Quote:
Originally Posted by dnanian
It's important to note that "No Fan" has two parts to it. Sure, it might be quieter -- but if it runs hotter, the drive will not last as long...
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Right. Unfortunately, in this case I need to put the device in my living room, where my wife and I both have a very low tolerance for noise from electrical components. So a device which isn't very quiet is not an option for us.
There aren't very many network drives without fans, presumably because of the heat dissipation issue. Of those I found, the Western Digital device seemed the most professionally designed and marketed, so I suspect it's also the longest-lasting.
And since I'm going to use the device strictly for backups, I won't be losing data when the drive in the device dies (unless the hard drive in my computer also dies before I can replace the drive in the device), so I'm comfortable with the shorter lifespan.
FWIW, the
Buffalo Technology LinkStation claims to have a "silent internal fan", although at least one review on the net disputed that (can't find the link right now).
I've also been looking at the
Maxtor Shared Storage II, but I haven't been able to determine whether or not it has a fan.