This is a great observation, and it made me do some math:
If my point of comparison is something like a seagate ironwolf 4T vs a WD Ultrastar 4T:
Seagate Ironwolf:
-3.7W*24 Hours/day*365 days/year=32kWh peryear* $0.18/kWh = $5.84peryearin power usage *12 disks in an array= $70.02peryear*Edit: Looking at this closer, a more reasonable comparison would be an ironwolf PRO disk, since this is a NAS use-case (24-7 run time, largeand repeated writes andreads, ect). The power consumption for that is5.5W, which is a lot closer to the Ultrastar*
WD Ultrastar:
-7W*24 Hours/day*365 days/year=61kWh peryear* $0.18/kWh = $11.05peryearin power usage *12 disks in an array= $132.6peryear
Seems like i’d save maybe $70 per year. I feel like that difference might even be justifiable if the enterprise drives are half as likely to fail (seagate ironwolf has an AFR of 0.87%, WD Ultrastar is 0.44%).
In defence, the power prizing here is a tad different, €0.45/KWh was the prize here. Also, when those disks are given away, they are usually smaller then the current standard and less efficient. On the other hand, those enterprise grade disks generate some heat, saving on the heating bill.
that’s all true. I’m anxious to get them open and see what they test at; it really seems like some of them are unused, but that could just be because they were refurbished and re-packaged. I’m really curious what the spin times are.
This is a great observation, and it made me do some math:
If my point of comparison is something like a seagate ironwolf 4T vs a WD Ultrastar 4T:
Seagate Ironwolf: - 3.7W*24 Hours/day*365 days/year = 32kWh per year * $0.18/kWh = $5.84 per year in power usage * 12 disks in an array = $70.02 per year *Edit: Looking at this closer, a more reasonable comparison would be an ironwolf PRO disk, since this is a NAS use-case (24-7 run time, large and repeated writes and reads, ect). The power consumption for that is 5.5W, which is a lot closer to the Ultrastar* WD Ultrastar: - 7W*24 Hours/day*365 days/year = 61kWh per year * $0.18/kWh = $11.05 per year in power usage * 12 disks in an array = $132.6 per yearSeems like i’d save maybe $70 per year. I feel like that difference might even be justifiable if the enterprise drives are half as likely to fail (seagate ironwolf has an AFR of 0.87%, WD Ultrastar is 0.44%).
Something to think about, at least
In defence, the power prizing here is a tad different, €0.45/KWh was the prize here. Also, when those disks are given away, they are usually smaller then the current standard and less efficient. On the other hand, those enterprise grade disks generate some heat, saving on the heating bill.
that’s all true. I’m anxious to get them open and see what they test at; it really seems like some of them are unused, but that could just be because they were refurbished and re-packaged. I’m really curious what the spin times are.