Using HDD from WD MyBook in Drobo?

[AndrewMRiv]

Hello, so I am planning on buying a Drobo 5N soon for time machine backups for my Macs.

Since it comes without any drives, I have been trying to scavenge for 3.5" HDDs and want to take the HDD out of the Western Digital My Book for Mac (WD My Book Hard Drive for Mac 3 TB (WDBYCC0030HBK-NESN)).

I have been looking everywhere but have not been able to find out if this enclosure has a 3.5" or 2.5" HDD in it.

If anyone knows or can refer me to a place where I can find out, that would be great.

Also, if there is a 3.5" HDD inside, will I be able to use it with the Drobo? I am not a fan of the WD My Book enclosure but I would still like to get SOME use out of the drive.

Thank you.

 

[Vidivici]

Very simple , there is no 3TB 2.5' drive ,2TB is the 2.5' limit untill now.
So you could open the WD and place it in the drobo.

But when you do , you void the drive's warranty.
And by installing the drive into your drobo , you' will erase all data.

Better solution is to sell the 3TB drive , and buy other ones with warranty.

 

[hallux]

Rule of thumb when dealing with WD external drives.

"My Book" = 3.5" (desktop) drive
"My Passport" = 2.5" (laptop) drive

 

[Bear]

You may find that the drives in Western Digital external enclosures may not have standard connectors or may have had their connector soldered.

 

[AndrewMRiv]

Very simple , there is no 3TB 2.5' drive ,2TB is the 2.5' limit untill now.
So you could open the WD and place it in the drobo.

But when you do , you void the drive's warranty.
And by installing the drive into your drobo , you' will erase all data.

Better solution is to sell the 3TB drive , and buy other ones with warranty.

Thank you! I will do that. That is great advice. Not worth voiding the warranty and then being screwed over later when the HDD dies.

Rule of thumb when dealing with WD external drives.

"My Book" = 3.5" (desktop) drive
"My Passport" = 2.5" (laptop) drive

Thank you! I am not very experienced with Western Digital so this helps a lot for future reference.

You may find that the drives in Western Digital external enclosures may not have standard connectors or may have had their connector soldered.

Definitely also great advice. thank you!

 

[paulrbeers]

Hello, so I am planning on buying a Drobo 5N soon for time machine backups for my Macs.

Since it comes without any drives, I have been trying to scavenge for 3.5" HDDs and want to take the HDD out of the Western Digital My Book for Mac (WD My Book Hard Drive for Mac 3 TB (WDBYCC0030HBK-NESN)).

I have been looking everywhere but have not been able to find out if this enclosure has a 3.5" or 2.5" HDD in it.

If anyone knows or can refer me to a place where I can find out, that would be great.

Also, if there is a 3.5" HDD inside, will I be able to use it with the Drobo? I am not a fan of the WD My Book enclosure but I would still like to get SOME use out of the drive.

Thank you.

I always buy external drives when on super sale and rip the drives out of them:

1. Yes you void your warranty but externals only come with a 1 year anyway. I've never had a drive fail in less than a year so the warranty is worthless
2. Internal bare drives are actually more expensive than an external drive if bought on sale (internals rarely are on sale)
3. There are always videos on YouTube to show you how to safely tear apart an enclosure and will show you what the connector looks like
4. I have never torn apart a drive and found a proprietary connector or anything soldered. It makes sense NOT to do this because a manufacturer can just slap a new drive in it and call it an "upgrade" at any point without any R&d needed
5. Used hard drives have very limited resale value. You might as well just rip it out and void what little warranty you have left.

Anyway just my opinion from someone who had done this a dozen+ times.