Negita43

Yes me too - my first involvement with computers was the Apple II -if you know what that was -(around 1975). I built PCs as a business for many years. You are missing the point - I just wanted to discuss the fact that with the fast changing IT environment it's often very difficult for consumers to know what they are actually going to get. They can get all the official info from the manufacturer's site (the links I included in the original post) BUT when you come to buy from the seller they don't know/care/understand they just want to make a sale.- and that's true whether it's JIB, Advice, Lazada ...... In any event I now know the 64MB cache has product code WD40PURZ and the 240 MB cache WD42PURZ - The retailer I ordered from advertises the item I ordered as WD40PURZ but in conversation he was not able to to confirm the the code so I cancelled the order. That's my last post on this subject I will leave you "professionals" alone from now on.

I am afraid that is not true - even the distributors don't know if it's a CMR or SMR because the disks aren't marked and the shop staff don't know

The HDD market is a minefield This post isn’t about whether SMR or CMR hard disk technology is best nor indeed whether I should be using CCTV hard disks in my NAS – it’s about getting the information you need from manufacturers and suppliers to be able to be sure you are purchasing what you want. Some years ago WD amongst others silently introduced a new HDD technology called SMR cohabiting with the existing technology of CMR. SMR is cheaper to produce but evoked a furious debate about its silent method of introduction and indeed WD were fined millions of dollars over this issue. https://www.tomshardware.com/news/wd-moves-to-settle-smr-hdd-false-advertising-class-action-lawsuit The debate over the two technologies continues. It is generally accepted that CMR is better for RAID installations. https://www.howtogeek.com/803276/cmr-vs.-smr-hard-drives-whats-the-difference/ So as talked about in a previous post I had decided to upgrade the HDDs my NAS as cheaply as I could. On researching I found that WD purples all had CMR technology See attachment below I ordered a pair at a good price. I was then looking at another WD site and suddenly found this https://www.westerndigital.com/en-ie/products/internal-drives/wd-purple-sata-hdd#WD40PURZ From this it appears that there are two versions of a 4TB WD purple one with a 64 MB cache (generally recognised as being indicative of CMR technology) and one with 256MB cache (generally recognised as being indicative of SMR technology). Also the price difference seems to confirm one is SMR and the other CMR Subsequently I came across this url: https://www.westerndigital.com/products/internal-drives/wd-purple-sata-hdd#WD42PURZ Here only the 256 MB cache is available! It also appears that only the 4TB has an SMR option, or is the 4TB just the thin end of the wedge for the whole range. I immediately contacted my supplier (his website clearly said 64MB cache for what I ordered BUT knowing Asia as I do I asked him to confirm SMR or CMR) – of course he didn’t know what on earth i was asking. Hopefully, I have cancelled the order. After I get out of the asylum on Monday - back to square one on my search for competitively priced HDDs. All I can say is in the area of HDDs and getting what you want - BUYER BEWARE

To conclude my posts on this subject. I am intrigued by what is going on in the HDD world. In my previous posts where I was trying to get the best price for two 6TB HDDs for my NAS. My thoughts at the time were there seems to be a shortage of well priced 6TBs. I’m still looking for a way to increase my NAS capacity at a reasonable price and in my search I am more and more convinced that there is an HDD supply issue with 6TB Just look at these prices for Seagate Skyhawks on Lazada: Disk Cost per TB 3TB 2850 950 4TB 3080 770 6TB 5090 848 There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to these prices based on cost per TB so I can only assume that the prices are based on demand. So here is what I am going to do; Buy 2 4TBs and a Zyxel 2 bay NAS (basic but adequate for my needs and this will replace my MyCloud 1 Bay which had a corrupted WD RED HDD and which as much as I have tried I cannot write a disk image to another HDD and get the MyCloud up and running). This gives me 7TB of RAID enables storage across two separate NAS devices (the AS1002T and the Zyxel). Total Cost: HDDs 6160 Zyxel NAS 3300 Total 9460 which is just less than two 6TBs. Thanks everybody for your help on this matter.

Yes at times Lazada may be a litlle galling and yes if your IP is not locating you in Thailand it won't let you log in and you do have to press the send button to get the code (and it's easy to miss) BUT on the whole I find Lazada reliable and their cash on delivery is perfect and they do actually give you refunds for returned items even if that process is a little complicated for Farangs (passport, bank book copies etc) via an online form. The phone helpline is also good with most of the contacts I have made speaking pretty good English (try getting to speak to someone on Amazon!). As an online retailer I rate them pretty highly.

Sorry for the delay in responding - I'm confused one response says 50K and another 25K that's a big difference. Also am I to believe that this scan is not widely available in Thailand?

Thank you very much it confirms my thoughts it doe have a usb to SATA board which means that the hard disk would be SATA. Sadly however if you read my last couple of posts I think the oppertunity of cheap 6TB disks has passed I have looked on AliExpress but I cannot find Adata moodel there. Thanks again

If you look on Lazada - the AData device is listed at more than double the Advice price - Somebody caught on early to the way to cheap 6TBs including the suppliers!!!!

Yes I tried to order 1 hour ago and got the "out of stock" mesage also - all the best laid plans eh My gues is itwould be a WD blue inside Thanks for all the input

I really don't want to get into a debate about the quality of HDDs - my NAS has been woorking fine on WD blues for 5 years and in any event even though I have Raid, I back up to an external drive regularly. In fact I have had a Mycloud as well for the same number of years and that has just failed - guess what the - HDD is a WD RED! Clearly no none can answer the actual question so I am going to buy one take it apart and see what's inside (It will almost certainly be a Seagate or WD) the only issue is is the controller board - USB or SATA - I've seen plenty of 2.5 drives with a USB controller but never a 3.5 they are normally (these days) SATA. Thanks everybody for your input.

Yes thanks - but not at 3700 baht and yes my asustor can go up to 12TB (I checked with Asustor)

I want to upgrade my old Asustor 1002T NAS box to 6TB (Raid ) (currently 3TB) I purchased a couple of WD NAS red plus at 3900 Baht each from Lazada but returned them as they appeared DOA. On looking in Lazada (and Advice) there appears to be a shortage of 6TB HDDs (and they are a lot more expensive than what I paid for the DOAs (yes I know – you get what you pay for). On Advice I noticed this product: 6 TB EXT HDD 3.5'' ADATA HM800 (ADT-8006TU32G1-CUS) at around 3700 Baht. The reviews aren’t good for the device and it is also a USB 3 device. However this has to have a 3.5 inch HDD (max size for a 2.5 is currently 5TB) and my guess is that the HDD is probably a SATA with a board to convert to the USB 3 input. So my question is: Has anyone deconstructed one of these devices? and is my guess correct and what is the HDD - if so this maybe a source of a pair of cheap 6TB HDDs for my NAS.

Can anyone give me a ball park figure for the cost - I am in Korat but coulld travel to Bangkok if necessary.

Just 1 Q is this about retirement visa extension if so what is "Resident Certificate."

Add to last post - I use Smarty sim 8GB (not really need that much) a month £7

Sorry bit late replying I have a Huawei B525 -sits in my flat in the UK controlling my WIFI enabled stuff. I can access it via mini PC attached using teamviewer and I can reboot it via a sim based switch if necessary. Hasn't put a foot wrong in 4 years!

Fly with Saudi Airlines? If so any comments Thanks

But I have a question; I am due to return to Thailand mid September and it seems that this will before I will be able to get my "autumn Covid jab update". So I am trying to decide if I should delay my return until November (by which time I am pretty sure I will have received it. Can anyone advise me what's the current position with Covid Vaccination availability in Thailand - especially Pfizer which are my previous 4 vaccinations.

Thanks especially good to know the one year extension rule

Can anyone tell me how far in advance a Thai License can be renewed - location Korat Thanks

I have been in Europe with my Thai partner and I have not been keeping up with the current entry requirements. I read somewhere (TAT) that as of July 1 a Thai Pass is not required (for vaccinated people at least) yet I still see the Thai pass being spoken about in this forum (today is July 16th.). Can someone please clarify, is the Thai pass requirement (and insurance) now defunct? I have a non O visa extension and she is Thai.