I usually use WD RE or Black for servers (depending on if there is a TLER requirement). I have read good things about Hitachi Enterprise drives but have never used them personally. I know WD owns them now so I'm sure quality standards are similar between those and the REs.
The reason I had Seagate SV35s is because that is what the server came with. I had suspected this would have been an easy server to setup and go with since it was already setup on a 12 drive RAID50.
The reason I have used Reds is because of the lower power. Reds save about 6W per drive compared to REs, So greener, as I like to orient my services when it is possible, less heat, and a power savings of ~$100/year per system. I haven't seen any other high capacity drives to match that type of power usage and the benefits of their 3D Active Balance and 3 year warranty made the Reds pretty attractive. I know they have the new Red Pros now that are recommended for larger drive systems but they are 7200rpm and use an additional 4-5W per drive so I see that drive as a remarketed SE more than anything.
I've had pretty good success with the Reds on the other systems, had a couple DOAs but those were easily replaced. I may have just gotten a bad batch with this latest order or it could be something in the system causing it to fail faster which is why I opened this thread. I have talked to others using Reds in large SANs and they seem to have good success as well. As long as the drive is good from the start, they seem to be pretty reliable. I had talked to another admin who had a 16 drive RAID60 with Reds, so large capacity systems isn't out of the question.
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