Is there a list of known not SMR WD RED drive model numbers? I have 4TB REDs in my Synology but they are a few years old; is there a way I can find out?
The newer WD##EFAX ones are SMR but if your drive is a few years old then it's probably a WD40EFRX which is NOT a SMR drive.
[1] https://www.ixsystems.com/community/resources/list-of-known-...
The 8TB and larger drives use the exact same WD##EFAX model number, but aren't SMR.
> The easiest way to detect whether it is a SMR drive is the cache size. Old drives (WDx0EFRX) had 64MB cache whereas new replaced drives (WDx0EFAX) feature 256MB.
This information will become less useful as newer drive models come out and cache sizes for non-SMR drives are bumped up.
Source: https://nascompares.com/answer/how-to-tell-a-difference-betw...
From https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/04/caveat-emptor-smr-di...
You could also enter your harddrive model number in the search bar and have a look at the recording process there.
Note: I have no idea how accurate the information is for every hdd out there, but it does seem accurate with the three hdds I have (that are relatively recent). The models I looked at are: Seagate ST2000DM008 (SMR) WesternDigital WD10EACS (CMR) Toshiba HDWD130UZSVA (CMR)
Earlier models (WDx0EFRX) were not SMR.
Newer ones (WDx0EFAX) are, up to 6TB.
AFAICT, we're safe.