The author shares their experience with a 4U 71 TiB ZFS NAS built over 10 years ago. Surprisingly, the system has had zero drive failures despite running for only about 250 days in total. The author’s method of turning the server off when not in use may contribute to the longevity of the hard drives. They also detail their use of ZFS, a quiet NAS setup achieved through a PID controller, networking improvements with 10Gbit Ethernet cards, and their lack of backups for non-essential data. Despite potential risks, the author plans to continue using the NAS until it eventually fails or their storage needs change.
https://louwrentius.com/my-71-tib-zfs-nas-after-10-years-and-zero-drive-failures.html