[em-bee]

in my case i use 2.5" 5TB disks. there is only one model from one manufacturer making those. i bought one each from two different shops located in different parts of the country 5 years ago. i used them in a mirror raid. one of them died a year ago. then i got two more drives, one of which was second hand slightly used. the price was good and i figured it was a good way to ensure i'd get drives from two very different batches.