I have in my Linux setup two external 1TB Western Digital drives connected with usb 3.0
- WDC WD10SDRW-11A0XS0
- WDC WD10JMVW-11AJGS4
I thought they were identical but they are not.
WD10SDRW-11A0XS0 is supposed to be faster, since it supports Gen3 signaling speed(6.0GB/s) as well as R/W multiple sector transfer of 16.
# hdparm -I /dev/sda [14:21:02]
/dev/sda:
ATA device, with non-removable media
Model Number: WDC WD10SDRW-11A0XS0
Serial Number: WD-WX12A212RD41
Firmware Revision: 01.01A01
Transport: Serial, SATA 1.0a, SATA II Extensions, SATA Rev 2.5, SATA Rev 2.6, SATA Rev 3.0
Standards:
Used: unknown (minor revision code 0x006d)
Supported: 10 9 8 7 6 5
Likely used: 10
Configuration:
Logical max current
cylinders 16383 0
heads 16 0
sectors/track 63 0
--
LBA user addressable sectors: 268435455
LBA48 user addressable sectors: 1953459632
Logical Sector size: 512 bytes
Physical Sector size: 4096 bytes
Logical Sector-0 offset: 0 bytes
device size with M = 1024*1024: 953837 MBytes
device size with M = 1000*1000: 1000171 MBytes (1000 GB)
cache/buffer size = unknown
Form Factor: 2.5 inch
Nominal Media Rotation Rate: 5400
Capabilities:
LBA, IORDY(can be disabled)
Queue depth: 32
Standby timer values: spec'd by Standard, with device specific minimum
R/W multiple sector transfer: Max = 16 Current = 16
Advanced power management level: 128
DMA: *mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 udma6
Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns
PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
Cycle time: no flow control=120ns IORDY flow control=120ns
Commands/features:
Enabled Supported:
* SMART feature set
Security Mode feature set
* Power Management feature set
* Write cache
* Look-ahead
* WRITE_BUFFER command
* READ_BUFFER command
* NOP cmd
* DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
* Advanced Power Management feature set
Power-Up In Standby feature set
* SET_FEATURES required to spinup after power up
* 48-bit Address feature set
* Mandatory FLUSH_CACHE
* FLUSH_CACHE_EXT
* SMART error logging
* SMART self-test
* General Purpose Logging feature set
* 64-bit World wide name
* IDLE_IMMEDIATE with UNLOAD
* {READ,WRITE}_DMA_EXT_GPL commands
* Segmented DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
* Gen1 signaling speed (1.5Gb/s)
* Gen2 signaling speed (3.0Gb/s)
* Gen3 signaling speed (6.0Gb/s)
* Native Command Queueing (NCQ)
* Host-initiated interface power management
* Phy event counters
* Idle-Unload when NCQ is active
* NCQ priority information
* READ_LOG_DMA_EXT equivalent to READ_LOG_EXT
DMA Setup Auto-Activate optimization
Device-initiated interface power management
Software settings preservation
* SMART Command Transport (SCT) feature set
* SCT Write Same (AC2)
* SCT Features Control (AC4)
* SCT Data Tables (AC5)
unknown 206[12] (vendor specific)
unknown 206[13] (vendor specific)
unknown 206[14] (vendor specific)
* Extended number of user addressable sectors
* Device encrypts all user data
* DOWNLOAD MICROCODE DMA command
* WRITE BUFFER DMA command
* READ BUFFER DMA command
* Data Set Management TRIM supported (limit 10 blocks)
* Deterministic read data after TRIM
Security:
Master password revision code = 65534
supported
not enabled
not locked
not frozen
not expired: security count
supported: enhanced erase
184min for SECURITY ERASE UNIT. 2min for ENHANCED SECURITY ERASE UNIT.
Logical Unit WWN Device Identifier: 50014ee213dfdedf
NAA : 5
IEEE OUI : 0014ee
Unique ID : 213dfdedf
Checksum: correct
# hdparm -I /dev/sdb [14:21:34]
/dev/sdb:
ATA device, with non-removable media
Model Number: WDC WD10JMVW-11AJGS4
Serial Number: WD-WX92AC15S5FS
Firmware Revision: 01.01A01
Transport: Serial, SATA 1.0a, SATA II Extensions, SATA Rev 2.5, SATA Rev 2.6, SATA Rev 3.0
Standards:
Supported: 9 8 7 6 5
Likely used: 9
Configuration:
Logical max current
cylinders 16383 16383
heads 16 16
sectors/track 63 63
--
CHS current addressable sectors: 16514064
LBA user addressable sectors: 268435455
LBA48 user addressable sectors: 1953525168
Logical Sector size: 512 bytes
Physical Sector size: 4096 bytes
Logical Sector-0 offset: 0 bytes
device size with M = 1024*1024: 953869 MBytes
device size with M = 1000*1000: 1000204 MBytes (1000 GB)
cache/buffer size = 8192 KBytes
Nominal Media Rotation Rate: 5400
Capabilities:
LBA, IORDY(can be disabled)
Queue depth: 32
Standby timer values: spec'd by Standard, with device specific minimum
R/W multiple sector transfer: Max = 16 Current = 0
Advanced power management level: 128
DMA: *mdma0 mdma1 mdma2 udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 udma5 udma6
Cycle time: min=120ns recommended=120ns
PIO: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
Cycle time: no flow control=120ns IORDY flow control=120ns
Commands/features:
Enabled Supported:
* SMART feature set
Security Mode feature set
* Power Management feature set
* Write cache
* Look-ahead
* Host Protected Area feature set
* WRITE_BUFFER command
* READ_BUFFER command
* NOP cmd
* DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
* Advanced Power Management feature set
Power-Up In Standby feature set
* SET_FEATURES required to spinup after power up
SET_MAX security extension
* 48-bit Address feature set
* Device Configuration Overlay feature set
* Mandatory FLUSH_CACHE
* FLUSH_CACHE_EXT
* SMART error logging
* SMART self-test
* General Purpose Logging feature set
* 64-bit World wide name
* IDLE_IMMEDIATE with UNLOAD
* {READ,WRITE}_DMA_EXT_GPL commands
* Segmented DOWNLOAD_MICROCODE
* Gen1 signaling speed (1.5Gb/s)
* Gen2 signaling speed (3.0Gb/s)
* Native Command Queueing (NCQ)
* Host-initiated interface power management
* Phy event counters
* Idle-Unload when NCQ is active
* NCQ priority information
* READ_LOG_DMA_EXT equivalent to READ_LOG_EXT
DMA Setup Auto-Activate optimization
Device-initiated interface power management
Software settings preservation
* SMART Command Transport (SCT) feature set
* SCT Write Same (AC2)
* SCT Features Control (AC4)
* SCT Data Tables (AC5)
unknown 206[12] (vendor specific)
unknown 206[13] (vendor specific)
unknown 206[14] (vendor specific)
Security:
Master password revision code = 65534
supported
not enabled
not locked
not frozen
not expired: security count
supported: enhanced erase
188min for SECURITY ERASE UNIT. 188min for ENHANCED SECURITY ERASE UNIT.
Logical Unit WWN Device Identifier: 50014ee26a89f5e0
NAA : 5
IEEE OUI : 0014ee
Unique ID : 26a89f5e0
Checksum: correct
However WD10SDRW-11A0XS0 is slower. While testing the reading speed, i get:
# hdparm -tT /dev/sda
/dev/sda:
Timing cached reads: 40496 MB in 1.98 seconds = 20402.91 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 130 MB in 3.01 seconds = 43.21 MB/sec
while the second drive performs almost 3x faster:
# hdparm -tT /dev/sdb
/dev/sdb:
Timing cached reads: 36796 MB in 1.99 seconds = 18526.69 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 344 MB in 3.00 seconds = 114.57 MB/sec
The smart status is ok. I booted in windows and checked them with the Dashboard software of WesternDigital, and the health was in the green area for both drives. No errors from SMART monitoring as well.
Why is the drive performing lower?
Is there something wrong?
Is something that I can do to change that?
