Is it worth it to buy NAS specific HDDs vs Normal ones?
I've been buying seagate ironwolf only drives for my NAS but I've been wondering if it's really worth it given that it's a small server sitting in a corner and these drives are getting more and more expensive. What are your thoughts? Do you only go with NAS drives or anything really does the trick assuming I have a good backup strategy?
Yes it does matter, they use better parts that are rated for better temperature scaling and vibrations and have features that allow the drives to be more reliable and accessible.
If you are just storing data that is going to be shelfed .. maybe not so much, just buy a drive that has a high reliability rating, put you stuff on there, unplug it and move on with life, but if the data is being used and writen and read on a regular basis, having NAS rated drives like IronWolf or Exos does matter.