But each listing comes with a model and sometimes with a sub-model code
For example:
ST28000NT000 Nas Ironwolf
OR
ST24000NT031 (3UH103-500) Nas Ironwolf Pro
But then lists Firmware (eg EN02 or EV01). But when I look for that info in the listing, it is absent. Searching for info on how ot determine the best guidance seems to be look at the listing picture and the label but in the case of the drive I am looking at there is no label or detail of the firmware.
An example here from the Seaget Store on Amazon
Which lists a compatible model (ST28000NT000) but then has no way of confirming that this will work, and it is listed as “Pro” so maybe that impacts compatibility?
Reversing the process and entering those parameters
“Seagate ST28000NT000 NAS IronWolf Firmware EN02” gives no shopping matches and is not much help
The follow-on advice is to check serial numbers (unavailable) and then to load the Seagate Firmware tool (no help until you have the drive)
For me, at least its a lot of money to drop on buying 4 in my case to fill out half my unit and replace my 16Tb drives. And while I understand the principle of sourcing your drives from different vendors and sites to remove risks associated with the dreaded “Friday afternoon specials,” prior personal experience suggests it is better to source while you can get the quantity you want/require vs risking sudden supply chain shortages/unavailability, leaving you with insufficient drives to complete the task
I think you are overthinking this, buy NAS rated drives and it should be just fine.
P.S. Of course sticking a 20TB drive and a 17 year old CAT1 device with 16TB volume limits, will end in tears, so a bit of common sense should be applied.
I lived through this - never make assumptions. I had been putting in a ton of new QNAP systems with the “new” (at the time) Seagate Ironwolf Pro 18 TB drives (now discontinued). I had just built a new 16 bay QNAP for a customer with these - who also had an older QNAP TVS-EC1680U with 8 TB drives. I foolishly said “we don’t need to replace this QNAP, lets just get these new 18 TB drives - they work great” (because they were working great in the new QNAP’s that I was building). And sure enough - I bought 36 of these 18 TB drives for the customer (main system and backup system) - and they DID NOT WORK. I called QNAP support, and they said “sorry - the TVS-EC1680U only supports up to 16 TB drives”. The customer (who had a lot of money) bought new 16 bay enterprise QNAP systems, and the 18 TB drives worked flawlessly in them. But let me tell you - my stomach sank when I was told that these new expensive drives would not work in their old QNAP. Moral of story - ASSUME NOTHING !!!