Seagate 9X5066-103 Server Hard Drive Purchase Guide

When it comes to servers, hard drives are different as they have higher requirements and standards if compared with regular home usage. So, you have to pay more attention when selecting the appropriate 9X5066-103 Hard Drive for your server. In this post, we will consider the basic types of server hard drives; and how they differ from each other.

To respond to several requests, server hard drives should always be ready to function at their full potential. It works 24/7 and constantly writes and reads data; therefore, it should deliver decent performance and speed, maximum reliability, and minimal latency. Following are some of the specifications and Designs of 9X5066-103, as well as the most crucial server hard drive requirements.

Specifications

• Size: 3.5-inch
• Cache: 8 MB
• Speed: 15000 RPM
• Capacity: 73GB
• Interface: SAS 3.0 Gbps
• Category: Internal Hard Drive
• Brand: Seagate

Design and Architecture 

The hard drive just looks like an ordinary 2.5-inch drive, but this one is actually a SAS drive that you might find in an enterprise server. Particularly, one interesting thing about this drive is that it is a 15000 RPM device, so it is super-fast. Moreover, the capacity of the drive is 73 Gigabytes.

On the top side, we have a label along with a lot of numbers. Most 12 and a half-inch hard drives need 5-volt input, but 9X5066-103 drive actually needs both 5- and 12-volts input. On the backside, we have a circuit board with chips and a connector for SAS ports.

Advantages of Seagate SAS 103

Seagate 103 hard drive has several advantages if compared to regular ones

• Its rich self-diagnostics software delivers timely notifications regarding impending disk failure
• A special technology increases positioning accuracy as well as the height of flight above the heads.
• Additional vibrational control
• Its reinforced spindle shaft is even more resistant to vibrations and shocks

What to Look for Before Buying a Server Hard Drive?

Nowadays, modern servers use several types of hard drives

SAS: It is a superior type of hard drive with extremely fast speed for saving regularly used data.

SATA RE or SATA RAID Edition: The operating speed is 7200 revolutions per minute. These hard drives support specific RAID-controller commands.

SATA: Operating speed can range from 5400 RPM to 7200 RPM. These are similar to usual consumer-oriented drives.

Avoid Regular Consumer-Based Hard Drives

Consumer-based drives are for sure much affordable and cheaper, but they are not made to be used in servers, and there are a few reasons for that. For instance, a usual hard drive has lower vibration resistance, or we can say that the blow that a server drive can withstand without any harm has the potential to destroy a hard drive used in homes.

Also, hard drives usually do not support RAID-controller commands and have a level of non-recoverable errors. Meanwhile, don’t go for it just to create small server storage for your home videos and pictures because a normal hard drive will work just acceptable in a homemade NAS.

Drive Capacity

This is a vital factor you need to consider before buying any server hard drive. A 3.5-inch drive can store up to 14 Terabytes, while a 2.5-inch 9X5066-103 drive can go up to about 2-4 Terabytes. Purchasing the biggest capacity is not always the top practice. Always combine at least 2 drives to make sure redundancy and reliability. By using several drives, you will be able to increase write/read speed and create RAID or make a backup drive to evade data loss. We can say that this is one of the explanations why the storage capacity of server drives is generally lower compared to desktops.

Form Factor

The form factor of a hard drive determines the energy efficiency and the storage capacity of your server. Presently, just 2 disk sizes are readily available in the market: 2.5″ and 3.5” known as SFF and LFF. 2.5″ is a usual size for laptop hard disk drives and a standard SATA-based solid-state drive; they use less power in comparison to their big brothers.

On the other hand, 3.5-inch is the most widely used size, which allows you to store your maximum data. 4 Terabytes 3.5″ hard drives are recommended for servers having higher storage requirements. Contrary to 2.5-inch devices, these consume more power.

Final Verdict

You need to pay strong attention to the tasks that will be performed by the server before going to buy a server hard drive. Seagate is no doubt a reliable brand. All of the tech devices made by this brand are highly reliable. So, you can give it a try to its 103 drive that will only cost you about $100. You can buy it through our online platform.