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I have just received 4x WD Red Pro 8TB 256 Mb Cache Drives (WD8003FFBX-68B9AN0) for use in my Synology DS918+ NAS.

When performing certain heavy actions, such as reading or writing an Apple Time Machine backup to the NAS, halfway through the backup process, one or more of the drives starts to make a very strange "beeping" or "whuzzing" sound. I don't believe it is beeping per se, but it sounds like the drive head could be stuck. It makes this noise many times every minute, for most of the time as the backup R/W is being performed – but not all the time, and not when light actions are being performed.

Please see this video, where the sound is through-out, but particularly after 00:30: https://youtu.be/pl71ocYy2eg. As you can see in the video, when the beeping occurs, the green lights normally flashing on the NAS are solid green and not flashing.

Also, an audio clip with significant beeping: https://vocaroo.com/i/s0yz7tonaITs

I contacted Western Digital support, and they gave me a pretty aloof answer saying that noises in Helium drives are normal, and that I should connect the drives to a Windows computer and run their diagnosis software if I'm worried.

My gut feeling is that this sound is not normal. I've had helium drives previously (the WD Gold Drives) and none of them did the beeping sound.

Is this a problem you recognize? What should I do about it?

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  • So have you run the diagnosis software? If there is a problem, having gone through the process of a warranty claim on an HDD, it is necessary to get it replaced.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Dec 22, 2018 at 14:06
  • I have run extended S.M.A.R.T tests on the drives via Synology's DiskStation and found no errors, but haven't had chance to run WD's diagnosis software yet. I'm actually a Mac user, so I would have to disconnect each drive from the NAS and then leave my MacBook running the test in Bootcamp. I will do that soon, but first I'd like to know if noises like this are normal. I really do doubt it.
    – P A N
    Commented Dec 22, 2018 at 14:09
  • The results of the diagnosis tool will provide you the necessary information to determine if the drive is operating normal or not.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Dec 22, 2018 at 14:13
  • @Ramhound So you know for a fact that WD's diagnosis tool can detect a stuck drive head, or some other problem that may be causal? Are you actually speaking out of experience or are you just assuming that it will give a truthful diagnosis? Do you own a WD Red Pro drive and have this beeping noise upon normal operation?
    – P A N
    Commented Dec 22, 2018 at 14:17
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    I have numerous Helium drives. None of them make noises any different then non-Helium drives.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Dec 22, 2018 at 14:38

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I contacted Synology and Western Digital respectively. They both believed that the noise and freezing is not normal and recommended replacing/RMA'ing the drive(s) causing the issue.

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