Beginner question: Searching for my first dedicated server setup, and I have no idea what to look for in a hard drive. I see a huge difference between drives of the same capacity, so what makes the difference? I am looking to eventually have a media server that can run “-arr” programs, Jellyfin, Immich, sync music, books, etc.
What are the factors I should be paying attention to other than capacity? Is it a lot of branding and smoke and mirrors, or will I see a significant change in performance/reliability with different drives?
Noise may be something to look for when you’re shopping, depending on where your server lives. I have 1 Iron Wolf drive in my NAS (that is in my living room), and it is way louder than the combined noise of 3 WD Reds next to it.
As for failures, Backblaze publishes quarterly failure reports that I always brush up on before looking for a new drive.