back to article WD Sentinel DS 6100: What does a disk-peddler know about servers?

Western Digital (WD) has revamped its SMB NAS lineup with a Server 2012 Essentials system that I find hard to hate. I have never been comfortable with the idea of WD entering into the server space; it's a disk-peddler, what could it possibly know about servers? This is the second generation of these units I've had in for …

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  1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge

    So...

    How noisy is it? Is it Data Centre/Computer Room only or is it usable in an Office?

    I think it is a tad expensive to be serious competitor to Synology etc.

    1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

      Re: So...

      Only gets noisy if you flatten it. By "noisy" I mean "less noisy than my Alienware MX18 playing games."

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Am I the only one finding it slightly odd that there's no photo of the thing other than in bits?

    1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

      Do you want a photo of it other than in bits? I thought "in bits" was more interesting.

      1. WraithCadmus
        Paris Hilton

        Oh, but you can't skip straight to the strip, you have to have the tease first.

        You have to ask why I chose Paris?

  3. J. Cook Silver badge

    Noise and power consumption levels would definately be nice...

    I've been looking at setting up a home file server for media storage and general abuse; the one option I considered generates large amounts of noise, heat, drink power like an old 60's vintage air conditioner. (surplus poweredge 2950 G3 chassis loaded with 6x SAS drives, with a surplus MD3000 shelf loaded with 15 more SAS drives) It'd be enough to run media storage and a VM test lab environment, but at an expense.

    If I could swap the shelf with a reasonably purpose built NAS that could handle NFS ir iSCSI well enough, then I'd be sold.

    1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

      Re: Noise and power consumption levels would definately be nice...

      Noise is basically none. Power was low enough that I even forgot it was relevant. When I get home, I'll kill-a-watt it.

    2. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

      Re: Noise and power consumption levels would definately be nice...

      The thing ships with a 200W PSU, but seems to consistently idle around 50. Doesn't seem to get much above 100W when going flat out like a lizard drinking.

      I think that actually beats my purpose built home server/HTPC, damn it!

    3. Terry P

      Re: Noise and power consumption levels would definately be nice...

      Look up the HP N54L. About £200-250 but comes with a £100 rebate.

      Four drives slots, will take up to 16GB memory, quiet, low power. Huge following (search for N36L, N40L or N54L

      I put a low profile graphics cards in mine and upgraded the memory. Serves as general NAS and media center. Plays 1080p flawlessly.

      Total outlay after rebate depends on how many drives you buy for it.

  4. SW WDC

    The WD Sentinel DS range is very quiet and does not need to be positioned in a computer room. Full images of the product can be found on the WD website. WD will be showcasing the new product at IPExpo next week if anyone is attending.

    Note I work for WD and just wanted to respond to your comments.

  5. petur
    Go

    Merely playing catch-up?

    QNAP recently released its new line for SMB, and it includes the option of placing dedicated SSD for caching, a nice expansion system to increase the number of drives, and loads of software features like storage pools and support for all the latest visualization and iSCSI bells and whistles...

    And it runs Linux, not Windows... that alone should be a good reason ;)

  6. BogBeast

    VMware Compliant?

    Would really like to know how VMware compliant, ie does it support USB passthru and supply full details of Mb temps etc. etc

    I use a Intel S1200KP, doesn't take as much memory (limited to 16) and its not very VMware friendly...

    1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

      Re: VMware Compliant?

      VMware compliant....as in VAAI or SMI supported by Windows Essentials? Or do you want me to try installing VMware on the device itself?

      Pretty sure I have a USB stick with ESXi 5.1 around here somewhere....

  7. Terry P

    How much?!?!

    Apparently these start at £1600?!

    For that kind of money you're not *too* far off REAL SMB NAS from real tie 1 providers!

    What does this do that I can't do with a HP Microserver? I have two (40L and N54L), both cost me about £200 and both came with £100 rebate each…..so £100 for each little server a tony bit bigger than this WD server. A little extra spent on upgrades and they’re a workhorse. Of my two:

    - One has 7 drives in it (they have drive 4 bays but you can squeeze more in the top) and serves as my NAS / Media Center. A copy of XBMC makes it a mobile cinema. All that was needed was a graphics cad and a memory upgrade.

    - The other is my 16GB VMware play box that is currently running Xpenology (like QNAP Synology but home edited) and a few other OS's

    Raid 5 onboard is nice but I can’t help think this thing is priced too high to compete with the HP Microserver (which has taken the home user world by storm) and also priced too high for the Small office……Maybe i've just never looked at the price of tings in this range!

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