The easiest way to detect whether it is a SMR drive is the cache size. Old drives (WDx0EFRX) had 64MB cache whereas new My Cloud Ex2 was equipped with 2 x WD20EFRX - 68EUZN0 (2TB disk, 64mb cache) configured in Raid 1; after searching online i have found that there is a new disk WD20EFAX with 2TB and 256mb cache. The first indicator to detect whether it is a SMR drive is the cache size. But do look for letters EFAX in the serial number this would mean SMR. Old drives (WDx0EFRX) had 64MB cache whereas new replaced drives (WDx0EFAX) feature 256MB. You can also read the serial number on the disk itself and compare it to a table bellow. Reliability: Desktop drives aren’t typically designed for the demands of an always-on NAS environment. WD Red hard drives are designed to perform under tough conditions encountered in high-intensity 24x7 multi-user NAS environments. Perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) and shingled magnetic recording (SMR) are technologies used to physically store bits of data onto a hard disk drive (HDD). For HDD manufacturers, one of the most important concerns is areal density, which is the number of bits of data that can be recorded onto a magnetic disk. Areal density is measured by the number of bits or gigabits per square inch, with the higher values allowing for greater storage using the same amount of disk space. SMR offers larger drive capacity than the traditional PMR because SMR technology achieves greater areal density.

WD Red 2TB 3.5 Inch NAS Internal Hard Drive - 5400 RPM

RAID Ready: WD Red hard drives are engineered with RAID error recovery control to help reduce failures within multi-bay NAS systems, unlike most desktop drives that are configured for generic use. False. Various sized drives come with various size caches. You can’t instantly detect SMR/CMR by cache size. Ideal for Home Offices, Power Users, Small to Medium Businesses and Consumer/Commercial NAS systemsDo right by your NAS and choose the drive purpose-built for NAS with an array of features to help preserve your data and maintain optimum performance. Take the following into consideration when choosing a hard drive for your NAS: When it comes to data recovery one of the most common problems Western Digital WD20EFRX Hard Disk Drive experience is burnt circuit board(PCB). So if you will need to match a replacement PCB, it is important that you note the “ Board Number” of your current circuit board in addition to the hard drive’s “ Model Number“. Western Digital’s exclusive NASware™ technology fine tunes drive parameters to match NAS system workloads which helps increase performance and reliability. I am in the looking to replace my WD Red 3TB drives with WD Red Plus 6TB drives (making sure CMR tech is used). Now i noticed that a new WD Red Plus line has entered the market in 2021, namely the EFZX series with 128mb cache instead of 64mb cache currently used by the EFRX series. I will replace the broken drive with the WD2002FFSX and leave the currently working WD20ERFX (until it will eventually fail).

WD Red NAS Hard Drive, Internal Hard Drive (2 TB to 6 TB WD Red NAS Hard Drive, Internal Hard Drive (2 TB to 6 TB

Join the Inner Circle? The Inner Circle is a community of like-minded individuals who are passionate about the same things you are. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and get replies from me and other Inner Circle members who are dedicated to helping each other out.The primary difference between the two 2TB CRM drives is the rotation speed (7200 vs 5400). Not sure if that will be an issue. Tend to doubt it; although performance will likely (Don’t really know) be limited to 5400 rpm performance if you have a Raid 1 configuration WD20EFRX-68EUZN0 Technical Specifications Western Digital Red 2TB 5400RPM SATA 6Gbps 64MB Cache 3.5-inch Internal Hard Drive