I do it the other way around: first write (zero wipe), then read (SMART long test). Served me well for many disks. :)
I never had a bad block on a brand new drive. At least not a reported/ detectable one. So if it's truly a "bad block" (how exactly is it reported in your SMART data?) I would exchange the disks.
It's a 20% chance, I guess. Dunno. :) If it has a flat top surface and no air holes then it's Helium, else it's air.
That's a helium one: https://pcper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/d177-dsc00234-1280x640.jpg
That's an air one: https://cdn.eteknix.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Western-Digital-WD-RED-8TB-Photo-view-angle-1-880x850.jpg
As long there are no reallocated sectors the drive may still be fine (your current data certainly has some damage, you better have a backup here.) Basically a "uncorrectable" is a sector that can't be read anymore for various reason.… aka the data is bad currently. It does not automatically mean the sector/disk structure itself is broken.
The proper operation in this case is to full wipe the drive with a proper format (zero fill). Don't do a quick format! Only afterwards you will know for sure the drive is bust or not. In case there's permanent damaged sectors those "pending" ones would convert to "reallocated" sectors. If there was just some bad data the "pending" ones simply will disappear. If your disk collects reallocated sectors then it's probably time to look for a new disk (albeit a low count of reallocated sectors that stays stable isn't the end of the world either).
Unlikely. There used to be 8TB heliums at some point, but then WD replaced that line with air-filled ones. A process that at least went to the 10TB line too already, I believe. Your safe bet for helium is 14TB and up, I would say.
When you buy that 6TB drive make sure to get the WD60EZAX (aka CMR) and not the WD60EZAZ (aka SMR). It's one letter difference… if you buy from a random dealer they may send you the SMR.
Rather than just mailing you the link you also could mail the text snippet too. A bit more work, but more robust into the future. If the respective site goes down you still have the critical information.
Typically in the specs sheet of the manufacturer. You have to read/ look closely. Best is to ask about a specific drive ID then we can tell more (out of experience).
If you have backups it doesn't matter much what you buy. It's not like there's much choice anyway. :)
Do you want to buy a small 2.5" one? Or a larger 3.5" one?
All the small ones are SMR these days, so that's something you should consider. Depending on exact use cases this may become very slow, and in case of error, like a sudden drop of power source which easily happens with externals, they also corrupt more easily (in other places, not just necessarily in the data you just wrote to them).
If you go for a bigger 3.5" drive go for a larger size and CMR. 4 TB is laughable and ultimately more expensive (EUR/$ per TB). I would recommend to look for 12TB and upwards with helium filled. The 18TB disks are the current price sweet spot it seems.
No, that's usually when the work starts where you begin consolidating all the data into proper order because you just had to stuff incoming data previously everywhere it doesn't belong because space constraints. Once that process is done you usually need a new drive again anyway. It's a vicious cycle you can't escape. :)
Get a cheap external USB DVD drive and a bigger HDD (4 TB is not enough, IMHO). Then simply go by your list and look what can be fetched from the net, you don't have to copy those DVDs. Everything else grab from the discs. Afterwards put all the discs into a dark box and far away into storage. Maybe some day you still need it and with a small chance some of it will still be readable. :)
It's a good idea to keep your important data where privacy matters separate from all the other stuff you collect. E.g. keep your documents and private photos and their backups on separate (smaller, cheaper to replace) devices. In worst case you can sacrifice.
Keep the less important data that needs all the space (erm. those Linux ISOs) on the larger expensive disks. If you send those in, in case a replacement is required, then it probably won't matter too much if someone must snoop over it (unless it's too much of the dirty Linux ISOs) :)
Aka have clear device-level separations between any sort of media collections and your critical data.
A little bit shell magic around a little Python3 helper will do the job quickly:
for i in $(seq 1 10); do grablinks.py --fix-links 'https://forums.aida64.com/topic/667-share-your-sensorpanel/page/'"${i}" --search 'file/attachment.php?' -f 'wget -c -O '\''%text%'\'' '\''%url%'\' | fgrep '.sensorpanel'; done | tee fetchscript.sh, then verify the generated shell script, and finally:sh fetchscript.sh.Happy waiting! :)
You can grab my
grablinks.pyPython3 script from here: https://github.com/the-real-tokai/grablinks