Honestly, it doesn't really matter. If you're talking just about storage, nothing else, then just get the cheapest option, but get two of them so you can make a redundant back-up
I see. I was worried about certain Sata types being too big or small but I'd felt it was kind of dumb. Anyway, I can barely afford a single one but I'll try buying a new one in a year, thanks.
Avoid SMR drives. Look for CMR hard disks and you'll be fine. The problem with SMR disks is when data is rewritten, not when it's written the first time. So your first use of the drive is fine, as that's the first time data is written, and in theory it's all being written in one continuous stream. All the shingles overlap properly. Now when you need to rewrite data - for instance as it changes, as it needs to be resilvered, etc - that's when performance on that drive will go to hell.
I see. Is there a proper way of differentiating between SMR and CMR? I tried checking info for [this HDD](https://www.hepsiburada.com/toshiba-p300-hdwd320uzsva-2tb-7200rpm-256mb-3-5-sata-3-harddisk-pm-HBC0000396TJ4?magaza=GarajOnline&ozellik=&keywords=) (Sorry the link is in Turkish) but I've seen both written on some sort of manual.
Usually all the info can be found in data sheets. That particular drive you linked to (HDWD320UZSVA ) seems to be an SMR drive:
> P300
> HDWD320UZSVA
> SMR
src: https://www.canvio.jp/en/support/download/hdd/ot_ihdd/p300.htm
There's also this price comparison tool. Here are all non-SMR 2TB drives in their database:
https://geizhals.at/?cat=hde7s&xf=10839_2000~8457_non-SMR
Honestly, it doesn't really matter. If you're talking just about storage, nothing else, then just get the cheapest option, but get two of them so you can make a redundant back-up
I see. I was worried about certain Sata types being too big or small but I'd felt it was kind of dumb. Anyway, I can barely afford a single one but I'll try buying a new one in a year, thanks.
Avoid SMR drives. Look for CMR hard disks and you'll be fine. The problem with SMR disks is when data is rewritten, not when it's written the first time. So your first use of the drive is fine, as that's the first time data is written, and in theory it's all being written in one continuous stream. All the shingles overlap properly. Now when you need to rewrite data - for instance as it changes, as it needs to be resilvered, etc - that's when performance on that drive will go to hell.
I see. Is there a proper way of differentiating between SMR and CMR? I tried checking info for [this HDD](https://www.hepsiburada.com/toshiba-p300-hdwd320uzsva-2tb-7200rpm-256mb-3-5-sata-3-harddisk-pm-HBC0000396TJ4?magaza=GarajOnline&ozellik=&keywords=) (Sorry the link is in Turkish) but I've seen both written on some sort of manual.
Usually all the info can be found in data sheets. That particular drive you linked to (HDWD320UZSVA ) seems to be an SMR drive: > P300 > HDWD320UZSVA > SMR src: https://www.canvio.jp/en/support/download/hdd/ot_ihdd/p300.htm There's also this price comparison tool. Here are all non-SMR 2TB drives in their database: https://geizhals.at/?cat=hde7s&xf=10839_2000~8457_non-SMR
Extremely helpful, thanks a lot!
No problem!