Announcement

**claydoh** · 2025-01-24T00:46:20

Ya, most any 'regular' spinning-rust SATA HDD should be just fine

"NAS" = =Network Attached Storage -- AKA a media/file/etc server, so a standalone Plex server falls into that sort of category

The Iron Wolf will ostensibly be more rugged and longer-lived -- it is an enterprise sort of device
It also has a lot of cache, and the speed is good.
It may be overkill, but I do think this one is very popular with those doing what you are doing.

You probably want a faster rpm for media playback. 7200 is great. Don't bother with 5800rpm drives. There are 10,000rpm drives but those are probably very $$$ and really may be overkill

The lower cache and very slow speed on the cheap one is why it is cheap. This one, as the title mentions, is for archival uses - the slow RPM is not well suited for the more steady reads and writes a media player will likely see. It is for storing and parking data.

The 10Tb model will allow you to grow your collection longer/larger. For the price, myself being a cheapskate, I'd go with that one if it is on special.

Installing a 3.5 HDD is probably the easiest thing to install on a tower PC: opening the case , two cables, some mounting screws, and done. So it should not be a long or pricey task.

**claydoh** · 2025-01-24T01:06:12

Actually, there may be the issue that your PC may only have 1 3.5" drive bay, and two slots for 2.5 inch drives.
If your main drive is already a 3.5 one (it most likely is) , this makes it more complicated. You might need to migrate the existing OS drive to a 2.5 inch one.

Yes, you can move the OS to the giant drive, but imo it is better for this use case to keep the OS separate if possible.

**oshunluvr** · 2025-01-24T15:28:02

Dell's, especially old ones, are a PITA to work on. Too much non-standard stuff and no flexibility. On the other hand, they're mostly or even completely tool-less. However, drive swaps are very easy. Dell doesn't say in the description whether this one supports additional drives or not, which probably means not. It may not even have a free SATA port. Generally, in my experience with Dells (I maintained about 1200 of them for over a decade) unless it's a higher end model (this one isn't) it will only hold support drive and one CDROM. Some of the lower end models actually will have a second Hard Drive cradle, but no free SATA port, which means you can add an internal drive and unplug the CDROM and you're good to go.

MY ADVICE:
Before going to the Geek squad (and probably getting ripped off) take a pic of the front of the case, Then remove the side panel (no tools required) and lay the thing down and take a nice, clear, pic of the WHOLE innards and a close up one of the hard drive and it's cradle. Then upload those photos here or on a photo service (ImgBB or whatever) and let us have a look. At least we can tell you whether or not you can use a second drive internally before spending that money.

Honestly, hardware is way easier to deal with than operating systems, lol.

**oshunluvr** · 2025-01-24T15:46:09

Found an old Dell manual for the 3650 series:

So we have our answer. Only room for one 3.5" drive, but supports a 2x2.5" drives - which means a SATA port must be there for you but no space for another 3.5" drive.

OK, options:

1. Stick with an external enclosure,, however no USB 3+ ports so you're limited to USB 2.0 speeds unless you add a USB 3+ PIC card to the PC. According to Dell you have 2 PCI-E 1x slots and one 16x slot. You can get a USB 3.2 PCI-E card for $15.

2. Buy 2x4TB 2.5" (laptop) drives. Move your OS (or re-install) to a small partition on one of them and use the rest of the space for Plex media. This would cost about $400, less if you bought smaller or slower drives. 4TB is kinda the limit for a laptop drive.

3. Buy one 8tb (or larger) hard drive and again, move your OS (or re-install) to a small partition and use the rest of the space for Plex media. 8TB good NAS drives are a bit less than $200.

4. Buy a small SSD. Stick is somewhere inside the case - with tape if you have to - I've done this without issues. Then move the Operating system(s) to it and clear off the HD. Then pull the HD and replace it with an 8TB drive for Plex data.

These all require a little work.

Option 1 means no changes or redoing your OS install. It is also more flexible in that the external drive is mobile if the Dell totally dies. It also means installation is easier - added a PCI-E card could be done by a child. Honestly, if you don't care about access time you could do it with USB 2, it would just be painfully slow. I've been running a Plex server for more than a decade and I wouldn't recommend using USB 2.0, but if it's working for you now, then whatever. You could always get an enclosure that supports both USB 2 and 3 and decide to do the additional USB3 upgrade later.

Options 2 and 3 require a reinstall (or moving from the existing drive to another - much harder than a reinstall IMO). You kinda indicated you were thinking about moving it back to Linux so NOW would be the time. A single large 3.5" drive would cost much less than 2 laptop 2.5" drive and doing a new Linux install will be WAY easier than trying to move a Windows install.

Option 4 slightly more money but easier to maintain and upgrade again later if the need arises.

FYI, my personal HD preferences: Western Digital "RED" drives or Seagate "Ironwolf". Good performance and long lasting. I have almost 90K hours on one WD drive.

**oshunluvr** · 2025-01-24T16:36:50

FYI, All you have to do to swap the internal drive is:

Open the side of the case.
Locate the blue drive tray.
Squeeze the locking tabs (thumb and finger) with one hand to release the tray and slide (pull slowly) it out.
Unplug the cables from the back of the drive.
Bend the drive tray slightly and pop the drive out if it.
Note that there are little pins that hold the drive in the tray without screws.
Bend the drive tray slightly and insert the new drive into it ensuring the pins go into the screw holes on the sides of the drive.
Ensure the new drive is properly seated in the tray by sliding it half way into the drive rack and see that it slides smoothly.
Pull it back out, plug the cables back in. They only go in one way and have an "L" shape to them. Do not force them - they should go in easily. Check the position of the "L" if you're unsure.
Slide the tray back into the rack until it clicks in place.
Close the case and power back up.

I've done this like a thousand times. Never broke a drive tray or cable end. Takes like 10 minutes if you've never done it. I can do it in 2, LOL.

**oshunluvr** · 2025-01-24T16:41:33

The 10TB EXOS drive sounds like a steal. "Enterprise" generally means better built and performance and Helium drives supposedly run cooler. IME, enterprise class drives are a little noisier than desktop class drives, but a bit faster access times. The 5TB cheapo will work, but not a great performer.

**claydoh** · 2025-01-24T23:27:04

I concur, and feel a fool for not linking to the information I found about your PC

To me, adding the big drive and moving the OS to a SATA ssd --which will be a 2.5" laptop sized drive - is a good choice. 1Tb or even 500Gb are reasonably priced (for good ones) to cheap (and poor quality). If this is only being used as a Plex sever (little to no desktop types of usage) you can go even smaller.

Announcement

Adding a hard drive to my Plex server computer

[CONFIGURATION] Adding a hard drive to my Plex server computer

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment