FAQ · Drives & SSDs
CMR vs SMR — does it actually matter?
For a NAS, yes, decisively. SMR (shingled) drives overlap tracks to raise density, which makes random rewrites slow and can stall a RAID rebuild long enough to look like a failure. Use CMR (conventional) drives in any array. NAS-rated lines are mostly CMR, but check the exact model — some capacities in a family are SMR.
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