RMA both drives of a RAID 1, or just the bad one ?

[bill4d]

I've got a RAID 1 setup with two 1.5 TB WD drives.

One drive is getting errors in Crystal Disk and needs to be RMA'd.

The problem is WD doesn't make the 1.5 TB anymore and is replacing my RMA'd drive with a 2 TB.

Should I RMA the other 1.5 TB drive I have, or just use the two different size drives in my RAID 1 ?

[ici_lemmy]

If the other drive is working well, I think thay will not accept the RMA.
You can use two different size drives in a RAID 1, you just will not be able to use the 500Go at the end of the RMA'd drive.

[bill4d]

If the other drive is working well, I think thay will not accept the RMA.
You can use two different size drives in a RAID 1, you just will not be able to use the 500Go at the end of the RMA'd drive.

Thanks for the info. In an advanced RMA they actually send you the drive and then you send the bad one back within 30 days. So I'm not sure if once they examine a drive that they would go to the trouble to refuse the RMA, once both drives have changed hands.

[Vulcan]

To help readers to see the bigger picture (as you're opening a new thread for each new question you have) here are some of your previous threads which seem to be related:

raid-t25092.html
help-rebuilding-raid-array-t25106.html
need-help-with-erasing-before-rma-t25153.html

IMHO it would help readers if you referenced your older threads, if you choose to open a new one as part of the same issue

Regarding your new questions, my comments are:

- Some "errors" reported by Crystal Disk are not caused by the drive itself. We cannot give good-quality suggestions without seeing the information which you are using to make the conclusion of a drive problem. That conclusion might be wrong...

- RMA replacement drives are not necessarily new, so what a manufacturer is making now may not affect the capacity of drive you get for RMA replacement.

- I'd be surprised if you were allowed to RMA a non-faulty drive as you appear to be suggesting. [Edit: I see that ici_lemmy has just made the same point while I've been typing.] In any case, if one drive is not currently faulty, it may have a better reliability than what you get as an RMA replacement for the other drive. In short, you may regret RMA-ing both (assuming you could).

[bill4d]

Thanks for the replies. Crystal Disk reported bad sectors, and Windows stated the drive was failing and needed replacing after a format had completed.

For now, I think I'll keep the functionaing drive and just replce the bad one.