one of my 6TB barracuda pros is throwing errors and its full of important stuff, i want to replace it but im not sure what would be the most reliable/cost effective drive to replace it with
any input is appreciated
A 10tb+ shucked ( buy an usb enclosure and break it open) drive is a good low coat approach with some risk
wd only makes nas or enterprise drives of that size so you are very likely to get a high quality drive inside a large WD usb enclosure. wd doesn't make special drives for these enclosures they use what they have lying around
So they are often great value for money with some caveats
while all the 14tb elements I shucked where Hitachi enterprise drives ( most reliable ones wd has ) they reduced speed from 7200 to 5400 rpm
they often use a newer sata standard connector that may not work with older motherboards apparently in that case you can tape of one of the pins
depending on your country you lose warranty. Although in the US you seem to keep it