Recently, I upgraded from my WD5001AALS to a RAID 1 array consisting of two used WD2001FASS & a used Promise FastTrak TX4310 controller. Setup & migration went well, but then performance degraded suddenly. Checking SMART with GSmartControl's GUI on a PartedMagic LiveCD, I am not pleased. All three PASSED, but the two 2 TB drives hardly do so with flying colours. Fortunately, both are within warranty per WD website's serial number check.

The previous/existing 500 GB, set up JBOD, is strong as ever. The one 2 TB (MD #1, we'll call it) was in the pink when I received it regarding Current Pending Sector Count (CPSC) and Offline Uncorrectable (OU). But, "I'm mirroring, so I'll just wait for it to officially fail." The other, MD #2, looked good upon receipt. Now, not so much. Raw Read Error Rate (RRER) is through the roof, with a raw value of 79355. (#1 is 973) CPSC is now in the pink too. Oh, and it clicks (of death) like a clock. :P

Considering that one was originally received DOA, I'm losing faith in WD. My concern, though, is that the controller might be ruining them? I've heard of such things happening, but is that more from catastrophic failure? Is a controller all or nothing? My JBOD is just dandy, so I'm included to say it's a drive, not controller, issue. However, I'm not sure. Thanks for any thoughts.

Controllers can deteriorate but usually they just quit working. Note the the FastTrak series are just normal SATA controllers with bootstrap support and RAID drivers (aka Fake RAID) with at best moderate performance.

I have lost drives of all brands. That said I've had the most drive failures (in currently available brands) with WD and the least with Seagate. There are those with the esact opposite experience so it's very much a situational experience.

With used drives you usually pay your money and take your chances, brand not withstanding.

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Thanks for confirming that. Shortly after your reply, the good drive (MD #2) failed catastrophically. Oh, and I had just wiped the WD5001AALS, in order to sell it on eBay, before the array/drive failed. Add to that, I started getting sector read errors on my external backup. So, there I was, limping along with bad sectors. Needless to say, I lost a bit of data, but managed to save most everything. That which I did lose is replaceable (CD/DVD rips) or irrelevant. *phew*

Of my controller's software RAID, I'm aware. However, I can't afford harware RAID. As for "at best moderate performance", the same could be said for my P4. LOL! Only reason I went with SATA II drives is forward planning/compatibility. Cheers.

Well good thing you were able to get most of what you needed back, dude. Sorry about your loss..... Reminds me of when I dropped my 2 TB external overseas and couldn't recover anything... Except I had more backups readily available..... It's always good to keep a few copies handy

I thought data recovery was your specialty? ;P

Exactly.... I put a nice big scratch on the platter. Of course it didn't take up the whole platter, but I didn't have "much" on it, since it was brand new, and I didn't use much space up on it.