As the title indicates, I am debating whether to get some more drives (recently bought some new 18TB drives on sale for $199.99).
I also need two 14 TB drives.
Option 1 - $153 WD Elements 14TB 'Manufacturer Recertified' by WD.
Option 2 - $150 New Seagate Expansion Desktop 14TB?
Price is not at all a factor (only $3 difference).
Based on the following Backblaze reliability stats, I am leaning towards the Recertified WD, knowing that most of the time mfr recertified drives are quote (from following blog post):
(Start quote): "Factory Recertified Hard Disk Drives (HDD) are “refurbished” by the drive’s manufacturer and undergo rigorous testing guidelines until they are deemed “like new” with zero power-on hours.
Factory Recertified HDDs are predominantly manufacturer product returns or removed from unsold product, which for various reasons can no longer be considered new. The HDD must pass a manufacturer’s strict guideline for testing to be labeled as a “Factory Recertified” product. HDDs that do not meet these stringent testing requirements are not sold as “Factory Recertified.” " (end quote).
Drive stats:
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-drive-stats-for-q3-2023/