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[cpeders1]

This may be good news if you are starting with a fresh install.  I have found out that advanced formatting does not work with "Legacy" operating systems, such as XP.  As a workaround, advanced formatting can be turned off by installing a jumper to pins 7-8 on the hard drive.  In addition, there is a software solution if you are working with an existing install.     http://www.wdc.com/en/products/advancedformat/
  It stands to reason that this would also provide proper functionality for the DNS-321.
 This problem is not limited to D-Link, as this solution was cross checked through anouther brand of network server.   Will be trying this out later this week when the parts arrive.

[cpeders1]

I've been called out twice for not posting results, so here it goes...On a fresh install, I have not noticed any ill effects on a WD Green drive with the jumpers set to 7-8.  We're configured for RAID 1 and have a fairly large iTunes library that is stored on our DNS-321.  As a test, I noted the amount of songs in the library, ejected one of the drives, added a couple of songs and then reinstalled the drive.  After a lengthy rebuild, I went back and checked the song count and found that it matched. Then I exported the library to flush out any broken links and found none. 
  The only down side is that using the jumper setting caused the first HD sector to not be used, which is to be expected.  It causes a minor loss of total storage space. 
 Also to be noted, this problem is being experienced by all NAS manufacturers, not just D-Link.  Disk that use advanced formatting are not meant to be used as a mirrored set in a NAS. (unless you use jumpers)

[jc777]

is it correct to say that for WD Green EARS AFT hdd to work with RAID 1 setting, as long as pins 7-8 are jumpered, the hdd will emulate as 512 sector size and can be used as normal non-AFT hdd?

I've been called out twice for not posting results, so here it goes...On a fresh install, I have not noticed any ill effects on a WD Green drive with the jumpers set to 7-8.  We're configured for RAID 1 and have a fairly large iTunes library that is stored on our DNS-321.  As a test, I noted the amount of songs in the library, ejected one of the drives, added a couple of songs and then reinstalled the drive.  After a lengthy rebuild, I went back and checked the song count and found that it matched. Then I exported the library to flush out any broken links and found none. 
  The only down side is that using the jumper setting caused the first HD sector to not be used, which is to be expected.  It causes a minor loss of total storage space. 
 Also to be noted, this problem is being experienced by all NAS manufacturers, not just D-Link.  Disk that use advanced formatting are not meant to be used as a mirrored set in a NAS. (unless you use jumpers)

[Joke]

People here are mixing two separate issues into one.

Issue 1: Advanced format (4k sectors)
All new models of hard drives that will come out will be Advanced format, it's a necessity in order to support the high capacities that are coming now and in the future.
Currently all AF drives support emulating 512Byte sectors for operating systems that don't support 4k  sectors. WD using jumpers, Samsung does it automatically.
The only problem this is causing is performance drop when writing to the disk. This drop is not a problem for the current generation of D-Link NAS'es. They are limited by their CPU to much lower write speeds.
This issue has no influence on whether a disk is suitable for RAID or not.


Issue 2: Desktop drives not supported in RAID
All disk manufacturers have a separate line of disks that are supported for use in RAID configuration. These drives have the fabled TLER, ERC, CCTL enabled, and may be manufactured to better standards (nobody knows). Where I live they cost more than double what the desktop drives cost, so it's not strange that I will try to use a desktop drive in my home setup.

It's also not strange that the disk manufacturers will say that their desktop drives are not supported in RAID arrays. They want the higher profit margin from their professional customers. If desktop drives had TLER and was working fine in RAID arrays for home users then their pro customers might try them as well (since nobody knows if there really is any hardware difference between pro/raid disks and desktop disks)

So what's the problem?

When a desktop HDD encounter an error when reading/writing it will keep trying for a considerable time, and will then try to reallocate the sector to another place on the disk. If it succeeds there will be no error for me as a PC user, I will not be aware that anything happened.

High performance professional hardware RAID controllers don't want any of that.
If a read/write error occurs the RAID controller wants to handle that. It can recreate the bad sector from the other disks in the array, and will reallocate it without help from the disk.
The delay that the desktop drive does when correcting the error can instead cause the RAID controller to remove the disk from the array, as it thinks the disk has died.

Home NAS'es like the D-Link ones don't have to behave like the pro hardware controllers. The D-Links do RAID in software, and we users have other priorities than lightning quick error recovery. I would rather wait a minute while the NAS is fixing a read error than have the RAID array degraded.

I hope the software developers behind my D-Link NAS have adapted the RAID software to account for the behaviour of desktop drives. It would be stupid not to, but I don't know if they do...

[cdkone]

I have a situation where I have the DNS-321 with two 2tb WD20EADS-00S2B0 drives in a Raid 1 configuration. everything was fine until one drive failed and will not pass the quick or extended diagnostics. The drives are still under warranty so I put in for a replacement from WD.

However, even thought I called and specifically asked them to ship another WD20EADS drive they are shipping the WD20EARS drive (it is truly amazing to me that even though you call a company an explain your issue, they don't listen).

Can anyone please advise me on how to proceed, will the use of the jumper allow these two different drives to work together?

Thanks

[Doogie123]

bought 2 Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS , $79.00 each.. been working fine.. The only thing I have seen is my xfer rates max out at 14MB per sec.. but in these forums, Ive seen alot of xfer rates in that range on a gig network.. I am running a raid 0..

found this on WD website about the green drives..

 Desktop / Consumer RAID Environments - WD Caviar Green Hard Drives are tested and recommended for use in consumer-type RAID applications (RAID-0 /
RAID-1)

sooooo what is the anwser??  heck if I know.. Ive had mine about 2 months in the raid 0

[pax]

We have installed 9 DNS-321 units for various clients with WD Advanced Format Tech green drives.  Three of the units have failed causing a total loss of all data, and we have lost two valuable clients forever with serious damage to our business reputation.  We are in the process of replacing the drives in the remaining units, at our own expense, before they fail.

Needless to say, we couldn't be more ticked-off!!  The literature we relied on assured us that ALL WD GREEN DRIVES were compatible... (there is STILL literature on D-Link's website that implies all WD GREEN DRIVES are compatible) then after 30+ man-hours of trying to diagnose these problems and salvage lost data, we stumble upon this forum thread!  WHY isn't this information distributed better???  Unacceptable!

[pax]

bought 2 Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS , $79.00 each.. been working fine.. The only thing I have seen is my xfer rates max out at 14MB per sec.. but in these forums, Ive seen alot of xfer rates in that range on a gig network.. I am running a raid 0..

found this on WD website about the green drives..

 Desktop / Consumer RAID Environments - WD Caviar Green Hard Drives are tested and recommended for use in consumer-type RAID applications (RAID-0 /
RAID-1)

sooooo what is the anwser??  heck if I know.. Ive had mine about 2 months in the raid 0

my prediction Doogie, from our experience.... your WD20EARS's will continue to work.... until they experience a minor problem... then all your data you think that is backed up by RAID format will be gone...