away by someone who wants it. I lack
> time and
> > interest to be involved. So, Alex, if you want this
> stuff, let me
> > know. Once Alex decides, I'll toss the rest on the group
> for another
> > rehoming event. I want to unload the entire space
> formerly used as
> > my test gear server closet. I have several thousand
> systems at work
> > to wrestle with and I no longer experiment at home with new
> > technologies. At the end of the day, I make tiny, wearable
> > sculptures from silver and occasionally gold or platinum,
> semi and
> > precious stones, and fused glass. I'm done making
> invisible things
> > that 99.9% of humans don't understand.
> >
> > --
> > James P. Kinney III
> > ////
> > ////Every time you stop a school, you will have to build
> a jail.
> > What you gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like
> feeding a
> > dog on his own tail. It won't fatten the dog.
> > - Speech 11/23/1900 Mark Twain
> > ////
> > http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/ <http://
> heretothereideas.blogspot.com/> <http://
> > heretothereideas.blogspot.com/ <http://
> heretothereideas.blogspot.com/>>
> > ////
> >
> > On Mon, Feb 2, 2026, 11:54 PM Alex Carver via Ale
> <ale at ale.org <mailto:ale at ale.org>
> > <mailto:ale at ale.org <mailto:ale at ale.org>>> wrote:
> >
> > I'm no stranger to drive failures but I'm also not
> exactly flush
> > with
> > cash enough to buy a dozen drives at over $300 each.
> Recall I
> > wasn't
> > asking about used drives, I asked about manufacturer
> refurbished
> > which
> > is a bit different.
> >
> > This is going in a NAS already, redundancy is part of the
> > process but
> > there's other backups, too.
> >
> > On 2026-02-02 10:20, Bob Toxen wrote:
> > > It's been my experience that high quality disks,
> such as the
> > Western
> > > Digital Caviar series, will last 5 years and should be
> > replaced at
> > > that time!!! I find most other brands to be
> suboptimal,
> > e.g., expect
> > > a head crash and catastrophic loss of all data.
> The Caviar
> > Black disks
> > > spin at 7200 RPM and carry a 5 year warranty!
> > >
> > > I've had poor luck with Seagate. YMMV.
> > >
> > > I realize that a RAID array is redundant but is it
> worth
> > being cheap to
> > > hopefully replace every failed disk before another
> one also
> > fails?
> > >
> > > Understand that the MTBF is less than that for one
> disk
> > increased by
> > > being able to continue until two disks fail. This is
> > because, assuming
> > > all disks of the same type and time in service are
> more
> > likely to fail
> > > around the same time, same as incandescent light
> bulbs.
> > >
> > > I suggest, if you use refurbished disks, pick a
> RAID mode,
> > such as RAID6,
> > > with double redundancy due to two different
> parities that can
> > withstand
> > > two disk failures in the array.
> > >
> > > Wikipedia's "RAID" entry is excellent.
> > >
> > > If the cost isn't out of your pocket buy new WD Black!
> > >
> > > Bob
> > >
> > > [Bob's political comment suppressed by Bob]
> > >
> > > On Sat, Jan 31, 2026 at 06:25:39PM -0800, Alex
> Carver via Ale
> > wrote:
> > >> Anyone have recommendations for an online place
> to buy
> > refurbished HDDs (not
> > >> SSDs)? I want to add a few more drives to the NAS.
> >
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> > --
> > Terror PUP a.k.a
> > Chuck "PUP" Payne
> > -----------------------------------------
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