5 ms·

Why wouldn't it have the same functionality as an internal HDD?

by luc_ 7y ago

rpcope1 7y ago
They were never ever intended to be taken out and used that way. You can mask potential firmware problems and ship faster if you also own the enclosure.
- somehnguy 7y ago
  Wouldn't it ship faster if you just plopped in any regular ol HDD the company makes (the cheapest one, probably) instead of developing a custom one just for that product?
  - withinboredom 7y ago
    In reality, it is probably exactly that. These are the drives that didn't make the cut to be sold independently.
    - somehnguy 7y ago
      Yeah pretty common thing across all industries. I would expect things like maybe the vibration is slightly out of normal spec, or an abnormal amount of bad sectors on a fresh unit. But I don't understand how them maybe not being top quality would make part of the SCSI protocol disappear in the firmware. That indicates that these drives had a different firmware developed for them with missing features which makes no sense.
      - jamiek88 7y ago
        What you are missing is that WD Passports are 2.5 inch drives that are USB-only. The drive controller speaks USB directly, as opposed to SATA chained to a translator chip on a separate board. They implement certain parts not pass through and do indeed have separate USB firmware.
  - rpcope1 7y ago
    If you're trying to bring a new drive to market (and even for many capacities, they get refreshed regularly if only to cut platters or find new ways to cut costs), and your firmware isn't ready for prime time as an internal drive, you can still ship it as an external drive earlier because you have a good idea of how the controller is going to treat the drive. Not only do the external drives tend to be the end of the waterfall in terms of quality, manufacturers also may ship with firmware problems that would be a stop ship if it was packaged for nearline or desktop. Don't ask me how I know this.
    - muro 7y ago
      I was always wondering how external drives can be cheaper than internal. This explains. Thank you.
      - gambiting 7y ago
        Yeah, and massively cheaper too. I bought a 5TB passport drive for £71 recently, an equivalent capacity desktop drive would be at least £200. The price disparity is insane.
    - themaninthedark 7y ago
      And then consumers use external drives as a backup method...
      - rpcope1 7y ago
        Yes, if there's a take away for me, having seen how the sausage is made, it's far and above worth grabbing as NAS or nearline SATA drive and jamming it in a good SATA enclosure instead of buying a drive that's already in an enclosure if you want peace of mind.
    - ipython 7y ago
      Didn’t backblaze do exactly this (shuck drives from external enclosures) when they couldn’t buy enough drives on the open market after the tsunami?

Why wouldn't it have the same functionality as an internal HDD?

by luc_ 7y ago

Why wouldn't it have the same functionality as an internal HDD?

They were never ever intended to be taken out and used that way. You can mask potential firmware problems and ship faster if you also own the enclosure.

somehnguy 7y ago
Wouldn't it ship faster if you just plopped in any regular ol HDD the company makes (the cheapest one, probably) instead of developing a custom one just for that product?
- withinboredom 7y ago
  In reality, it is probably exactly that. These are the drives that didn't make the cut to be sold independently.
  - somehnguy 7y ago
    Yeah pretty common thing across all industries. I would expect things like maybe the vibration is slightly out of normal spec, or an abnormal amount of bad sectors on a fresh unit. But I don't understand how them maybe not being top quality would make part of the SCSI protocol disappear in the firmware. That indicates that these drives had a different firmware developed for them with missing features which makes no sense.
    - jamiek88 7y ago
      What you are missing is that WD Passports are 2.5 inch drives that are USB-only. The drive controller speaks USB directly, as opposed to SATA chained to a translator chip on a separate board. They implement certain parts not pass through and do indeed have separate USB firmware.
- rpcope1 7y ago
  If you're trying to bring a new drive to market (and even for many capacities, they get refreshed regularly if only to cut platters or find new ways to cut costs), and your firmware isn't ready for prime time as an internal drive, you can still ship it as an external drive earlier because you have a good idea of how the controller is going to treat the drive. Not only do the external drives tend to be the end of the waterfall in terms of quality, manufacturers also may ship with firmware problems that would be a stop ship if it was packaged for nearline or desktop. Don't ask me how I know this.
  - muro 7y ago
    I was always wondering how external drives can be cheaper than internal. This explains. Thank you.
    - gambiting 7y ago
      Yeah, and massively cheaper too. I bought a 5TB passport drive for £71 recently, an equivalent capacity desktop drive would be at least £200. The price disparity is insane.
  - themaninthedark 7y ago
    And then consumers use external drives as a backup method...
    - rpcope1 7y ago
      Yes, if there's a take away for me, having seen how the sausage is made, it's far and above worth grabbing as NAS or nearline SATA drive and jamming it in a good SATA enclosure instead of buying a drive that's already in an enclosure if you want peace of mind.
  - ipython 7y ago
    Didn’t backblaze do exactly this (shuck drives from external enclosures) when they couldn’t buy enough drives on the open market after the tsunami?