Because of cost I decided to take a chance and try a While Label 6TB drive for $150. From the information I can gather, it’s most likely an “unbranded” WD Red, but who really knows. As soon as it arrives I plan to scan the drive for defects (and any other bits of info) before placing it in my 5N. I will let you know how it goes. 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA5AD3KE4284
looking at where the access ports are, that’s a WD Red alright
with all the cool cheap hd offers you find - you could start a new thread channel - possibly called Azn Dragon’s Den 
Ha ha
Lately I’ve been on the lookout for inexpensive 6TB drives to upgrade my Drobo. This one fit my shrinking budget. As long as it passes testing, I don’t see why not buy more.
I do wonder though…if these are indeed unbranded “reds”, did they remove some of the NAS features when the blew in different firmware?
They could well be green of course?
I think that the main thing you lose would be the extended warranty
After 84 straight hours, the drive passed the surface scan test. The SMART data looks alright as well. The drive was in a hard drive dock right next to my keyboard and it ran completely silent and got only mildly warm. Next step is to place this in Drobo and see how well it holds up in the real world.
any hints on the manufacturer/model?
From what I can tell, Western Digital was the original builder. I’m not sure which model, but the advertised 5700 RPM suggest it used to be a “RED”. I believe the “GREEN” line are all 5400 RPM.
maybe its some kind of anti competitiveness/trust business rules that each main manufacturer who has some kind of a monopoly position, needs to sell a certain amount of units to other smaller business resellers at a cheaper price so that they can then resell (or something similar to BT having to unbundle the local loop so that other telecoms providers could price things competitively too)
either way, if it is cheaper for consumers and still works fine, its all good
“White Label” HDD… hmm.
Where I am, I do know of companies selling “Refurbished” branded HDD. These are HDD from WD, Seagate etc… As it is refurbished. it comes with limited warranty maybe 3-6 months…
I got in on the same deal, and it passed the tests I threw at it. Looks good to me.
It comes with a 1 year warranty, so we’ll see what happens 6 months down the road or so