Jun 13, 2023 12:30:00

A ``warning to purchase a new product'' is displayed on a Western Digital HDD that has been used for 3 years, is it a measure to accelerate the new replacement cycle?

Multiple users of NAS with Western Digital HDDs have reported that 'HDDs that have been running for more than 3 years have entered a 'warning' state.' Problems other than ``the operation time has exceeded 3 years'' have not been confirmed with the HDD in question, and suspicions have emerged that Western Digital may be displaying a warning to encourage the purchase of a new HDD. I'm here.

“Clearly predatory”: Western Digital sparks panic, anger for age-shaming HDDs | Ars Technica

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/06/clearly-predatory-western-digital-sparks-panic-anger-for-age-shaming-hdds/

Western Digital Device Analytics - 'Power On Hours' warnings on WD Reds after just three years of NAS use | Synology Community
https://community.synology.com/enu/forum/1/post/159537

Western Digital Device Analytics Throwing Errors on Synology - Who is at fault? - Synology - SPACEREX
https://forums.spacerex.co/t/western-digital-device-analytics-throwing-errors-on-synology-who-is-at-fault/724/1

In the following post sent to the official forum of the major NAS manufacturer 'Synology', 'I used two WD Red NAS hard disk drives with a capacity of 6 TB in the DiskStation DS416play , but the operating time reached 26,400 hours. At the time of doing so, two HDDs entered the 'warning' state at the same time'. Also, in the same post, ' Western Digital Device Analytics (WDDA) ', a storage health management tool that can be used with Synology NAS, displayed 'Warning on power-on time' and 'Proposal to replace with new HDD'. And it is also written that the warning was displayed a few days after the HDD warranty period (3 years) ended.

Also, the technology YouTube channel ``

SpaceRex '' has a movie titled `` Stop Buying WD NAS Drives. How a warning is displayed in WDDA' is open to the public.

As a result of SpaceRex's continued investigation, the following ``warning text displayed when the operation time is long'' is saved in the file ``WDDALocalizationResources.en'' that exists in the Synology NAS system. It became clear.

DSL.NAME.0xA002 = Power On Hours Alert

DSL.DESCRIPTION.0xA002 = This alert will raise an advisory when the storage device has seen a large quantity of power on hours throughout the entire life of the storage device.

ACTION.DESCRIPTION.LargePowerOnHours = HDD has accumulated a large number of power on hours and user might consider replacing HDD soon

Among the above words, 'HDD has accumulated a large number of power on hours and user might consider replacing HDD soon' is also written in the (PDF file)

manual of NAS sold by Yano Sales Co., Ltd. , not Synology . In addition, in the instruction manual of Yano Sales Co., Ltd., it is also written that the wording is 'advice from the hard disk manufacturer regarding the frequency and life of the hard disk drive', and 'warning when the operating time is long' is Synology and Yano It is clear that it is the intention of Western Digital, not the sales company.

In general, NAS is designed with long-term continuous operation in mind, and it is difficult to imagine that a NAS HDD will become unusable after only three years of operation. For this reason, SpaceRex points out that Western Digital is displaying a warning on ``HDDs that have been operating for 3 years'' to increase the frequency of replacement of HDDs.