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Following this because I'm in the same boat but UK based. The 3.3v pin thing with shucked drives is why I moved to external USB enclosures for my cold storage. Not the same use case I know.
For actual SAS in the UK: Techbuyer or Ballicom. Both do ex-datacenter with smart data. 8TB SAS around £65-75 which is roughly your $80. But that's pre-Brexit stock, newer shipments are worse.
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I only have free tiers and google cloud credits. Where do you all get money for this.
Not helpful.
I bought from a Polish recycler called Komputronik Biznes, they had HGST HUH721008AL4200, 8TB SAS, €78 each. But they ship EU only and the warranty is 30 days return only, no replacement. Smart hours were 18k-24k. Not terrible.
The trick in Poland is Allegro, not eBay. Search "dysk serwerowy" and filter by SAS. Tons of decom from local hosting companies. OVH, Hetzner, some Polish clouds I never heard of.
I can traceroute their networks but I can't make them answer emails.
Member OP
SaveMyServer wants $110 for 8TB SAS right now. TheServerStore has 6TB at $65, 8TB at $95. Both "recertified" which I don't trust means anything.
So the answer is basically there is no 8TB enterprise at $80 unless you get lucky or buy quantity. Fine. What about 6TB? Is that the realistic ceiling?
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6TB SAS yes, realistic. HGST HUS726060ALS640, Toshiba MG04SCA, both solid. I have 12 of the HGST, oldest is 34k hours, zero reallocations. Bought from Hetzner surplus at €38 each.
But SATA enterprise 6TB also exists and cheaper. Seagate ST6000NM0034, no 3.3v pin issue, works in anything. Not as robust as SAS but for homelab? Fine. I see these at $55-65 US if you watch eBay for a week.
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SATA enterprise is fine until you want multipath or proper SES. For ZFS mirrors I use SAS exclusively, SATA for the backup box that sits powered off.
smartctl -a /dev/sg0 | grep "Load_Cycle_Count"Check this on any "recertified" drive. Some recyclers reset smart but they don't touch load cycle. 40+ on a drive with "0" power-on hours? Refurbished, not recertified. Walk away.
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Pretty much. I ended up at $87/drive after haggling on a lot of 8 from ServerMonkey. Took three days of back and forth. They had 520 byte sector drives and I needed 512, another thing to watch. Some recyclers don't even know the difference.
My cat is fine now. Server is fine. Coffee was terrible.
Member OP
Alright I'm going to watch eBay for HGST 6TB SAS and check TheServerStore weekly. Might stretch budget if a lot of 8 comes up. Thanks all, especially bravomartha for the warning about Dell firmware and pablowild for the EU sourcing reality check.
If anyone finds a US recycler doing actual 8TB under $90 let me know.