NAS Hard Drive – NAS Compares https://nascompares.com Simply passionate about NAS Fri, 15 Nov 2024 12:24:20 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://nascompares.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/cropped-nctabimage-32x32.jpg NAS Hard Drive – NAS Compares https://nascompares.com 32 32 107135767 NAS Hard Drives – Which Should You Buy? https://nascompares.com/guide/nas-hard-drives-which-should-you-buy/ https://nascompares.com/guide/nas-hard-drives-which-should-you-buy/#comments Sun, 03 Nov 2024 20:04:58 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?post_type=guide&p=75770 Choosing the Best Hard Drives for your NAS

Note – this is the 2024 update of the rolling ‘best HDD for your NAS’ article (Cheers Clayton!)

When choosing a NAS server for your home or business, selecting the right hard drive is essential. Just like every tool in a toolbox has its role, NAS-specific drives are engineered to meet the particular needs of network storage environments. Using the wrong type of drive in a NAS can lead to decreased performance and potential issues with reliability. In recent years, manufacturers have developed specialized NAS hard drives (including SSDs) that are designed for 24/7 use, high durability, and optimized read/write cycles to suit NAS workloads. As we enter 2025, the storage landscape has evolved significantly, with hard drives now reaching capacities of 24TB and 26TB, and innovations in platter technology leading to 11-platter designs. This breakthrough could soon push capacities beyond 30TB, addressing the growing need for massive data storage in both personal and professional settings. With such a wide range of drive sizes and types available, from 2TB to 26TB and beyond, it can be difficult to navigate the choices. To help, I’ve compiled a guide that highlights eight different NAS/Server setups and the most compatible hard drive options for each, taking into account the latest developments in technology and market trends for 2024/2025

Note – Use our Best Price Per TB Calculator tool HERE in order to get the best value storage for your needs. It includes filters for NAS size, redundancy, budget and capacity needs too!

Recommended NAS Hard Drives


Important – What You Need to Consider in a NAS HDD?

When selecting a NAS hard drive, understanding key terms can help you make the right choice. Here’s a quick guide to essential terms for 2024:

RAID – Redundant Array of Independent Disks enhances storage, speed, and data safety by using multiple drives. RAID 0 offers no protection but maximizes space. RAID 1, 5, and 6 provide varying levels of redundancy for safer storage.

SATA – Still the main connection type for NAS mechanical drives in 2024, SATA offers 6Gbps speeds, but mechanical drives generally top out at 280MB/s. Newer connections like NVMe and SAS are more prominent in enterprise SSDs.

Saturation – Refers to data flow through a connection. Although SATA allows up to 600MB/s, most mechanical NAS drives perform in the 180-280MB/s range.

Platters – Disks inside the drive that store data. Drives in 2024 now feature up to 11 platters, supporting capacities of up to 30TB.

Rotation Speed – Faster spinning platters improve read/write speeds, critical for performance.

Cache – A temporary memory buffer on the drive. Larger NAS drives often include bigger caches for smoother data handling, especially in SMR drives.

Terabytes Written (TBW) – Also known as “Workload Rating,” TBW measures how much data a NAS hard drive can handle in a year while maintaining performance. This metric accounts for regular use, such as filling and emptying the drive repeatedly, which is common in data centers. Standard NAS drives usually support around 180TBW, Pro models around 300TBW, and Enterprise-class drives 550TBW or more.

Magnetic Recording – This refers to the technology used to store data on the drive’s platters. In 2024, the main types are SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording), PMR/CMR (Perpendicular/Conventional Magnetic Recording), EAMR (Energy Assisted Magnetic Recording), and HAMR (Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording). PMR/CMR remains the most widely used for NAS hard drives due to its balance of reliability and performance.

Warranty Length – This is the manufacturer’s commitment to repair or replace a hard drive if it fails due to manufacturing defects. NAS drive warranties typically last between 3 and 5 years.

These terms are key to understanding how to select the best NAS hard drive in 2024. Next, we’ll explore different NAS environments and recommend the best drives for each.

Best Hard Drives for an Affordable RAID 6 Desktop 6/8-Bay NAS – Seagate Ironwolf (non-Pro)

1-12TB, 5900-7200RPM, 64-256MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, Rescue Data Recovery Services Included $50-229 

For those who are looking at a NAS server for business, or are home users who have made the enterprising move into the Prosumer bracket, then a 6-Bay or 8-Bay desktop NAS solution will become incredibly attractive. At this storage tier, we find a number of very cool and incredibly useful features become more widely available. For a start, we find the utility of RAID 6 (the 2 disk safety net configuration) much more palatable, as it makes less of a dent on our total available storage. Additionally, at this storage size, we start to see much more powerful processors, such as the Intel Core (i3, i5, etc) series arrive, AMD Ryzen and even Xeons. This combined with huge expandability of both memory internally and storage externally and generally with 10Gbe included as standard or available as an upgrade. So, at this scale of NAS storage, the hard drive choice becomes more important, as you do not want to create an internal bottleneck. For this tier of storage, I recommend the Seagate Ironwolf range of NAS drives. They arrive with a large number of 7200RM drives (with 5400RPM in the smaller capacities), a 180 terabytes per year guaranteed workload and the Seagate Rescue service. For those that are not aware, the Seagate Rescue+ package is a data recovery service that is included with your Ironwolf and Ironwolf Pro drives that, alongside your 3 year warranty, includes an additional 3 years of data recovery services.

What that means is that if your drive fails through no fault of your own within reason (so, no, not smashing it with a hammer), you can send the drive off to the Seagate recovery labs and they will try to get that data back. From accidental deletion, all the way through to mechanical and forensic level recovery, this is an impressive inclusion! You should still factor other safety nets in your architecture (backups, UPS, RAID, etc) but given the cost of data recovery services (costing anything from hundreds to thousands of pounds), this is a very, VERY useful inclusion when you need it. Additionally, Seagate Ironwolf hard drives sill manage to be the most affordable NAS drives on the market compared with their competitors, even when including the Rescue recovery included. They are also the only 3rd party NAS hard drive brand that has a tool to monitor drive health available on practically ALL the NAS software GUIs in the market, in Seagate Ironwolf Health Management.

+ Excellent Price Point

+ Rescue Data Recovery Services

+ Seagate Ironwolf Health Management

+ ONLY CMR/PMR Drives in their NAS Range

– Max Drive Capacity is 12TB (Pro Series go up to 22TB)

– Noisier General Operation than WD Red Drives

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Seagate Ironwolf (non-Pro) 8TB NAS HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA $149.99 (17% OFF, was $179.99) [LINK]
QNAP 1 Bay Home NAS with 4TB Storage Capacity, Preconfigured Seagate IronWolf Dr Amazon usa USA 13.19 OFF (WAS 155) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Small NAS Drive – WD Red & WD Red Plus

1-14TB, 5400/7200RPM (higher Caps = 7200RPM), 64-256MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, WD Red 1-6TB (SMR), WD Red Plus 1-14TB (CMR) $69-379

If you are looking to populate a compact, modestly powered, desktop NAS system (so a 1-Bay or 2-Bay NAS drive), then you have quite a large range of Hard Drives on offer. It is worth highlighting though that larger and more enterprise drives (i.e faster and longer warranty) will be noticeably noisier. Additionally, you will need to factor in that your maximum storage is going to be capped at either a single drive OR (in a 2-Bay NAS with RAID 1)  your storage halved to maintain redundancy. Finally, you will need to factor in that most 2-Bay NAS devices will either have a smaller external network connection (1/2.5Gbe) or are not really capable of saturating a full connection externally. So, baring these factors in mind, I would recommend the WD Red series of NAS hard drives for small NAS systems. They do not typically have more aggressive hardware internally, so the ambient noise when these drives are running will be remarkably low.

The performance, due to the lower rotations per minute (RPM) and cache might not seem spectacularly high, but in a 1-Bay or 2-Bay NAS, you likely could not push much performance externally anyway, so why spend much more on something that in most cases you will not be able to take advantage of. Be warned though, as you reach the much higher capacities above 8TB, the general background noise of the drives will increase incrementally.

+ Affordable Price Tag

+ Low Noise and Power Consumption in 24×7 Use

+ Good base level of Capacities Available

– Some Drive feature Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR)

– Performance is fairly average in the smaller capacities

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

WD Red Plus Internal NAS HDD 3.5\" - 12TB WesternDigital usa USA 2 HDD for $399 [LINK]
WD 8TB WD RED PLUS HDD B&H usa USA £159.99 ($49 off) [LINK]
WD Red Plus 4TB NAS Hard Drive (BF) Amazon usa USA 29% OFF, Now $84.99 (was $119.99) [LINK]
Western Digital 6TB WD Red Plus HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA $99.99 (33% OFF) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Affordable Hard Drives for a RAID 5 Desktop 4-Bay NAS – Toshiba N300

4-18TB, 7200RPM, 128-512MB Cache, 180 TBW, 3yr Warranty, 1-1.2M MTBF Rating $250-450  

A 4-Bay NAS drive is generally when home and small/medium business users start to take their storage seriously. There are such a wide variety of hardware options that arrive at this storage tier, ranging from powerful Intel/AMD processors and DDR4 memory, to 10Gbe and PCIe upgrades. This arrives with the utility if RAID 5, that allows users to have a much larger potential capacity and performance, but still have a single drive of redundancy to fall back on in the event of drive failure. At this degree of NAS storage, you have a much greater potential to not only largely saturate a 10Gbe connection, but alternatively, you can also look into installing 2.5Gbe and 5Gbe upgrades and fill multiple plus gigabit connections directly or via a switch.  In order to maximize this connection, but to also not max out your budget, I recommend the Toshiba N300 range of Hard Drives. Although they are a brand that is generally held commercially in the 3rd place when it comes to NAS media drives, their N300 range arrives at a similar/lower price point than Seagate Ironwolf and WD Red, but also arrives with 7200RPM on all capacities, with the lowest capacity arriving with 128MB caching and scaling up to 256MB quickly in the series. The increase in RPM will increase the background clicks, hums and whirs of the drive, but at 4-Bays, this is something that the NAS enclosure itself will begin to generate too. A high performing and often overlooked drive that, at the top capacity, can hit performance of up to 274MB/s.

+ Well Priced for a 7200RPM and 128/256/512 Cache Drive

+ Available in up to 18TB, even in non-Pro N300 Series

+ Error Recovery Control

– Will Generate More Noise at 7200RPM

– Not As Widely Available

– Not as well regarded as Seagate or WD

The 3.5-inch N300 NAS Hard Drive offers unprecedented reliability for NAS and other high-performance storage systems. It is optimized to meet the reliability, endurance, performance and scalability requirements of 24-hour x 7-day high-capacity storage for personal, home office and small business use. The N300 is available in capacities of up to 18 TB.

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?


These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Small Rackmount NAS – WD Red Pro

2-22TB, 7200RPM, 128-512MB Cache, 300TBW, 5yr Warranty $85-429 

Now we move onto the Rackmount NAS compatible hard drives, we have to start looking squarely at two main factors – Performance and Durability. If you are a business or established Prosumer user, then chances are that your NAS system is going to be used for a much larger % per day than most average users. Whether it is for surveillance, virtual machines, business file-sharing or just a combination of all of them every day, you want drives that are going to give you a good level of performance internally AND externally. Likewise, as the hard drives in even a modest rackmount NAS will be on for extended periods, you need to know that the drive can maintain the promising performance indefinitely AND without braking. This is where we start to look at specifications such as TBW (Terabytes Written), Mean time between failure, workload cycles and the warranty in more detail. For those looking at 10Gbe equipped or at least ’10Gbe Ready’ modest rackmount systems, I would recommend the WD Red Pro series of compatible NAS hard drives. Generally, one of the first Pro series NAS hard drives to arrive on the market, the WD Red Pro series is designed for NAS systems up to 24Bays and is available up to 18TB currently.

What did we say about the WD Red Pro 22TB highest tier model? We reviewed it back on September ’22 and whichever way you look at it, the WD Red Pro 22TB Hard drive is a stone-cold WINNER of a drive – both in terms of what it brings to the end user AND what this new 10-platter/OptiNAND drive design means for the future of the WD drive line up. WD does not over promise with this drive (with performance exceeding the brands reported benchmarks in almost every one of my tests, even using mid-range equipment) and they even nailed the price point in line with previous drives in the portfolio (though there is simply no avoiding that you are going to need deep pockets to fully populate any system with these 22TB drives). That said, much like any other WD Red Pro drive, the more industrial architecture still leads to a slightly higher running temp, noisier operation and slight increased power use. This is to be expected, but with no non-Pro alternative available at this capacity, the feasibility of fully populating a smaller scale system with the WD Red Pro 22TB is going to be both expensive AND noisy. I definitely recommend this drive to larger-scale NAS and SAN environments that need sustained RAID performance, high capacity and storage reliability – just maybe buy some earplugs if you plan on working in the same room as them.

Certainly one of the most expensive NAS HDDs out there, but provides a very good level of storage, performance, durability and overall is a very dependable drive for SMB users (Small/Medium Business) that want a drive they can rely on.

+ Top Tier NAS Drive Performance

+ 300TB/Y Workload

+ Build for up to 24-Bay Servers

– Certainly Noiser than non-Pro equivalents

– More Expensive than the Seagate Pro Option

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?


These Offers are Checked Daily


Best Hard Drives for an SMB Rackmount NAS 12-Bay – Seagate Ironwolf Pro

4-24TB, 7200RPM, 256MB Cache, 300 TBW (Newer NT version rates at 550TBW), 5yr Warranty, Rescue Data Recovery Services Included $79-399 

When it comes to the move into Rackmount storage for businesses (novices stop here) then not only do you have to only consider Pro/Enterprise-class drives only, but you can also start to look at drives that include certain business level advantages in terms of coverage and service. Much like the non-PRO series of hard drives mentioned earlier, the Seagate Ironwolf Pro series of HDDs include the Rescue+ data recovery services but also includes an impressive 5 years of the manufacturers warranty. However, it is in terms of performance, capacity and durability that the difference between these two ranges become apparent. For a start, the Ironwolf Pro HDD range arrives in capacities of up to 18TB (26-30TB promised for later in 2024/2025 thanks to Energy Assisted Magnetic Recording – with 50TB slated by end of the decade), with ALL drives in the PRO range arriving with 7200RPM and 256/512MB of cache. The result is that these drives will hit up to an impressive 260MB/s, which even in smaller RAID 5 groups will easily saturate a 10Gb connection with just 4-5 drives.I performed te sts on 64MB, 256MB, 1GB and 4GB test files, as well as mixed 70/30% R/W. The results were consistent and largely lived up to Seagate’s claims here.

What did we think of the Seagate Ironwolf Pro larger capacities? We reviewed the new NT series (higher durability at 550TBW over 300TBW in the previous revisions) 20TB version and Straight out the gate, the Seagate Ironwolf Pro 20TB HDD comfortably delivers on it’s promises of performance. This alongside full tested and confirmed compatibility with Synology and QNAP NAS devices means that you have a drive here that can turn any 4-Bay NAS into a 60TB RAID5 Storage colossus – let alone once you start thinking about rackmounts and hyperscale. The pricing at the time of writing is a little muddled (the result of having two SKUs/Model IDs floating around in the market and eTailers having to play catch up) but that should hopefully iron out over time. I particularly appreciate that the workload discussion surrounding ‘Pro’ Class drives at 300TB/yr vs rapid HDD capacity growth is being addressed here with a 550TB/yr version to rival that of ‘Ent’ class drives – whatever the reason/motivation. The value of the Ironwolf Health Management tool is going to be something of debate and the inclusion of 3yrs data recovery services is a nice extra that (with any luck) few will need to use – but having them included in a 20TB HDD that still manages to maintain a similar level of Price per TB vs the bulk of NAS HDDs in the Pro tier increases the value notably. As HDDs continue to increase in scale and Seagate (among other brands) continues to outline their plans to hit 50TB by the end of the decade, the Seagate Ironwolf Pro ST2000NT001 is another good example of an HDD that finds a sweet spot between price, durability and value. Just be aware that this is a drive designed for large-scale use and that means high operational noise and higher than typical power use than non-Pro and smaller cap drives!

In recent years we have seen Seagate reshuffle their range of available capacities to align the capacities from 1-12TB to arrive in the standard Ironwolf range and Capacities of up to 18TB and 22TB to arrive on the PRO series (likely due to those larger capacity options requiring the more enterprise hardware as standard and making a non-PRO version impossible without purposely nerf’ing the lesser drives intentionally. There is crossover in 4-12TB models in between, however, the distinction in RPM, cache, build design and TBW rating is wide enough to justify this. The noise level of the Ironwolf HDD series in PRO is noticeable higher, but given these are designed for larger arrays, this noise increase will be less noticeable over the ambient noise of the whole system generally.

+ Excellent Price Point vs Ironwolf NON-Pro in the Portfolio

+ Rescue Data Recovery Services

+ New NT Version Available with 550 TB Annual Workload

+ Seagate Ironwolf Health Management

+ ONLY CMR/PMR Drives in their NAS Range

– Smallest Drive Capacity is 4TB

– Noticeable Boot Up Noise

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Seagate 24TB Ironwolf Pro $439 B&H usa USA $439.99 ($210 off) [LINK]
Seagate 24TB Ironwolf PRO HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA 38% OFF - Now $399 [LINK]
Seagate Ironwolf (non-Pro) 8TB NAS HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA $149.99 (17% OFF, was $179.99) [LINK]
QNAP 1 Bay Home NAS with 4TB Storage Capacity, Preconfigured Seagate IronWolf Dr Amazon usa USA 13.19 OFF (WAS 155) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

 

Best Hard Drives for an Enterprise Rackmount NAS Server – Seagate EXOS

1-24TB, 72000RPM, 256-512MB Cache, SAS & SATA Options, 550 TBW, 5yr Warranty, $99-519   

Now we finally move into the class of hard drive that is more classically defined at ‘Data Center’ and/or Hyperscale environments. Often choosing between a PRO class and Enterprise-class drive can be ticky at a glance. However, Pro class drives generally arrive with a much longer terabytes written rating per year (ie the amount of data that can be written to the drive throughout its lifespan per annum), arrive in numerous interfaces (so both SAS and SATA generally) and typically arrive with numerous format and encryption standard versions available. These are available because some industries and organizations insist on drive media that features in-built protection and secure erase on the drive itself. Of all the enterprise and data centre-class media in the market, I generally recommend the Seagate EXOS series for any hyper scale system environment. They are very, VERY closely followed by the Western Digital UltraStar class of drives, but the Seagate EXOS series is a little clearer to understand, has larger capacity options available earlier, with several variations of their Mach.2 available (dual actuator/arm SATA drives at 400MB/s+ and even triactuator drives in development) and generally arrive a pinch lower in price too in like-for-like comparisons against the Ultrastar.

Sound Test Video Live Soon (Below)

Changes by Synology in their 2021/2022 series of rackmounts systems onwards to ONLY support their own range of HDD media has led to their own drives featuring on their own respective hardware, so make sure to check that your intended NAS rackmount system supports Seagate EXOS drives before you head to checkout, as this is a trend that has continued right up to the most recent releases this year, as well as reduced HDD compatibility listings for home/SMB solutions such as the DS224+ and DS423+.

+ Huge Range of Architecture Options (FIPS, Military Encryp, 4KN, SED, SAS and more)

+ Constantly Evolving (Mach 2 versions, x14, x16 & x18 etc)

+ Comparatively Lower in Price vs Ultrastar

+ New 24TB Model (X24) Version Available

– Range Can Be Confusing

– Availability Can Be Difficult + Some Models Are ‘Bulk Purchase’ Only

– Noisy!

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Seagate EXOS Enterprise Server 24TB Hard Drive (BF) Amazon usa USA 20% off – $479.99 (was $599.99) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Business Synology NAS – Synology HAT5300

8-20TB, 7200RPM, 256/512MB Cache, 550TBW, 5yr Warranty, Synology System ONLY, Firmware Control on Synology DSM $199-599 

Arriving on the scene in Jan 2021 originally, the Synology branded range of Hard drives for enterprise server use took ALOT of people by surprise! Synology has always had a long-standing reputation with the production of network-attached storage, so in efforts to produce a complete first-party storage system that includes the software, the network hardware AND the media inside is very what their brand has been all about. In their defence too, these are not just cash-grab drives and are in-fact enterprise-class drives that are being priced at PRO series drives (so an Ultrastar/EXOS drive that is at the price tag of a WD Red or Ironwolf Pro). The drives themselves arrive (at launch anyway) with just three capacities available (8TB, 12TB and 16TB) and the architecture of them is quite eye-catching. A 550TBW per year rating, a 2.5Million MTTF, 256/512MB cache and performance ranging across the capacities from 230MB/s to a reported 270MB/s+. The drives are originally Toshiba M06/07/08 Enterprise drives that have a tweaked Synology NAS firmware onboard, so they are geared specifically towards utilization inside the Synology ecosystem. You can even check and upgrade the individual drive firmware directly from with the Synology DSM graphical user interface too, which is quite a unique and convenient feature for those larger arrays with differing drive versions being installed throughout your server’s lifespan.

You cannot really question the quality of the hardware architecture featured on the Synology HAT5300 range of hard drives. We clearly find here a range of drives that have been designed by Toshiba (an HDD vendor with decades of experience and Synology are not being coy about highlighting the partnership on this media), combined with one of the biggest providers of modern NAS in Synology, with media that is tweaked for use within their NAS systems and despite arriving at a Pro series price tag, arrive with hardware far more comparable to that of Seagate EXOS and Western digital Ultrastar hard drives. With a terrifically impressive annual workload, an approach to drive firmware and upgrades relatively unseen from any other drive for NAS’ and remarkable transparency from Synology in the marketing of these drives on day one certainly needs to be acknowledged. Moreover, Synology is not the first brand to champion the use of locked hard drive media in their service systems and they certainly won’t be the last. Overall, I am happy with the new Synology hard drives and despite possible reservations about where the logic of locked drives and exclusivity on this product and range will be extended to in the future (standard class versions?), I still happily recommend the Synology HAT5300 media series alongside other champions of NAS hard drive in 2024/2025

The move towards hard drive locking by Synology is something that has impressed some and disappointed others – but if you were going to be installing drive media inside a NAS system for business anyway, then ultimately these are still a very solid and well-performing product for you.

+ Enterprise Drives at a PRO class Price

+ 550TBW on ALL Capacities

+ Drive Firmware can be Updated from within the Synology DSM GUI

– Using them in not Synology NAS Hardware is not Supported

– More Expensive than other Enterprise Class HDDs from Seagate & WD

– Noisy Operation

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Synology DS1821+/128TB HAT5300 8 Bay Amazon UK UK 15.47 OFF (WAS 6657) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Business QNAP NAS – WD Ultrastar

1-26TB, 7200RPM, 256-512MB Cache, 550TBW, 5yr Warranty, FIPS and SED Options, SATA, SAS and U.2 NVMe SSD Options $70-550  

Finally, we move onto possibly the most well known of the enterprise-class of Hard Drives on the market. When it comes to data center and hyper-scale storage environments, Western Digital’s UltraStar range has the same reputation and long-running recognition as IBM has in the computer industry. They have been the go-to drive media of choice in the huge storage environment’s for years, thanks in large part to the fact they have been designed, developed and improved at the same time as the systems they were going into. In recent years, competitors have taken chunks of the market from them (as they are a larger and slightly slower behemoth to suddenly change tactic) and feature larger product runs that have to last extensive lengths of time to facilitate data center replacement media as needed. Nevertheless, in recent years the Ultrastar brand under WD has diversified hugely and alongside the popular WD Gold label has branched into a vast array of interface types, form factors, media variants and scales. Typically the first drive series to crack into a new capacity tier (the first to crack 20TB too – as well as rolling out the 24TB and 26TB HDD media to data centers before everyone else).

Sound Test Video Live Soon (Below)

The Ultrastar series of hard drives will often be compared against the WD Red Pro range of NAS hard drives when considering populating a server. It is worth remembering that the Ultrastar series is designed for both a higher performance AND a much more enduring performance – i.e it can maintain that level, as well as switch between processes, for much longer. Indeed in testing, the Ultrastar even features a much higher Read and Write performance than pretty much any other drive that peaks as high as 280MB/s in our ATTO DiskBenchmark testing below with just a single HDD. Even the IOs (IOPS_ went as high as 19,000, which although low when compared with modern high-end SSDs, for a single HDD is really impressive).

The drives themselves are fantastically dull in appearance of course, as one might expect from the enterprise tier and also feature quite an aggressive spin up noise. However, in much larger scale environments, you will almost certainly not hear the drive media over the ambient system fan noise. Overall still an oldie but a goodie!

+ Consistently High Performance

+ Well-established HDD Drive and Brand

+ Numerous Interfaces, in-Drive Encryption Systems and Choices

– DEFINITELY one of the most confusing product ranges

– Noticeably Noisy at boot

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?


These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Home or Small Business x23/x24 Gen Synology NAS – Synology HAT3300 Plus Series

4/6/8/12TB, 5900-7200RPM, 64-256MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, Synology NAS Designed, Firmware Update in DSM $109-189 

There is most certainly a clear design choice here to mirror that of the existing regular-class server drives on the market right now. The Synology HAT 3300+ series has been reported several times, not just here on the blog, to be built using Seagate Iron Wolf drive media with specific Synology firmware on board. Arriving with 180-terabyte annual workloads, 5400rpm, 256-megabyte cache, arriving in a CMR architecture and air-sealed – the specifications we see here are all quite standard. The 12TB benefits from an increased RPM and helium sealing, as per most 12 TB drives in the market, but apart from that the Synology Plus hard drive series are going to run quieter than most pro or enterprise-class drives, as well as have a slightly lower power consumption, but are also going to have a slight performance decrease than that of the HAT5300 and HAT3300. But that is only going to be of significance in larger RAID configurations realistically.

The differences between the Synology HAT3300, HAT5300/HAS5300 are pretty much exactly as you would find if you compared WD Red and Seagate IronWolf versus that of Seagate Exos and WD Ultrastar. Indeed, I am a little surprised that Synology has not introduced a middle ground in the form of a pro series drive, but perhaps this is something that will roll out later down the line. Nevertheless, this results in quite a void of performance, durability, and scale between these two ranges when compared to long-term established server hard drive ranges from these other companies filling the gaps of capacity and pro middle ground choices. It should be immediately highlighted that regardless of which Synology hard drive you opt for, you still benefit from firmware updates being actionable from within the Synology DSM software, easier and more streamlined warranty support, and firmware optimization that is specifically tailored towards Synology hardware deployment. We have discussed this at length previously when discussing the Synology enterprise hard drives and SSDs, and although you pay a premium for Synology’s own branded drives when compared to third-party alternatives that people have been using for decades, there are nonetheless merits in using drives specifically geared towards your NAS system rather than requiring a slightly broader design that suits more diverse servers. Here is how the Synology enterprise SATA, enterprise SAS, and mid-range plus hard drives differ in their specifications:

 
Classification Enterprise SATA Enterprise SAS Domestic SATA
Series Name Enterprise/XS Enterprise/XS PLUS
Model HAT5300 HAS5300 HAT3300
Interface SATA 6Gb SAS 12Gb SATA 6Gb
Recording CMR/PMR CMR/PMR CMR/PMR
Capacity (5/23) 4/8/12/16/18TB 8/12/16/18TB 4/6/8/12TB
RPM 7200RPM 7200RPM 5400RPM (7200 on 12TB)
Cache 256/512MB 256/512MB 256MB
Sector Size 512e 512e 512e
Max Transfer Speed (Capacity Dependant) 254/260/253/274/281MB/s 241/253/274MB/s 202/240MB/s
Drive Sealing AIR/AIR/Helium/Helium/Helium AIR/Helium/Helium/Helium AIR/AIR/AIR/Helium
Power Use (Idle) 4.07/5.61/4.25/4.00/4.16W 6.62/4.36/4.46W 3.96/3.4/3.4/5.07W
Power Use (Active) 7.76/9.29/7.83/7.63/8.35W 9.87/7.80/8.12W 4.85/5.3/5.3/8.33W
Load/Unload Cycles 600K 600K 600K
Workload Rating 550TB (Annual) 550TB (Annual) 180TB (Annual)
MTBF (Hrs) 2.0/2.5Million 2.5Million 1Million
Warranty 5 Years 5 Years 3 Years

+ Much more affordable than the HAT5300 Series

+ Better range off smaller capacities than HAT5300

+ Drive Firmware can be Updated from within the Synology DSM GUI

– Not Supported on Bigger Synology NAS Systems (eg XS or SA Series)

– Lacks Data Recovery Service of Seagate Ironwolf HDDs

– 12TB Maximum Capacity (at time of writing)

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Synology DS224+ 8TB 2 Bay NAS Solution installed with 2 x 4TB HAT3300 Drives Amazon UK UK 113.7 OFF (WAS 747) [LINK]
Synology DS224+ 32TB 2 Bay NAS Solution installed with 2 x 16 HAT3300 Drives Amazon UK UK 318.35 OFF (WAS 1224) [LINK]
Synology DS1621+ 24TB 6 Bay Desktop NAS Solution installed with 6 x 4TB HAT3300 Amazon UK UK 63.02 OFF (WAS 1662) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

 


IMPORTANT! Compatibility of Hard Drives with Synology NAS Systems

An increasingly important factor when selecting NAS hard drives is their compatibility with specific NAS systems. Over the last 18-24 months, there has been a noticeable trend, especially with Synology, towards reducing the range of compatible, supported, or verified HDDs. Synology has shown a preference for their own HAT3300 and HAT5300 drives, somewhat limiting the choice for users of their systems. This shift marks a departure from the traditionally open approach where most NAS brands, including Synology, supported a wide range of third-party drives.

This change in policy is significant for users needing specific storage solutions or those accustomed to a broader choice of drives. It contrasts with other NAS brands, which continue to support a variety of third-party drives, including the latest high-capacity models. When choosing a NAS hard drive in 2024/2025, it’s crucial to consider not just the drive’s specifications but also its compatibility with your NAS system. This ensures that you can take full advantage of the NAS’s features and avoid potential compatibility issues.

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle

Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

 

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today’s video. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

]]>
https://nascompares.com/guide/nas-hard-drives-which-should-you-buy/feed/ 747 75770
NAS Hard Drives – Which Should You Buy? https://nascompares.com/2024/11/13/nas-hard-drives-which-should-you-buy/ https://nascompares.com/2024/11/13/nas-hard-drives-which-should-you-buy/#comments Wed, 13 Nov 2024 17:00:11 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?p=75771 Choosing the Best Hard Drives for your NAS

Note – this is the 2024 update of the rolling ‘best HDD for your NAS’ article (Cheers Clayton!)

When choosing a NAS server for your home or business, selecting the right hard drive is essential. Just like every tool in a toolbox has its role, NAS-specific drives are engineered to meet the particular needs of network storage environments. Using the wrong type of drive in a NAS can lead to decreased performance and potential issues with reliability. In recent years, manufacturers have developed specialized NAS hard drives (including SSDs) that are designed for 24/7 use, high durability, and optimized read/write cycles to suit NAS workloads. As we enter 2025, the storage landscape has evolved significantly, with hard drives now reaching capacities of 24TB and 26TB, and innovations in platter technology leading to 11-platter designs. This breakthrough could soon push capacities beyond 30TB, addressing the growing need for massive data storage in both personal and professional settings. With such a wide range of drive sizes and types available, from 2TB to 26TB and beyond, it can be difficult to navigate the choices. To help, I’ve compiled a guide that highlights eight different NAS/Server setups and the most compatible hard drive options for each, taking into account the latest developments in technology and market trends for 2024/2025

Note – Use our Best Price Per TB Calculator tool HERE in order to get the best value storage for your needs. It includes filters for NAS size, redundancy, budget and capacity needs too!

Recommended NAS Hard Drives


Important – What You Need to Consider in a NAS HDD?

When selecting a NAS hard drive, understanding key terms can help you make the right choice. Here’s a quick guide to essential terms for 2024:

RAID – Redundant Array of Independent Disks enhances storage, speed, and data safety by using multiple drives. RAID 0 offers no protection but maximizes space. RAID 1, 5, and 6 provide varying levels of redundancy for safer storage.

SATA – Still the main connection type for NAS mechanical drives in 2024, SATA offers 6Gbps speeds, but mechanical drives generally top out at 280MB/s. Newer connections like NVMe and SAS are more prominent in enterprise SSDs.

Saturation – Refers to data flow through a connection. Although SATA allows up to 600MB/s, most mechanical NAS drives perform in the 180-280MB/s range.

Platters – Disks inside the drive that store data. Drives in 2024 now feature up to 11 platters, supporting capacities of up to 30TB.

Rotation Speed – Faster spinning platters improve read/write speeds, critical for performance.

Cache – A temporary memory buffer on the drive. Larger NAS drives often include bigger caches for smoother data handling, especially in SMR drives.

Terabytes Written (TBW) – Also known as “Workload Rating,” TBW measures how much data a NAS hard drive can handle in a year while maintaining performance. This metric accounts for regular use, such as filling and emptying the drive repeatedly, which is common in data centers. Standard NAS drives usually support around 180TBW, Pro models around 300TBW, and Enterprise-class drives 550TBW or more.

Magnetic Recording – This refers to the technology used to store data on the drive’s platters. In 2024, the main types are SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording), PMR/CMR (Perpendicular/Conventional Magnetic Recording), EAMR (Energy Assisted Magnetic Recording), and HAMR (Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording). PMR/CMR remains the most widely used for NAS hard drives due to its balance of reliability and performance.

Warranty Length – This is the manufacturer’s commitment to repair or replace a hard drive if it fails due to manufacturing defects. NAS drive warranties typically last between 3 and 5 years.

These terms are key to understanding how to select the best NAS hard drive in 2024. Next, we’ll explore different NAS environments and recommend the best drives for each.

Best Hard Drives for an Affordable RAID 6 Desktop 6/8-Bay NAS – Seagate Ironwolf (non-Pro)

1-12TB, 5900-7200RPM, 64-256MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, Rescue Data Recovery Services Included $50-229 

For those who are looking at a NAS server for business, or are home users who have made the enterprising move into the Prosumer bracket, then a 6-Bay or 8-Bay desktop NAS solution will become incredibly attractive. At this storage tier, we find a number of very cool and incredibly useful features become more widely available. For a start, we find the utility of RAID 6 (the 2 disk safety net configuration) much more palatable, as it makes less of a dent on our total available storage. Additionally, at this storage size, we start to see much more powerful processors, such as the Intel Core (i3, i5, etc) series arrive, AMD Ryzen and even Xeons. This combined with huge expandability of both memory internally and storage externally and generally with 10Gbe included as standard or available as an upgrade. So, at this scale of NAS storage, the hard drive choice becomes more important, as you do not want to create an internal bottleneck. For this tier of storage, I recommend the Seagate Ironwolf range of NAS drives. They arrive with a large number of 7200RM drives (with 5400RPM in the smaller capacities), a 180 terabytes per year guaranteed workload and the Seagate Rescue service. For those that are not aware, the Seagate Rescue+ package is a data recovery service that is included with your Ironwolf and Ironwolf Pro drives that, alongside your 3 year warranty, includes an additional 3 years of data recovery services.

What that means is that if your drive fails through no fault of your own within reason (so, no, not smashing it with a hammer), you can send the drive off to the Seagate recovery labs and they will try to get that data back. From accidental deletion, all the way through to mechanical and forensic level recovery, this is an impressive inclusion! You should still factor other safety nets in your architecture (backups, UPS, RAID, etc) but given the cost of data recovery services (costing anything from hundreds to thousands of pounds), this is a very, VERY useful inclusion when you need it. Additionally, Seagate Ironwolf hard drives sill manage to be the most affordable NAS drives on the market compared with their competitors, even when including the Rescue recovery included. They are also the only 3rd party NAS hard drive brand that has a tool to monitor drive health available on practically ALL the NAS software GUIs in the market, in Seagate Ironwolf Health Management.

+ Excellent Price Point

+ Rescue Data Recovery Services

+ Seagate Ironwolf Health Management

+ ONLY CMR/PMR Drives in their NAS Range

– Max Drive Capacity is 12TB (Pro Series go up to 22TB)

– Noisier General Operation than WD Red Drives

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Seagate Ironwolf (non-Pro) 8TB NAS HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA $149.99 (17% OFF, was $179.99) [LINK]
QNAP 1 Bay Home NAS with 4TB Storage Capacity, Preconfigured Seagate IronWolf Dr Amazon usa USA 13.19 OFF (WAS 155) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Small NAS Drive – WD Red & WD Red Plus

1-14TB, 5400/7200RPM (higher Caps = 7200RPM), 64-256MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, WD Red 1-6TB (SMR), WD Red Plus 1-14TB (CMR) $69-379

If you are looking to populate a compact, modestly powered, desktop NAS system (so a 1-Bay or 2-Bay NAS drive), then you have quite a large range of Hard Drives on offer. It is worth highlighting though that larger and more enterprise drives (i.e faster and longer warranty) will be noticeably noisier. Additionally, you will need to factor in that your maximum storage is going to be capped at either a single drive OR (in a 2-Bay NAS with RAID 1)  your storage halved to maintain redundancy. Finally, you will need to factor in that most 2-Bay NAS devices will either have a smaller external network connection (1/2.5Gbe) or are not really capable of saturating a full connection externally. So, baring these factors in mind, I would recommend the WD Red series of NAS hard drives for small NAS systems. They do not typically have more aggressive hardware internally, so the ambient noise when these drives are running will be remarkably low.

The performance, due to the lower rotations per minute (RPM) and cache might not seem spectacularly high, but in a 1-Bay or 2-Bay NAS, you likely could not push much performance externally anyway, so why spend much more on something that in most cases you will not be able to take advantage of. Be warned though, as you reach the much higher capacities above 8TB, the general background noise of the drives will increase incrementally.

+ Affordable Price Tag

+ Low Noise and Power Consumption in 24×7 Use

+ Good base level of Capacities Available

– Some Drive feature Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR)

– Performance is fairly average in the smaller capacities

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

WD Red Plus Internal NAS HDD 3.5\" - 12TB WesternDigital usa USA 2 HDD for $399 [LINK]
WD 8TB WD RED PLUS HDD B&H usa USA £159.99 ($49 off) [LINK]
WD Red Plus 4TB NAS Hard Drive (BF) Amazon usa USA 29% OFF, Now $84.99 (was $119.99) [LINK]
Western Digital 6TB WD Red Plus HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA $99.99 (33% OFF) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Affordable Hard Drives for a RAID 5 Desktop 4-Bay NAS – Toshiba N300

4-18TB, 7200RPM, 128-512MB Cache, 180 TBW, 3yr Warranty, 1-1.2M MTBF Rating $250-450  

A 4-Bay NAS drive is generally when home and small/medium business users start to take their storage seriously. There are such a wide variety of hardware options that arrive at this storage tier, ranging from powerful Intel/AMD processors and DDR4 memory, to 10Gbe and PCIe upgrades. This arrives with the utility if RAID 5, that allows users to have a much larger potential capacity and performance, but still have a single drive of redundancy to fall back on in the event of drive failure. At this degree of NAS storage, you have a much greater potential to not only largely saturate a 10Gbe connection, but alternatively, you can also look into installing 2.5Gbe and 5Gbe upgrades and fill multiple plus gigabit connections directly or via a switch.  In order to maximize this connection, but to also not max out your budget, I recommend the Toshiba N300 range of Hard Drives. Although they are a brand that is generally held commercially in the 3rd place when it comes to NAS media drives, their N300 range arrives at a similar/lower price point than Seagate Ironwolf and WD Red, but also arrives with 7200RPM on all capacities, with the lowest capacity arriving with 128MB caching and scaling up to 256MB quickly in the series. The increase in RPM will increase the background clicks, hums and whirs of the drive, but at 4-Bays, this is something that the NAS enclosure itself will begin to generate too. A high performing and often overlooked drive that, at the top capacity, can hit performance of up to 274MB/s.

+ Well Priced for a 7200RPM and 128/256/512 Cache Drive

+ Available in up to 18TB, even in non-Pro N300 Series

+ Error Recovery Control

– Will Generate More Noise at 7200RPM

– Not As Widely Available

– Not as well regarded as Seagate or WD

The 3.5-inch N300 NAS Hard Drive offers unprecedented reliability for NAS and other high-performance storage systems. It is optimized to meet the reliability, endurance, performance and scalability requirements of 24-hour x 7-day high-capacity storage for personal, home office and small business use. The N300 is available in capacities of up to 18 TB.

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?


These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Small Rackmount NAS – WD Red Pro

2-22TB, 7200RPM, 128-512MB Cache, 300TBW, 5yr Warranty $85-429 

Now we move onto the Rackmount NAS compatible hard drives, we have to start looking squarely at two main factors – Performance and Durability. If you are a business or established Prosumer user, then chances are that your NAS system is going to be used for a much larger % per day than most average users. Whether it is for surveillance, virtual machines, business file-sharing or just a combination of all of them every day, you want drives that are going to give you a good level of performance internally AND externally. Likewise, as the hard drives in even a modest rackmount NAS will be on for extended periods, you need to know that the drive can maintain the promising performance indefinitely AND without braking. This is where we start to look at specifications such as TBW (Terabytes Written), Mean time between failure, workload cycles and the warranty in more detail. For those looking at 10Gbe equipped or at least ’10Gbe Ready’ modest rackmount systems, I would recommend the WD Red Pro series of compatible NAS hard drives. Generally, one of the first Pro series NAS hard drives to arrive on the market, the WD Red Pro series is designed for NAS systems up to 24Bays and is available up to 18TB currently.

What did we say about the WD Red Pro 22TB highest tier model? We reviewed it back on September ’22 and whichever way you look at it, the WD Red Pro 22TB Hard drive is a stone-cold WINNER of a drive – both in terms of what it brings to the end user AND what this new 10-platter/OptiNAND drive design means for the future of the WD drive line up. WD does not over promise with this drive (with performance exceeding the brands reported benchmarks in almost every one of my tests, even using mid-range equipment) and they even nailed the price point in line with previous drives in the portfolio (though there is simply no avoiding that you are going to need deep pockets to fully populate any system with these 22TB drives). That said, much like any other WD Red Pro drive, the more industrial architecture still leads to a slightly higher running temp, noisier operation and slight increased power use. This is to be expected, but with no non-Pro alternative available at this capacity, the feasibility of fully populating a smaller scale system with the WD Red Pro 22TB is going to be both expensive AND noisy. I definitely recommend this drive to larger-scale NAS and SAN environments that need sustained RAID performance, high capacity and storage reliability – just maybe buy some earplugs if you plan on working in the same room as them.

Certainly one of the most expensive NAS HDDs out there, but provides a very good level of storage, performance, durability and overall is a very dependable drive for SMB users (Small/Medium Business) that want a drive they can rely on.

+ Top Tier NAS Drive Performance

+ 300TB/Y Workload

+ Build for up to 24-Bay Servers

– Certainly Noiser than non-Pro equivalents

– More Expensive than the Seagate Pro Option

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?


These Offers are Checked Daily


Best Hard Drives for an SMB Rackmount NAS 12-Bay – Seagate Ironwolf Pro

4-24TB, 7200RPM, 256MB Cache, 300 TBW (Newer NT version rates at 550TBW), 5yr Warranty, Rescue Data Recovery Services Included $79-399 

When it comes to the move into Rackmount storage for businesses (novices stop here) then not only do you have to only consider Pro/Enterprise-class drives only, but you can also start to look at drives that include certain business level advantages in terms of coverage and service. Much like the non-PRO series of hard drives mentioned earlier, the Seagate Ironwolf Pro series of HDDs include the Rescue+ data recovery services but also includes an impressive 5 years of the manufacturers warranty. However, it is in terms of performance, capacity and durability that the difference between these two ranges become apparent. For a start, the Ironwolf Pro HDD range arrives in capacities of up to 18TB (26-30TB promised for later in 2024/2025 thanks to Energy Assisted Magnetic Recording – with 50TB slated by end of the decade), with ALL drives in the PRO range arriving with 7200RPM and 256/512MB of cache. The result is that these drives will hit up to an impressive 260MB/s, which even in smaller RAID 5 groups will easily saturate a 10Gb connection with just 4-5 drives.I performed te sts on 64MB, 256MB, 1GB and 4GB test files, as well as mixed 70/30% R/W. The results were consistent and largely lived up to Seagate’s claims here.

What did we think of the Seagate Ironwolf Pro larger capacities? We reviewed the new NT series (higher durability at 550TBW over 300TBW in the previous revisions) 20TB version and Straight out the gate, the Seagate Ironwolf Pro 20TB HDD comfortably delivers on it’s promises of performance. This alongside full tested and confirmed compatibility with Synology and QNAP NAS devices means that you have a drive here that can turn any 4-Bay NAS into a 60TB RAID5 Storage colossus – let alone once you start thinking about rackmounts and hyperscale. The pricing at the time of writing is a little muddled (the result of having two SKUs/Model IDs floating around in the market and eTailers having to play catch up) but that should hopefully iron out over time. I particularly appreciate that the workload discussion surrounding ‘Pro’ Class drives at 300TB/yr vs rapid HDD capacity growth is being addressed here with a 550TB/yr version to rival that of ‘Ent’ class drives – whatever the reason/motivation. The value of the Ironwolf Health Management tool is going to be something of debate and the inclusion of 3yrs data recovery services is a nice extra that (with any luck) few will need to use – but having them included in a 20TB HDD that still manages to maintain a similar level of Price per TB vs the bulk of NAS HDDs in the Pro tier increases the value notably. As HDDs continue to increase in scale and Seagate (among other brands) continues to outline their plans to hit 50TB by the end of the decade, the Seagate Ironwolf Pro ST2000NT001 is another good example of an HDD that finds a sweet spot between price, durability and value. Just be aware that this is a drive designed for large-scale use and that means high operational noise and higher than typical power use than non-Pro and smaller cap drives!

In recent years we have seen Seagate reshuffle their range of available capacities to align the capacities from 1-12TB to arrive in the standard Ironwolf range and Capacities of up to 18TB and 22TB to arrive on the PRO series (likely due to those larger capacity options requiring the more enterprise hardware as standard and making a non-PRO version impossible without purposely nerf’ing the lesser drives intentionally. There is crossover in 4-12TB models in between, however, the distinction in RPM, cache, build design and TBW rating is wide enough to justify this. The noise level of the Ironwolf HDD series in PRO is noticeable higher, but given these are designed for larger arrays, this noise increase will be less noticeable over the ambient noise of the whole system generally.

+ Excellent Price Point vs Ironwolf NON-Pro in the Portfolio

+ Rescue Data Recovery Services

+ New NT Version Available with 550 TB Annual Workload

+ Seagate Ironwolf Health Management

+ ONLY CMR/PMR Drives in their NAS Range

– Smallest Drive Capacity is 4TB

– Noticeable Boot Up Noise

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Seagate 24TB Ironwolf Pro $439 B&H usa USA $439.99 ($210 off) [LINK]
Seagate 24TB Ironwolf PRO HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA 38% OFF - Now $399 [LINK]
Seagate Ironwolf (non-Pro) 8TB NAS HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA $149.99 (17% OFF, was $179.99) [LINK]
QNAP 1 Bay Home NAS with 4TB Storage Capacity, Preconfigured Seagate IronWolf Dr Amazon usa USA 13.19 OFF (WAS 155) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

 

Best Hard Drives for an Enterprise Rackmount NAS Server – Seagate EXOS

1-24TB, 72000RPM, 256-512MB Cache, SAS & SATA Options, 550 TBW, 5yr Warranty, $99-519   

Now we finally move into the class of hard drive that is more classically defined at ‘Data Center’ and/or Hyperscale environments. Often choosing between a PRO class and Enterprise-class drive can be ticky at a glance. However, Pro class drives generally arrive with a much longer terabytes written rating per year (ie the amount of data that can be written to the drive throughout its lifespan per annum), arrive in numerous interfaces (so both SAS and SATA generally) and typically arrive with numerous format and encryption standard versions available. These are available because some industries and organizations insist on drive media that features in-built protection and secure erase on the drive itself. Of all the enterprise and data centre-class media in the market, I generally recommend the Seagate EXOS series for any hyper scale system environment. They are very, VERY closely followed by the Western Digital UltraStar class of drives, but the Seagate EXOS series is a little clearer to understand, has larger capacity options available earlier, with several variations of their Mach.2 available (dual actuator/arm SATA drives at 400MB/s+ and even triactuator drives in development) and generally arrive a pinch lower in price too in like-for-like comparisons against the Ultrastar.

Sound Test Video Live Soon (Below)

Changes by Synology in their 2021/2022 series of rackmounts systems onwards to ONLY support their own range of HDD media has led to their own drives featuring on their own respective hardware, so make sure to check that your intended NAS rackmount system supports Seagate EXOS drives before you head to checkout, as this is a trend that has continued right up to the most recent releases this year, as well as reduced HDD compatibility listings for home/SMB solutions such as the DS224+ and DS423+.

+ Huge Range of Architecture Options (FIPS, Military Encryp, 4KN, SED, SAS and more)

+ Constantly Evolving (Mach 2 versions, x14, x16 & x18 etc)

+ Comparatively Lower in Price vs Ultrastar

+ New 24TB Model (X24) Version Available

– Range Can Be Confusing

– Availability Can Be Difficult + Some Models Are ‘Bulk Purchase’ Only

– Noisy!

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Seagate EXOS Enterprise Server 24TB Hard Drive (BF) Amazon usa USA 20% off – $479.99 (was $599.99) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Business Synology NAS – Synology HAT5300

8-20TB, 7200RPM, 256/512MB Cache, 550TBW, 5yr Warranty, Synology System ONLY, Firmware Control on Synology DSM $199-599 

Arriving on the scene in Jan 2021 originally, the Synology branded range of Hard drives for enterprise server use took ALOT of people by surprise! Synology has always had a long-standing reputation with the production of network-attached storage, so in efforts to produce a complete first-party storage system that includes the software, the network hardware AND the media inside is very what their brand has been all about. In their defence too, these are not just cash-grab drives and are in-fact enterprise-class drives that are being priced at PRO series drives (so an Ultrastar/EXOS drive that is at the price tag of a WD Red or Ironwolf Pro). The drives themselves arrive (at launch anyway) with just three capacities available (8TB, 12TB and 16TB) and the architecture of them is quite eye-catching. A 550TBW per year rating, a 2.5Million MTTF, 256/512MB cache and performance ranging across the capacities from 230MB/s to a reported 270MB/s+. The drives are originally Toshiba M06/07/08 Enterprise drives that have a tweaked Synology NAS firmware onboard, so they are geared specifically towards utilization inside the Synology ecosystem. You can even check and upgrade the individual drive firmware directly from with the Synology DSM graphical user interface too, which is quite a unique and convenient feature for those larger arrays with differing drive versions being installed throughout your server’s lifespan.

You cannot really question the quality of the hardware architecture featured on the Synology HAT5300 range of hard drives. We clearly find here a range of drives that have been designed by Toshiba (an HDD vendor with decades of experience and Synology are not being coy about highlighting the partnership on this media), combined with one of the biggest providers of modern NAS in Synology, with media that is tweaked for use within their NAS systems and despite arriving at a Pro series price tag, arrive with hardware far more comparable to that of Seagate EXOS and Western digital Ultrastar hard drives. With a terrifically impressive annual workload, an approach to drive firmware and upgrades relatively unseen from any other drive for NAS’ and remarkable transparency from Synology in the marketing of these drives on day one certainly needs to be acknowledged. Moreover, Synology is not the first brand to champion the use of locked hard drive media in their service systems and they certainly won’t be the last. Overall, I am happy with the new Synology hard drives and despite possible reservations about where the logic of locked drives and exclusivity on this product and range will be extended to in the future (standard class versions?), I still happily recommend the Synology HAT5300 media series alongside other champions of NAS hard drive in 2024/2025

The move towards hard drive locking by Synology is something that has impressed some and disappointed others – but if you were going to be installing drive media inside a NAS system for business anyway, then ultimately these are still a very solid and well-performing product for you.

+ Enterprise Drives at a PRO class Price

+ 550TBW on ALL Capacities

+ Drive Firmware can be Updated from within the Synology DSM GUI

– Using them in not Synology NAS Hardware is not Supported

– More Expensive than other Enterprise Class HDDs from Seagate & WD

– Noisy Operation

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Synology DS1821+/128TB HAT5300 8 Bay Amazon UK UK 15.47 OFF (WAS 6657) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Business QNAP NAS – WD Ultrastar

1-26TB, 7200RPM, 256-512MB Cache, 550TBW, 5yr Warranty, FIPS and SED Options, SATA, SAS and U.2 NVMe SSD Options $70-550  

Finally, we move onto possibly the most well known of the enterprise-class of Hard Drives on the market. When it comes to data center and hyper-scale storage environments, Western Digital’s UltraStar range has the same reputation and long-running recognition as IBM has in the computer industry. They have been the go-to drive media of choice in the huge storage environment’s for years, thanks in large part to the fact they have been designed, developed and improved at the same time as the systems they were going into. In recent years, competitors have taken chunks of the market from them (as they are a larger and slightly slower behemoth to suddenly change tactic) and feature larger product runs that have to last extensive lengths of time to facilitate data center replacement media as needed. Nevertheless, in recent years the Ultrastar brand under WD has diversified hugely and alongside the popular WD Gold label has branched into a vast array of interface types, form factors, media variants and scales. Typically the first drive series to crack into a new capacity tier (the first to crack 20TB too – as well as rolling out the 24TB and 26TB HDD media to data centers before everyone else).

Sound Test Video Live Soon (Below)

The Ultrastar series of hard drives will often be compared against the WD Red Pro range of NAS hard drives when considering populating a server. It is worth remembering that the Ultrastar series is designed for both a higher performance AND a much more enduring performance – i.e it can maintain that level, as well as switch between processes, for much longer. Indeed in testing, the Ultrastar even features a much higher Read and Write performance than pretty much any other drive that peaks as high as 280MB/s in our ATTO DiskBenchmark testing below with just a single HDD. Even the IOs (IOPS_ went as high as 19,000, which although low when compared with modern high-end SSDs, for a single HDD is really impressive).

The drives themselves are fantastically dull in appearance of course, as one might expect from the enterprise tier and also feature quite an aggressive spin up noise. However, in much larger scale environments, you will almost certainly not hear the drive media over the ambient system fan noise. Overall still an oldie but a goodie!

+ Consistently High Performance

+ Well-established HDD Drive and Brand

+ Numerous Interfaces, in-Drive Encryption Systems and Choices

– DEFINITELY one of the most confusing product ranges

– Noticeably Noisy at boot

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?


These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Home or Small Business x23/x24 Gen Synology NAS – Synology HAT3300 Plus Series

4/6/8/12TB, 5900-7200RPM, 64-256MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, Synology NAS Designed, Firmware Update in DSM $109-189 

There is most certainly a clear design choice here to mirror that of the existing regular-class server drives on the market right now. The Synology HAT 3300+ series has been reported several times, not just here on the blog, to be built using Seagate Iron Wolf drive media with specific Synology firmware on board. Arriving with 180-terabyte annual workloads, 5400rpm, 256-megabyte cache, arriving in a CMR architecture and air-sealed – the specifications we see here are all quite standard. The 12TB benefits from an increased RPM and helium sealing, as per most 12 TB drives in the market, but apart from that the Synology Plus hard drive series are going to run quieter than most pro or enterprise-class drives, as well as have a slightly lower power consumption, but are also going to have a slight performance decrease than that of the HAT5300 and HAT3300. But that is only going to be of significance in larger RAID configurations realistically.

The differences between the Synology HAT3300, HAT5300/HAS5300 are pretty much exactly as you would find if you compared WD Red and Seagate IronWolf versus that of Seagate Exos and WD Ultrastar. Indeed, I am a little surprised that Synology has not introduced a middle ground in the form of a pro series drive, but perhaps this is something that will roll out later down the line. Nevertheless, this results in quite a void of performance, durability, and scale between these two ranges when compared to long-term established server hard drive ranges from these other companies filling the gaps of capacity and pro middle ground choices. It should be immediately highlighted that regardless of which Synology hard drive you opt for, you still benefit from firmware updates being actionable from within the Synology DSM software, easier and more streamlined warranty support, and firmware optimization that is specifically tailored towards Synology hardware deployment. We have discussed this at length previously when discussing the Synology enterprise hard drives and SSDs, and although you pay a premium for Synology’s own branded drives when compared to third-party alternatives that people have been using for decades, there are nonetheless merits in using drives specifically geared towards your NAS system rather than requiring a slightly broader design that suits more diverse servers. Here is how the Synology enterprise SATA, enterprise SAS, and mid-range plus hard drives differ in their specifications:

 
Classification Enterprise SATA Enterprise SAS Domestic SATA
Series Name Enterprise/XS Enterprise/XS PLUS
Model HAT5300 HAS5300 HAT3300
Interface SATA 6Gb SAS 12Gb SATA 6Gb
Recording CMR/PMR CMR/PMR CMR/PMR
Capacity (5/23) 4/8/12/16/18TB 8/12/16/18TB 4/6/8/12TB
RPM 7200RPM 7200RPM 5400RPM (7200 on 12TB)
Cache 256/512MB 256/512MB 256MB
Sector Size 512e 512e 512e
Max Transfer Speed (Capacity Dependant) 254/260/253/274/281MB/s 241/253/274MB/s 202/240MB/s
Drive Sealing AIR/AIR/Helium/Helium/Helium AIR/Helium/Helium/Helium AIR/AIR/AIR/Helium
Power Use (Idle) 4.07/5.61/4.25/4.00/4.16W 6.62/4.36/4.46W 3.96/3.4/3.4/5.07W
Power Use (Active) 7.76/9.29/7.83/7.63/8.35W 9.87/7.80/8.12W 4.85/5.3/5.3/8.33W
Load/Unload Cycles 600K 600K 600K
Workload Rating 550TB (Annual) 550TB (Annual) 180TB (Annual)
MTBF (Hrs) 2.0/2.5Million 2.5Million 1Million
Warranty 5 Years 5 Years 3 Years

+ Much more affordable than the HAT5300 Series

+ Better range off smaller capacities than HAT5300

+ Drive Firmware can be Updated from within the Synology DSM GUI

– Not Supported on Bigger Synology NAS Systems (eg XS or SA Series)

– Lacks Data Recovery Service of Seagate Ironwolf HDDs

– 12TB Maximum Capacity (at time of writing)

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Synology DS224+ 8TB 2 Bay NAS Solution installed with 2 x 4TB HAT3300 Drives Amazon UK UK 113.7 OFF (WAS 747) [LINK]
Synology DS224+ 32TB 2 Bay NAS Solution installed with 2 x 16 HAT3300 Drives Amazon UK UK 318.35 OFF (WAS 1224) [LINK]
Synology DS1621+ 24TB 6 Bay Desktop NAS Solution installed with 6 x 4TB HAT3300 Amazon UK UK 63.02 OFF (WAS 1662) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

 


IMPORTANT! Compatibility of Hard Drives with Synology NAS Systems

An increasingly important factor when selecting NAS hard drives is their compatibility with specific NAS systems. Over the last 18-24 months, there has been a noticeable trend, especially with Synology, towards reducing the range of compatible, supported, or verified HDDs. Synology has shown a preference for their own HAT3300 and HAT5300 drives, somewhat limiting the choice for users of their systems. This shift marks a departure from the traditionally open approach where most NAS brands, including Synology, supported a wide range of third-party drives.

This change in policy is significant for users needing specific storage solutions or those accustomed to a broader choice of drives. It contrasts with other NAS brands, which continue to support a variety of third-party drives, including the latest high-capacity models. When choosing a NAS hard drive in 2024/2025, it’s crucial to consider not just the drive’s specifications but also its compatibility with your NAS system. This ensures that you can take full advantage of the NAS’s features and avoid potential compatibility issues.

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle

Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

 

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today’s video. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

]]>
https://nascompares.com/2024/11/13/nas-hard-drives-which-should-you-buy/feed/ 749 75771
Synology to introduce HAT3300 Plus Series Hard drives https://nascompares.com/news/synology-to-introduce-hat3300-plus-series-hard-drives/ https://nascompares.com/news/synology-to-introduce-hat3300-plus-series-hard-drives/#comments Tue, 28 Feb 2023 16:52:57 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?post_type=news&p=63879 Synology PLUS NAS Hard Drives – The HAT3300 Series

For those who have been following the world of network Attached Storage (NAS) and more precisely, the developments of Synology, it might not come as a huge surprise that the brand is now in the process of rolling out a new series of HAT3300 Hard Drives for 2023. Now, you might well be thinking “hold on, they have had their own range of HDDs for a few years now!” and that is correct. However, the existing HAT5300 and HAT5310 series of drives are very much targeted at Pro and Enterprise users (5yr warranty, 5400rpm, 550TB workload, etc) and Synology users who were looking to keep things ‘single ecosystem’ in their more modest scale systems (e.g DS920+, DS1522+, etc) were not won over by these bigger, noisier and more expensive drives in their systems. Therefore, it was somewhat inevitable that the brand would eventually get around to launching a more home/SMB-friendly range Of storage media that is better suited to smaller NAS systems of around 5-8 Bays at most. Enter the Synology HAT3300 Plus hard drive series, eventually rolling out in 4 (possibly a 5th in 16TB) different capacities and built on Seagate Ironwolf HDDs (whereas the Synology HAT5300 and HAT5310s are built on Toshiba Enterprise MG drives). Given Synology already has their other HDDs in the market, 2 types of SSD media, numerous types of memory media, upgrade cards, routers and even their own Surveillance IP cameras now – this really is one of the final steps for them to complete their own 1-brand hardware ecosystem of networking equipment (though, when will they EVER release a switch… come on… the SG1000 was a prototype!). So, let’s discuss the new Synology HAT3300 range, the hardware specs, how it compares with the existing HAT5300 series and ultimately whether they deserve your data?

Hardware Specifications of the Synology HAT3300 PLUS Hard Drive Range

As mentioned, the Synology HAT3300 Plus HDDs are built on Seagate Ironwolf drives. This does mean that they will likely mirror a number of the hardware specifications of that popular range, but with some additional Synology firmware improvements (such as the ability to update firmware from within Synology DSM and the storage Manager). Synology has supported compatibility of the Seagate Ironwolf HDD series for many, many years (though there has been a few bumps in the road in 2021/2022 when Synology rolled out their HAT5300 series and compatibility on some of their systems featured some rather unpopular omissions!) so the HAT3300 drives being Synology adapted/badged Seagates makes sense. Plus the Seagate Ironwolf Health Management tool has featured in the DSM storage manager for a number of years. Early information indicates that the Synology HAT3300 will arrive in 4TB, 6TB, 8TB and 12TB capacities, which are pretty much the ‘go to’ capacities for most users in 2023. Here is how the specifications for each drive break down:

Spec 12TB

8TB

6TB

4TB

Model ID HAT3300-12T HAT3300-8T HAT3300-6T HAT3300-4T
Bay Support 1-8 Bay 1-8 Bay 1-8 Bay 1-8 Bay
Recording CMR CMR CMR CMR
Drive Seal Helium Air Air Air
Workload 180TB 180TB 180TB 180TB
Spin Speed 7200RPM 5400RPM 5400RPM 5900RPM
Cache 256MB 256MB 256MB 64MB
Load Cycles 600K 600K 600K 600K
MTBF 1M Hours 1M Hours 1M Hours 1M Hours
Warranty 3yrs* 3yrs* 3yrs* 3yrs*

*TBC  – Will know more when they are launched officially

Why would you use Synology HAT3300 Hard Drives and not 3rd Party HDDs in your NAS?

It’s a very valid question! Much like the Synology HAT5300 drives being Toshiba MG drives with Synology treatment and firmware changes, why should a user opt for the HAT3300 drives if they are the same price or (likely) a pinch more expensive than the drives from Seagate on their own? Well, technically, users shouldn’t really have to ‘choose’. Unlike the Synology XS series and higher which seemingly had quite strict compatibility lists and support in DSM when 3rd party drives are used, the HAT3300 drives are designed for NAS devices much lower in the food chain (Plus and even Value series devices) which still had a wide range of HDD compatibility (including WD Red and Seagate Ironwolf). This means that the HAT3300 (at least, as far as the range of currently available NAS devices in the market now go) are not a hard/locked choice being foist on the end user. That said, there are several reasons why they might make a better choice over 3rd party drives for some users:

  • Synology firmware – When NAS drives are released by popular brands like WD and Seagate, they are designed with firmware that adapts the drive’s internal mechanisms to perform in 24×7 server environments and multi-access RAID configurations. However, as these drives will likely be used in a variety of different NAS systems and brands, they need to be a little broader in their behaviours (different NAS brands run their systems and access patterns/algorithms differently). The Synology HAT3300 will (much like the HAT5300 drives) have firmware that is specifically tweaked towards Synology NAS and it’s own access behaviour. They zeros in on the behaviour ranges of the drives within this particular hardware client system in a way that is much broader in compatible HDDs for NAS will need to be. It’s only a small handful of differences really, but in a larger RAID array and over 24×7, these small things can add up
  • Easier Firmware Updates – Surprisingly overlooked by many, but the ease and convenience of being able to update the drive firmware of an HDD from WITHIN the NAS software (in this case DSM) for one or more drives in an existing RAID is incredibly useful! HDD firmware updates for most drives in the market are not particularly frequent (often 1-2 a year at the very most) and these address any improvements that have been developed/observed by the manufacturer since launch or repair any issues/errors that have only been discovered through massive end-user unique use. However, the process of upgrading firmware on a NAS is NOT straightforward. With regular HDDs, you will need to power the NAS down, remove drives individually, connect them to a computer (sometimes directly via SATA, depending on the client system), then run a branded firmware update tool in the OS or in BIOS. Mounting this drive outside of a NAS environment can also open the door to possible formatting/reinitialization or altering existing partitions that will result in the reintroduction into the NAS being (at best) slow as a resync/rebuild is needed or (at worst) the RAID failing if multiple drives are being updated in batches. All this and we have not even discussed the downtime and handling time that will go into repeating this for EVERY DRIVE, as well as the dangers of harming a drive by dropping it or simple static electricity. So, therefore it is HUGELY BENEFICIAL that firmware updates for the Synology HDDs can be done from within DSM without removing the drives!
  • Warranty and Support – This is something that will be more appealing to those who purchased a Synology NAS specifically for it being a single eco-system platform (for ease of use and brand support). In the same way that a turn-key/pre-built NAS simplifies a potential process for warranty handling vs a custom-built device that will have individual warranty/support lines for each component (CPU+MEMORY+MOBO+NETWORK CARD, etc), opting for HDDs that are the same brand as the NAS you purchased at the same time massively simplifies the warranty/support process and also allows any issues to be much speedier in their identification (outside of just a simple drive failure of course). Support can even be started from within the Synology NAS system in DSM and progressed from there. Again, this advantage in the HAT3300 drives is a much smaller one, but certainly going to be appealing to small/medium businesses and those who value their time personally, as well as the downtime of their system.

So, as you can see, there are a few reasons why some users might opt for Synology’s HAT3300 drives over that of 3rd party drives in their Diskstation or Rackstation systems. So, what about those much beefier and higher price HAT5300 Hard drives that have been around for a few years now? How do they compare with the newer and lower-tier HAT3300s?

How do the Synology HAT3300 Regular Class and HAT5300 Enterprise Class HDDs Compare?

In terms of the support, compatibility and accessibility to Synology NAS hardware, the HAT3300 and HAT5300 HDDs are pretty much identical (though how/if you can use the HAT3300 in XS/SA/UC/HD servers is still a little less clear) and it is only when you dig into the specification that you can see the main differences between the drives. Here is how they compare:

Hardware Specifications HAT5300 / HAT5310 HAS5300 / HAS5310 HAT3300 / HAT3310
General Capacity 4, 8, 12, 16, 18TB 8, 12, 16TB 4, 6, 8, 12TB
Form Factor 3.5″ 3.5″ 3.5″
Interface SATA 6 Gb/s SAS 12 Gb/s SATA 6 Gb/s
Sector Size 512e 512e 512e
Performance Rotational Speed 7200 rpm 7200 rpm 5400-7200 rpm (12TB is 7200)
Interface Speed 6.0 Gb/s, 3.0 Gb/s, 1.5 Gb/s 6.0 Gb/s, 3.0 Gb/s, 1.5 Gb/s 6.0 Gb/s, 3.0 Gb/s, 1.5 Gb/s
Buffer Size 256 MiB 256 MiB 64-256 MiB (TBC on 4TB)
Maximum Sustained Data Transfer Speed 268 MiB/s 262 MiB/s 202-208 MiB/s
Reliability Mean Time to Failure (MTTF) 2 million hours 2.5 million hours 1 million hours
Workload Rating 550 TB Transferred per Year 550 TB Transferred per Year 180 TB Transferred per Year
Warranty 5 Years 5 Years 3 Years

When will the Synology HAT3300 Plus HDD series be released and How much will they be?

As details on the Synology HAT3300 have only just emerged, details regarding pricing at each capacity and their availability are still being outlined by the brand. Expect each capacity of drive to sit somewhere between the comparative price per TB of Seagate Ironwolf regular and Pro series drives. Release of the HAT3300 series looks to be very soon (practically ‘now ish’ in fact) and although I anticipate the bulk of the capacities to be available, expect the actual quantities of each tier to be a little low at least till the 2nd half of 2023. Expect a full review and testing of these drives later this year, here on NASCompares.


Original News Article Below (Out dated):

Synology PLUS NAS Hard Drives – The HAT3300 Series

Get ready for some exciting news for all the Synology and Network Attached Storage (NAS) fans out there! Synology is rolling out a brand new series of HAT3300 hard drives in 2023, and this time it’s geared towards home and SMB users. While Synology already has its own range of HDDs, the HAT5300 and HAT5310 series were mainly designed for Pro and Enterprise users, and many users with smaller scale systems weren’t fully satisfied with their bigger, noisier and more expensive drives.

But now, Synology has finally addressed this issue with the launch of the HAT3300 Plus hard drive series, which will come in four different capacities (and possibly a fifth in 16TB) and will be built on Seagate Ironwolf HDDs. This marks one of the final steps for Synology to complete its one-brand hardware ecosystem of networking equipment, which already includes 2 types of SSD media, numerous types of memory media, upgrade cards, routers and even their own Surveillance IP cameras.

So, let’s talk about the specs of the new Synology HAT3300 range, how it compares to the existing HAT5300 series, and most importantly, whether these drives are worth your precious data. With Synology’s reputation for high-quality products and excellent customer service, we’re confident that these new hard drives will be a game-changer for home and SMB users alike. Don’t miss out on this exciting new release!

Hardware Specifications of the Synology HAT3300 PLUS Hard Drive Range

The Synology HAT3300 Plus hard drives are built on the Seagate Ironwolf platform, which means they will likely share similar hardware specifications. However, Synology has added some firmware improvements, such as the ability to update firmware from within Synology DSM and Storage Manager. Synology has been compatible with Seagate Ironwolf HDD series for a long time, although there were some issues in 2021/2022 when compatibility with some systems was not ideal with the HAT5300 series. The HAT3300 drives being Synology adapted/badged Seagates is a logical move, and the Seagate Ironwolf Health Management tool has been featured in the DSM storage manager for many years.

The HAT3300 drives will come in 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, and 12TB capacities, which are the most commonly used sizes for users in 2023. Here is a breakdown of the specifications for each drive.

 

Here are their Enterprise series HDDs

HAT5300-4T HAT5310-8T HAT5300-12T HAT5300-16T HAT5310-18T
4 TB 8 TB 12 TB 16 TB 18 TB
3.5″ 3.5″ 3.5″ 3.5″ 3.5″
SATA 6 Gb/s SATA 6 Gb/s SATA 6 Gb/s SATA 6 Gb/s SATA 6 Gb/s
512e 512e 512e 512e 512e
7,200 rpm 7,200 rpm 7,200 rpm 7,200 rpm 7,200 rpm
6.0 Gb/s, 3.0 Gb/s, 1.5 Gb/s 6.0 Gb/s, 3.0 Gb/s, 1.5 Gb/s 6.0 Gb/s, 3.0 Gb/s, 1.5 Gb/s 6.0 Gb/s, 3.0 Gb/s, 1.5 Gb/s
6.0 Gb/s, 3.0 Gb/s, 1.5 Gb/s
256 MiB 256 MiB 256 MiB 512 MiB 512 MiB
243 MiB/s 248 MiB/s 242 MiB/s 262 MiB/s 268 MiB/s
2 million hours 2 million hours 2.5 million hours 2.5 million hours 2.5 million hours
550 TB Transferred per Year 550 TB Transferred per Year 550 TB Transferred per Year 550 TB Transferred per Year
550 TB Transferred per Year
5 Years 5 Years 5 Years 5 Years 5 Years
12 V (± 10%) / 5 V (+10/-7%) 12 V (± 10%) / 5 V (+10/-7%) 12 V (± 10%) / 5 V (+10/-7%) 12 V (± 10%) / 5 V (+10/-7%)
12 V (± 10%) / 5 V (+10/-7%)
4.07 W 5.61 W 4.25 W 4.00 W 4.16 W
7.76 W 9.29 W 7.83 W 7.63 W 8.35 W
Power consumption may differ according to configurations and platforms.

 

Here are their Plus series HDDs

Spec 12TB 8TB 6TB 4TB
Model ID HAT3300-12T HAT3300-8T HAT3300-6T HAT3300-4T
Bay Support 1-8 Bay 1-8 Bay 1-8 Bay 1-8 Bay
Recording CMR CMR CMR CMR
Drive Seal Helium Air Air Air
Workload 180TB 180TB 180TB 180TB
Spin Speed 7200RPM 5400RPM 5400RPM 5900RPM
Cache 256MB 256MB 256MB 64MB
Load Cycles 600K 600K 600K 600K
MTBF 1M Hours 1M Hours 1M Hours 1M Hours
Warranty 3yrs* 3yrs* 3yrs* 3yrs*

*TBC  – Will know more when they are launched officially

 

What drives do Synology use?

It seems like those are Seagate drives. But we will be able to tell more when official pdf is released.
In meantime you can try an make a guess in the comments based on these similar performance drives.

 

MFR model serial capacity speed load noise watts warranty RPM Cycles MTBF
Seagate Ironwolf ST4000VN008 4TB 180MB/s 180 25 4.8 3 Years 5900 600,000 1,000,000
WD Red Plus WD40EFPX 4TB 180 MB/s 180 27 4.7 3 Years 5400 600,000 1,000,000
WD Red Plus WD40EFZX 4TB 175 MB/s 180 27 4.8 3 Years 5400 600,000 1,000,000
WD Purple WD42PURZ 4TB 175MB/s 180 27 4.6 3 Years 5400 300,000 1,000,000
WD Purple WD40PURZ 4TB 150 MB/s 180 28 5.1 3 Years 5400 300,000 1,000,000
MFR model serial capacity speed load noise watts warranty RPM Cycles MTBF
Seagate Ironwolf ST6000VN006 6TB 202MB/s 180 26 5.3 3 Years 5,400 600,000 1,000,000
Seagate Ironwolf ST6000VN001 6TB 190MB/s 180 27 5.3 3 Years 5,400 600,000 1,000,000
WD Red Plus WD60EFPX 6TB 180 MB/s 180 27 4.7 3 Years 5400 600,000 1,000,000
WD Purple WD63PURZ 6TB 175MB/s 180 27 4.6 3 Years 5400 300,000 1,000,000
WD Purple WD62PURZ 6TB 185 MB/s 180 30 6.2 3 Years 5400 300,000 1,000,000
WD Purple WD60PURZ 6TB 175 MB/s 180 28 5.3 3 Years 5400 300,000 1,000,000
MFR model serial capacity speed load noise watts warranty RPM Cycles MTBF
Seagate Ironwolf ST8000VN002 8TB 202MB/s 180 26 5.3 3 Years 5400 600,000 1,000,000
WD Purple WD81PURZ 8TB 213 MB/s 180 29 9 3 Years 5400 300,000 1,000,000
WD Purple WD80PURZ 8TB 178 MB/s 180 29 6.4 3 Years 5400 300,000 1,000,000
WD Purple WD84PURZ 8TB 194 MB/s 180 30 6.2 3 Years 5400 300,000 1,000,000
MFR model serial capacity speed load noise watts warranty RPM Cycles MTBF
Seagate Ironwolf ST12000VN0008 12TB 210MB/s 180 30 7.3 3 Years 7200 600,000 1,000,000
WD Red Plus WD120EFBX 12TB 196 MB/s 180 29 6.3 3 Years 7200 600,000 1,000,000
Toshiba N300 HDWG21CUZSVA 12TB 242 MiB/s 180 20 4.28 3 Years 7200 1,000,000
MFR model serial capacity speed load noise watts warranty RPM Cycles MTBF
Toshiba N300 HDWG31GUZSVA 16TB 274 MiB/s 180 20 4.28 3 Years 7200 1,000,000

Toshiba 12 TB to 18 TB N300 NAS Hard Drives use a helium-sealed design,

 

 

Why would you use Synology HAT3300 Hard Drives and not 3rd Party HDDs in your NAS?

It’s a valid question to ask why users should choose the Synology HAT3300 drives over Seagate drives, which are similarly priced or slightly more expensive. However, users shouldn’t feel forced to choose since the HAT3300 drives are designed to be compatible with a wide range of HDDs for NAS, including WD Red and Seagate Ironwolf, unlike the XS series and higher models which have stricter compatibility lists. There are several reasons why the HAT3300 drives might be a better choice for some users, such as the Synology firmware, which is specifically optimized for Synology NAS and its access behavior, making it more suitable for 24×7 server environments and multi-access RAID configurations. Additionally, firmware updates for the HAT3300 drives can be done within DSM, the NAS software, without removing the drives, which is much more convenient than updating firmware for regular HDDs. Finally, choosing Synology HDDs simplifies the warranty and support process, especially for those who value their time and the downtime of their system. While the HAT5300 drives are higher-priced and more powerful, it’s worth comparing them to the newer HAT3300 drives.

 

How do the Synology HAT3300 Regular Class and HAT5300 Enterprise Class HDDs Compare?

In terms of the support, compatibility and accessibility to Synology NAS hardware, the HAT3300 and HAT5300 HDDs are pretty much identical (though how/if you can use the HAT3300 in XS/SA/UC/HD servers is still a little less clear) and it is only when you dig into the specification that you can see the main differences between the drives. Here is how they compare:

HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS HAT5300 / HAT5310 HAS5300 / HAS5310 HAT3300 / HAT3310
General Capacity 4, 8, 12, 16, 18TB 8, 12, 16TB 4, 6, 8, 12TB
Form Factor 3.5″ 3.5″ 3.5″
Interface SATA 6 Gb/s SAS 12 Gb/s SATA 6 Gb/s
Sector Size 512e 512e 512e
Performance Rotational Speed 7200 rpm 7200 rpm 5400-7200 rpm
Interface Speed 6.0 Gb/s, 3.0 Gb/s, 1.5 Gb/s 6.0 Gb/s, 3.0 Gb/s, 1.5 Gb/s 6.0 Gb/s, 3.0 Gb/s, 1.5 Gb/s
Buffer Size 256 MiB 256 MiB 64-256 MiB
Maximum Sustained Data Transfer Speed 268 MiB/s 262 MiB/s 240 MiB/s
Reliability Mean Time to Failure (MTTF) 2 million hours 2.5 million hours 1 million hours
Workload Rating 550 TB Transferred per Year 550 TB Transferred per Year 180 TB Transferred per Year
Warranty 5 Years 5 Years 5 Years

 

 

Which NAS devices are compatible with the HAT3300 drives?

  • 23 Series: DS923+, DS723+, DS423+, DS423, DS223, DS223j, DS123
  • 22 Series: RS822+, RS822RP+, RS422+, DS2422+, DS1522+, DVA1622
  • 21 Series: RS1221+, RS1221RP+, DS1821+, DS1621+, DVA3221
  • 20 Series: RS820+, RS820RP+, DS720+, DS420+, DS220+, DS420j, DS120j, DS220j
  • 19 Series: DS119j, DVA3219 18 Series: DS1618+, DS418, DS418j, DS218, DS218play, DS118
  • Expansion Unit: RX418, DX1222 , DX517

Conclusion

The Synology HAT3300 is designed to work seamlessly with a variety of NAS devices, including the Plus and Value series devices. This means that users will have more options to choose from when it comes to upgrading their existing NAS devices. With Synology’s firmware specifically tweaked towards Synology NAS and its own access behavior, the HAT3300 will be able to provide improved performance, stability, and compatibility over third-party drives.

One of the key advantages of the Synology HAT3300 is its ability to receive firmware updates directly from within DSM (DiskStation Manager). This is a major advantage for users as firmware updates for most drives in the market are not particularly frequent, and the process of upgrading firmware on a NAS is not straightforward. With the HAT3300, users can update the firmware of one or more drives in an existing RAID without having to power down the NAS or remove the drives individually. This not only saves time but also reduces the risk of data loss or drive failure during the update process.

Furthermore, for those who purchased a Synology NAS specifically for its single ecosystem platform, the HAT3300 drives will simplify the warranty and support process. By opting for HDDs that are the same brand as the NAS, users can benefit from a streamlined warranty and support process, as well as faster identification of any issues that may arise.

In conclusion, the Synology HAT3300 is a highly anticipated release that promises to deliver improved performance, stability, and compatibility for NAS users. With its availability in the UAE market slated for May 2023, users can look forward to upgrading their existing NAS devices and enjoying the benefits of Synology’s latest offering.

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle

Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

 

If you like this service, please consider supporting us.
We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you. Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which is used to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H. You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks! To find out more about how to support this advice service check HERE   If you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver   Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
     

]]>
https://nascompares.com/news/synology-to-introduce-hat3300-plus-series-hard-drives/feed/ 37 63879
A Guide to Buying the RIGHT Hard Drives for Your NAS – 2024 Edition https://nascompares.com/2024/03/18/a-guide-to-buying-the-right-hard-drives-for-your-nas-2024-edition/ https://nascompares.com/2024/03/18/a-guide-to-buying-the-right-hard-drives-for-your-nas-2024-edition/#comments Mon, 18 Mar 2024 17:00:48 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?p=70622 Choosing the Best Hard Drives for your NAS

If you’re considering a NAS server for your home or business, selecting the appropriate hard drive is crucial. Just as each utensil in a cutlery set serves a unique purpose, NAS drives are designed for specific scenarios. Using unsuitable drive media in your NAS can significantly affect its performance and efficiency. In the past years, hard drive manufacturers have developed server-tailored hard drives (including SSDs) that cater to the unique demands of NAS systems. These drives are designed for sporadic access patterns, continuous operation (24×7), quick read/write cycles, and enhanced durability required in NAS environments.

As of late 2023, the market has seen an evolution in storage capacity, with commercial hard drives reaching up to 22TB and data centers testing drives between 24-30TB. This increase in capacity reflects the growing data storage demands in both personal and professional settings. However, the abundance of options, with more than fifteen top-tier NAS and Data Center class drives available, can make the selection process overwhelming. In this guide, I aim to simplify this process. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of eight different NAS/Server architectures along with the most suitable hard drive options for each, updated to reflect the latest advancements in technology and market trends as of 2023/2024.

Note – Use our Best Price Per TB Calculator tool HERE in order to get the best value storage for your needs. It includes filters for NAS size, redundancy, budget and capacity needs too!

Recommended NAS Hard Drives

Key Considerations in Buying Hard Drives for Your NAS

Before selecting the right NAS hard drive, it’s essential to grasp some key terms in the data storage industry. This knowledge ensures that the drive you choose meets your requirements to the highest standard. Here are some crucial terms you need to know, updated for 2023/2024, to decode the marketing jargon and understand the strengths and weaknesses of each drive:

RAID – Standing for Redundant Array of Independent Disks, RAID is a method of using multiple NAS HDDs simultaneously to enhance capacity, speed, and, most importantly, data safety. Unlike backups, RAID 0 combines total storage for high performance but lacks a safety net if a drive fails. RAID 1 cuts your total storage in half but provides a one-drive safety net. RAID 5 and RAID 6 offer one or two disk safety nets, respectively, and support much larger storage arrays. Other RAID levels exist, but these are the most widely used.

SATA – Despite it’s age, SATA still remains the most popular connection of HDDs in 2023/2024 (despite the rise of M.2 NVMe SSD use in NAS). SATA allows up to 6 Gigabits per second throughput. However, mechanical HDDs rarely exceeded 280MB/s. By 2023/2024, while SATA remains prevalent, advancements in connections like SAS, NVMe, and U.2, particularly in SSDs, have become more significant in enterprise settings.

Saturation – This term refers to the amount of data flowing through an interface/bandwidth. For instance, a SATA HDD might allow up to 600MB/s, but most NAS HDDs achieve around 180-280MB/s due to their mechanical design. Therefore, the saturation for a single drive is lower, at 180/280MB/s.

Platters – These are the disks inside the HDD that store data. Higher capacity drives feature more platters. Although compression techniques can increase space, there’s a limit to their effectiveness.

Rotation Speed – This indicates how fast the platters spin, enabling the arm/actuator to locate and write data magnetically.

Cache – This memory area on the NAS hard drive compiles and distributes data being processed by the disk. Larger capacity NAS hard drives typically have a larger cache, as do drives using Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR), which requires more handling space due to its unique writing style.

Terabytes Written (TBW), AKA ‘Workload Rating’– A metric often given annually, TBW indicates the amount of data a NAS Hard Drive can handle in a year while maintaining performance. This figure considers the potential for repeatedly filling and emptying the drive, common in data centers or tiered backups. Standard NAS hard drives usually have a TBW of around 180TBW, Pro series around 300TBW, and Enterprise-class HDDs 550TBW or more. This is often referred to as the workload rating.

Magnetic Recording – This refers to how data is stored on the platters. As of 2023/2024, there are several prevalent types: SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording), PMR/CMR (Perpendicular/Conventional Magnetic Recording), EAMR (Energy Assisted Magnetic Recording), and HAMR (Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording). Each type has its pros and cons, but PMR/CMR remains the most popular for NAS hard drives.

Warranty Length – This is the period during which the manufacturer will repair or replace a NAS hard drive if it fails due to manufacturing issues. Warranties typically range from 3 to 5 years.

These terms are essential for choosing the best NAS hard drive for your system in the context of 2023/2024. Next, we’ll examine different NAS hardware environments and recommend the best NAS hard drive for each.

Best Hard Drives for an Affordable RAID 6 Desktop 6/8-Bay NAS – Seagate Ironwolf (non-Pro)

1-12TB, 5900-7200RPM, 64-256MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, Rescue Data Recovery Services Included $50-229 

For those who are looking at a NAS server for business, or are home users who have made the enterprising move into the Prosumer bracket, then a 6-Bay or 8-Bay desktop NAS solution will become incredibly attractive. At this storage tier, we find a number of very cool and incredibly useful features become more widely available. For a start, we find the utility of RAID 6 (the 2 disk safety net configuration) much more palatable, as it makes less of a dent on our total available storage. Additionally, at this storage size, we start to see much more powerful processors, such as the Intel Core (i3, i5, etc) series arrive, AMD Ryzen and even Xeons. This combined with huge expandability of both memory internally and storage externally and generally with 10Gbe included as standard or available as an upgrade. So, at this scale of NAS storage, the hard drive choice becomes more important, as you do not want to create an internal bottleneck. For this tier of storage, I recommend the Seagate Ironwolf range of NAS drives. They arrive with a large number of 7200RM drives (with 5400RPM in the smaller capacities), a 180 terabytes per year guaranteed workload and the Seagate Rescue service. For those that are not aware, the Seagate Rescue+ package is a data recovery service that is included with your Ironwolf and Ironwolf Pro drives that, alongside your 3 year warranty, includes an additional 3 years of data recovery services.

What that means is that if your drive fails through no fault of your own within reason (so, no, not smashing it with a hammer), you can send the drive off to the Seagate recovery labs and they will try to get that data back. From accidental deletion, all the way through to mechanical and forensic level recovery, this is an impressive inclusion! You should still factor other safety nets in your architecture (backups, UPS, RAID, etc) but given the cost of data recovery services (costing anything from hundreds to thousands of pounds), this is a very, VERY useful inclusion when you need it. Additionally, Seagate Ironwolf hard drives sill manage to be the most affordable NAS drives on the market compared with their competitors, even when including the Rescue recovery included. They are also the only 3rd party NAS hard drive brand that has a tool to monitor drive health available on practically ALL the NAS software GUIs in the market, in Seagate Ironwolf Health Management.

+ Excellent Price Point

+ Rescue Data Recovery Services

+ Seagate Ironwolf Health Management

+ ONLY CMR/PMR Drives in their NAS Range

– Max Drive Capacity is 12TB (Pro Series go up to 22TB)

– Noisier General Operation than WD Red Drives

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Seagate Ironwolf (non-Pro) 8TB NAS HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA $149.99 (17% OFF, was $179.99) [LINK]
QNAP 1 Bay Home NAS with 4TB Storage Capacity, Preconfigured Seagate IronWolf Dr Amazon usa USA 13.19 OFF (WAS 155) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Small NAS Drive – WD Red & WD Red Plus

1-14TB, 5400/7200RPM (higher Caps = 7200RPM), 64-256MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, WD Red 1-6TB (SMR), WD Red Plus 1-14TB (CMR) $69-379

If you are looking to populate a compact, modestly powered, desktop NAS system (so a 1-Bay or 2-Bay NAS drive), then you have quite a large range of Hard Drives on offer. It is worth highlighting though that larger and more enterprise drives (i.e faster and longer warranty) will be noticeably noisier. Additionally, you will need to factor in that your maximum storage is going to be capped at either a single drive OR (in a 2-Bay NAS with RAID 1)  your storage halved to maintain redundancy. Finally, you will need to factor in that most 2-Bay NAS devices will either have a smaller external network connection (1/2.5Gbe) or are not really capable of saturating a full connection externally. So, baring these factors in mind, I would recommend the WD Red series of NAS hard drives for small NAS systems. They do not typically have more aggressive hardware internally, so the ambient noise when these drives are running will be remarkably low.

The performance, due to the lower rotations per minute (RPM) and cache might not seem spectacularly high, but in a 1-Bay or 2-Bay NAS, you likely could not push much performance externally anyway, so why spend much more on something that in most cases you will not be able to take advantage of. Be warned though, as you reach the much higher capacities above 8TB, the general background noise of the drives will increase incrementally.

+ Affordable Price Tag

+ Low Noise and Power Consumption in 24×7 Use

+ Good base level of Capacities Available

– Some Drive feature Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR)

– Performance is fairly average in the smaller capacities

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

WD Red Plus Internal NAS HDD 3.5\" - 12TB WesternDigital usa USA 2 HDD for $399 [LINK]
WD 8TB WD RED PLUS HDD B&H usa USA £159.99 ($49 off) [LINK]
WD Red Plus 4TB NAS Hard Drive (BF) Amazon usa USA 29% OFF, Now $84.99 (was $119.99) [LINK]
Western Digital 6TB WD Red Plus HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA $99.99 (33% OFF) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Affordable Hard Drives for a RAID 5 Desktop 4-Bay NAS – Toshiba N300

4-18TB, 7200RPM, 128-512MB Cache, 180 TBW, 3yr Warranty, 1-1.2M MTBF Rating $250-450  

A 4-Bay NAS drive is generally when home and small/medium business users start to take their storage seriously. There are such a wide variety of hardware options that arrive at this storage tier, ranging from powerful Intel/AMD processors and DDR4 memory, to 10Gbe and PCIe upgrades. This arrives with the utility if RAID 5, that allows users to have a much larger potential capacity and performance, but still have a single drive of redundancy to fall back on in the event of drive failure. At this degree of NAS storage, you have a much greater potential to not only largely saturate a 10Gbe connection, but alternatively, you can also look into installing 2.5Gbe and 5Gbe upgrades and fill multiple plus gigabit connections directly or via a switch.  In order to maximize this connection, but to also not max out your budget, I recommend the Toshiba N300 range of Hard Drives. Although they are a brand that is generally held commercially in the 3rd place when it comes to NAS media drives, their N300 range arrives at a similar/lower price point than Seagate Ironwolf and WD Red, but also arrives with 7200RPM on all capacities, with the lowest capacity arriving with 128MB caching and scaling up to 256MB quickly in the series. The increase in RPM will increase the background clicks, hums and whirs of the drive, but at 4-Bays, this is something that the NAS enclosure itself will begin to generate too. A high performing and often overlooked drive that, at the top capacity, can hit performance of up to 274MB/s.

+ Well Priced for a 7200RPM and 128/256/512 Cache Drive

+ Available in up to 18TB, even in non-Pro N300 Series

+ Error Recovery Control

– Will Generate More Noise at 7200RPM

– Not As Widely Available

– Not as well regarded as Seagate or WD

The 3.5-inch N300 NAS Hard Drive offers unprecedented reliability for NAS and other high-performance storage systems. It is optimized to meet the reliability, endurance, performance and scalability requirements of 24-hour x 7-day high-capacity storage for personal, home office and small business use. The N300 is available in capacities of up to 18 TB.

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?


These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Small Rackmount NAS – WD Red Pro

2-22TB, 7200RPM, 128-512MB Cache, 300TBW, 5yr Warranty $85-429 

Now we move onto the Rackmount NAS compatible hard drives, we have to start looking squarely at two main factors – Performance and Durability. If you are a business or established Prosumer user, then chances are that your NAS system is going to be used for a much larger % per day than most average users. Whether it is for surveillance, virtual machines, business file-sharing or just a combination of all of them every day, you want drives that are going to give you a good level of performance internally AND externally. Likewise, as the hard drives in even a modest rackmount NAS will be on for extended periods, you need to know that the drive can maintain the promising performance indefinitely AND without braking. This is where we start to look at specifications such as TBW (Terabytes Written), Mean time between failure, workload cycles and the warranty in more detail. For those looking at 10Gbe equipped or at least ’10Gbe Ready’ modest rackmount systems, I would recommend the WD Red Pro series of compatible NAS hard drives. Generally, one of the first Pro series NAS hard drives to arrive on the market, the WD Red Pro series is designed for NAS systems up to 24Bays and is available up to 18TB currently.

What did we say about the WD Red Pro 22TB highest tier model? We reviewed it back on September ’22 and whichever way you look at it, the WD Red Pro 22TB Hard drive is a stone-cold WINNER of a drive – both in terms of what it brings to the end user AND what this new 10-platter/OptiNAND drive design means for the future of the WD drive line up. WD does not over promise with this drive (with performance exceeding the brands reported benchmarks in almost every one of my tests, even using mid-range equipment) and they even nailed the price point in line with previous drives in the portfolio (though there is simply no avoiding that you are going to need deep pockets to fully populate any system with these 22TB drives). That said, much like any other WD Red Pro drive, the more industrial architecture still leads to a slightly higher running temp, noisier operation and slight increased power use. This is to be expected, but with no non-Pro alternative available at this capacity, the feasibility of fully populating a smaller scale system with the WD Red Pro 22TB is going to be both expensive AND noisy. I definitely recommend this drive to larger-scale NAS and SAN environments that need sustained RAID performance, high capacity and storage reliability – just maybe buy some earplugs if you plan on working in the same room as them.

Certainly one of the most expensive NAS HDDs out there, but provides a very good level of storage, performance, durability and overall is a very dependable drive for SMB users (Small/Medium Business) that want a drive they can rely on.

+ Top Tier NAS Drive Performance

+ 300TB/Y Workload

+ Build for up to 24-Bay Servers

– Certainly Noiser than non-Pro equivalents

– More Expensive than the Seagate Pro Option

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?


These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for an SMB Rackmount NAS 12-Bay – Seagate Ironwolf Pro

4-22TB, 7200RPM, 256MB Cache, 300 TBW (Newer NT version rates at 550TBW), 5yr Warranty, Rescue Data Recovery Services Included $79-399 

When it comes to the move into Rackmount storage for businesses (novices stop here) then not only do you have to only consider Pro/Enterprise-class drives only, but you can also start to look at drives that include certain business level advantages in terms of coverage and service. Much like the non-PRO series of hard drives mentioned earlier, the Seagate Ironwolf Pro series of HDDs include the Rescue+ data recovery services but also includes an impressive 5 years of the manufacturers warranty. However, it is in terms of performance, capacity and durability that the difference between these two ranges become apparent. For a start, the Ironwolf Pro HDD range arrives in capacities of up to 18TB (20TB promised for later in 2021 thanks to Energy Assisted Magnetic Recording), with ALL drives in the PRO range arriving with 7200RPM and 256/512MB of cache. The result is that these drives will hit up to an impressive 260MB/s, which even in smaller RAID 5 groups will easily saturate a 10Gb connection with just 4-5 drives.I performed te sts on 64MB, 256MB, 1GB and 4GB test files, as well as mixed 70/30% R/W. The results were consistent and largely lived up to Seagate’s claims here.

What did we think of the Seagate Ironwolf Pro larger capacities? We reviewed the new NT series (higher durability at 550TBW over 300TBW in the previous revisions) 20TB version and Straight out the gate, the Seagate Ironwolf Pro 20TB HDD comfortably delivers on it’s promises of performance. This alongside full tested and confirmed compatibility with Synology and QNAP NAS devices means that you have a drive here that can turn any 4-Bay NAS into a 60TB RAID5 Storage colossus – let alone once you start thinking about rackmounts and hyperscale. The pricing at the time of writing is a little muddled (the result of having two SKUs/Model IDs floating around in the market and eTailers having to play catch up) but that should hopefully iron out over time. I particularly appreciate that the workload discussion surrounding ‘Pro’ Class drives at 300TB/yr vs rapid HDD capacity growth is being addressed here with a 550TB/yr version to rival that of ‘Ent’ class drives – whatever the reason/motivation. The value of the Ironwolf Health Management tool is going to be something of debate and the inclusion of 3yrs data recovery services is a nice extra that (with any luck) few will need to use – but having them included in a 20TB HDD that still manages to maintain a similar level of Price per TB vs the bulk of NAS HDDs in the Pro tier increases the value notably. As HDDs continue to increase in scale and Seagate (among other brands) continues to outline their plans to hit 50TB by the end of the decade, the Seagate Ironwolf Pro ST2000NT001 is another good example of an HDD that finds a sweet spot between price, durability and value. Just be aware that this is a drive designed for large-scale use and that means high operational noise and higher than typical power use than non-Pro and smaller cap drives!

In recent years we have seen Seagate reshuffle their range of available capacities to align the capacities from 1-12TB to arrive in the standard Ironwolf range and Capacities of up to 18TB and 22TB to arrive on the PRO series (likely due to those larger capacity options requiring the more enterprise hardware as standard and making a non-PRO version impossible without purposely nerf’ing the lesser drives intentionally. There is crossover in 4-12TB models in between, however, the distinction in RPM, cache, build design and TBW rating is wide enough to justify this. The noise level of the Ironwolf HDD series in PRO is noticeable higher, but given these are designed for larger arrays, this noise increase will be less noticeable over the ambient noise of the whole system generally.

+ Excellent Price Point vs Ironwolf NON-Pro in the Portfolio

+ Rescue Data Recovery Services

+ New NT Version Available with 550 TB Annual Workload

+ Seagate Ironwolf Health Management

+ ONLY CMR/PMR Drives in their NAS Range

– Smallest Drive Capacity is 4TB

– Noticeable Boot Up Noise

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Seagate 24TB Ironwolf Pro $439 B&H usa USA $439.99 ($210 off) [LINK]
Seagate 24TB Ironwolf PRO HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA 38% OFF - Now $399 [LINK]
Seagate Ironwolf (non-Pro) 8TB NAS HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA $149.99 (17% OFF, was $179.99) [LINK]
QNAP 1 Bay Home NAS with 4TB Storage Capacity, Preconfigured Seagate IronWolf Dr Amazon usa USA 13.19 OFF (WAS 155) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

 

Best Hard Drives for an Enterprise Rackmount NAS Server – Seagate EXOS

1-24TB, 72000RPM, 256-512MB Cache, SAS & SATA Options, 550 TBW, 5yr Warranty, $99-519   

Now we finally move into the class of hard drive that is more classically defined at ‘Data Center’ and/or Hyperscale environments. Often choosing between a PRO class and Enterprise-class drive can be ticky at a glance. However, Pro class drives generally arrive with a much longer terabytes written rating per year (ie the amount of data that can be written to the drive throughout its lifespan per annum), arrive in numerous interfaces (so both SAS and SATA generally) and typically arrive with numerous format and encryption standard versions available. These are available because some industries and organizations insist on drive media that features in-built protection and secure erase on the drive itself. Of all the enterprise and data centre-class media in the market, I generally recommend the Seagate EXOS series for any hyper scale system environment. They are very, VERY closely followed by the Western Digital UltraStar class of drives, but the Seagate EXOS series is a little clearer to understand, has larger capacity options available earlier, will hopefully release Mach2 version drives in 2021 (dual actuator/arm SATA drives at 400MB/s+) and generally arrive a pinch lower in price too in like-for-like comparisons against the Ultrastar.

Sound Test Video Live Soon (Below)

Recent changes by Synology in their newest 2021 series of rackmounts systems to ONLY support their own range of HDD media has led to their own drives featuring on their own respective hardware, so make sure to check that your intended NAS rackmount system supports Seagate EXOS drives before you head to checkout!

+ Huge Range of Architecture Options (FIPS, Military Encryp, 4KN, SED, SAS and more)

+ Constantly Evolving (Mach 2 versions, x14, x16 & x18 etc)

+ Comparatively Lower in Price vs Ultrastar

+ New 24TB Model (X24) Version Available in 2024

– Range Can Be Confusing

– Availability Can Be Difficult + Some Models Are ‘Bulk Purchase’ Only

– Noisy!

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Seagate EXOS Enterprise Server 24TB Hard Drive (BF) Amazon usa USA 20% off – $479.99 (was $599.99) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Business Synology NAS – Synology HAT5300

8-18TB, 7200RPM, 256/512MB Cache, 550TBW, 5yr Warranty, Synology System ONLY, Firmware Control on Synology DSM $199-599 

Arriving on the scene in Jan 2021, the Synology branded range of Hard drives for enterprise server use took ALOT of people by surprise! Synology has always had a long-standing reputation with the production of network-attached storage, so in efforts to produce a complete first-party storage system that includes the software, the network hardware AND the media inside is very what their brand has been all about. In their defence too, these are not just cash-grab drives and are in-fact enterprise-class drives that are being priced at PRO series drives (so an Ultrastar/EXOS drive that is at the price tag of a WD Red or Ironwolf Pro). The drives themselves arrive (at launch anyway) with just three capacities available (8TB, 12TB and 16TB) and the architecture of them is quite eye-catching. A 550TBW per year rating, a 2.5Million MTTF, 256/512MB cache and performance ranging across the capacities from 230MB/s to a reported 270MB/s+. The drives are originally Toshiba M06/07/08 Enterprise drives that have a tweaked Synology NAS firmware onboard, so they are geared specifically towards utilization inside the Synology ecosystem. You can even check and upgrade the individual drive firmware directly from with the Synology DSM graphical user interface too, which is quite a unique and convenient feature for those larger arrays with differing drive versions being installed throughout your server’s lifespan.

You cannot really question the quality of the hardware architecture featured on the Synology HAT5300 range of hard drives. We clearly find here a range of drives that have been designed by Toshiba (an HDD vendor with decades of experience and Synology are not being coy about highlighting the partnership on this media), combined with one of the biggest providers of modern NAS in Synology, with media that is tweaked for use within their NAS systems and despite arriving at a Pro series price tag, arrive with hardware far more comparable to that of Seagate EXOS and Western digital Ultrastar hard drives. With a terrifically impressive annual workload, an approach to drive firmware and upgrades relatively unseen from any other drive for NAS’ and remarkable transparency from Synology in the marketing of these drives on day one certainly needs to be acknowledged. Moreover, Synology is not the first brand to champion the use of locked hard drive media in their service systems and they certainly won’t be the last. Overall, I am happy with the new Synology hard drives and despite possible reservations about where the logic of locked drives and exclusivity on this product and range will be extended to in the future (standard class versions?), I still happily recommend the Synology HAT5300 media series alongside other champions of NAS hard drive in 2021.

The move towards hard drive locking by Synology is something that has impressed some and disappointed others – but if you were going to be installing drive media inside a NAS system for business anyway, then ultimately these are still a very solid and well-performing product for you.

+ Enterprise Drives at a PRO class Price

+ 550TBW on ALL Capacities

+ Drive Firmware can be Updated from within the Synology DSM GUI

– Using them in not Synology NAS Hardware is not Supported

– More Expensive than other Enterprise Class HDDs from Seagate & WD

– Noisy Operation

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Synology DS1821+/128TB HAT5300 8 Bay Amazon UK UK 15.47 OFF (WAS 6657) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Business QNAP NAS – WD Ultrastar

1-18TB, 7200RPM, 256-512MB Cache, 550TBW, 5yr Warranty, FIPS and SED Options, SATA, SAS and U.2 NVMe SSD Options $70-550  

Finally, we move onto possibly the most well known of the enterprise-class of Hard Drives on the market. When it comes to data center and hyper-scale storage environments, Western Digital’s UltraStar range has the same reputation and long-running recognition as IBM has in the computer industry. They have been the go-to drive media of choice in the huge storage environment’s for years, thanks in large part to the fact they have been designed, developed and improved at the same time as the systems they were going into. In recent years, competitors have taken chunks of the market from them (as they are a larger and slightly slower behemoth to suddenly change tactic) and feature larger product runs that have to last extensive lengths of time to facilitate data center replacement media as needed. Nevertheless, in recent years the Ultrastar brand under WD has diversified hugely and alongside the popular WD Gold label has branched into a vast array of interface types, form factors, media variants and scales. Typically the first drive series to crack into a new capacity tier (the first to crack 20TB too).

Sound Test Video Live Soon (Below)

The Ultrastar series of hard drives will often be compared against the WD Red Pro range of NAS hard drives when considering populating a server. It is worth remembering that the Ultrastar series is designed for both a higher performance AND a much more enduring performance – i.e it can maintain that level, as well as switch between processes, for much longer. Indeed in testing, the Ultrastar even features a much higher Read and Write performance than pretty much any other drive that peaks as high as 280MB/s in our ATTO DiskBenchmark testing below with just a single HDD. Even the IOs (IOPS_ went as high as 19,000, which although low when compared with modern high-end SSDs, for a single HDD is really impressive).

The drives themselves are fantastically dull in appearance of course, as one might expect from the enterprise tier and also feature quite an aggressive spin up noise. However, in much larger scale environments, you will almost certainly not hear the drive media over the ambient system fan noise. Overall still an oldie but a goodie!

+ Consistently High Performance

+ Well-established HDD Drive and Brand

+ Numerous Interfaces, in-Drive Encryption Systems and Choices

– DEFINITELY one of the most confusing product ranges

– Noticeably Noisy at boot

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?


These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Home or Small Business 2023/2024 Gen Synology NAS – Synology HAT3300 Plus Series

4/6/8/12TB, 5900-7200RPM, 64-256MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, Synology NAS Designed, Firmware Update in DSM $109-189 

There is most certainly a clear design choice here to mirror that of the existing regular-class server drives on the market right now. The Synology HAT 3300+ series has been reported several times, not just here on the blog, to be built using Seagate Iron Wolf drive media with specific Synology firmware on board. Arriving with 180-terabyte annual workloads, 5400rpm, 256-megabyte cache, arriving in a CMR architecture and air-sealed – the specifications we see here are all quite standard. The 12TB benefits from an increased RPM and helium sealing, as per most 12 TB drives in the market, but apart from that the Synology Plus hard drive series are going to run quieter than most pro or enterprise-class drives, as well as have a slightly lower power consumption, but are also going to have a slight performance decrease than that of the HAT5300 and HAT3300. But that is only going to be of significance in larger RAID configurations realistically.

The differences between the Synology HAT3300, HAT5300/HAS5300 are pretty much exactly as you would find if you compared WD Red and Seagate IronWolf versus that of Seagate Exos and WD Ultrastar. Indeed, I am a little surprised that Synology has not introduced a middle ground in the form of a pro series drive, but perhaps this is something that will roll out later down the line. Nevertheless, this results in quite a void of performance, durability, and scale between these two ranges when compared to long-term established server hard drive ranges from these other companies filling the gaps of capacity and pro middle ground choices. It should be immediately highlighted that regardless of which Synology hard drive you opt for, you still benefit from firmware updates being actionable from within the Synology DSM software, easier and more streamlined warranty support, and firmware optimization that is specifically tailored towards Synology hardware deployment. We have discussed this at length previously when discussing the Synology enterprise hard drives and SSDs, and although you pay a premium for Synology’s own branded drives when compared to third-party alternatives that people have been using for decades, there are nonetheless merits in using drives specifically geared towards your NAS system rather than requiring a slightly broader design that suits more diverse servers. Here is how the Synology enterprise SATA, enterprise SAS, and mid-range plus hard drives differ in their specifications:

 
Classification Enterprise SATA Enterprise SAS Domestic SATA
Series Name Enterprise/XS Enterprise/XS PLUS
Model HAT5300 HAS5300 HAT3300
Interface SATA 6Gb SAS 12Gb SATA 6Gb
Recording CMR/PMR CMR/PMR CMR/PMR
Capacity (5/23) 4/8/12/16/18TB 8/12/16/18TB 4/6/8/12TB
RPM 7200RPM 7200RPM 5400RPM (7200 on 12TB)
Cache 256/512MB 256/512MB 256MB
Sector Size 512e 512e 512e
Max Transfer Speed (Capacity Dependant) 254/260/253/274/281MB/s 241/253/274MB/s 202/240MB/s
Drive Sealing AIR/AIR/Helium/Helium/Helium AIR/Helium/Helium/Helium AIR/AIR/AIR/Helium
Power Use (Idle) 4.07/5.61/4.25/4.00/4.16W 6.62/4.36/4.46W 3.96/3.4/3.4/5.07W
Power Use (Active) 7.76/9.29/7.83/7.63/8.35W 9.87/7.80/8.12W 4.85/5.3/5.3/8.33W
Load/Unload Cycles 600K 600K 600K
Workload Rating 550TB (Annual) 550TB (Annual) 180TB (Annual)
MTBF (Hrs) 2.0/2.5Million 2.5Million 1Million
Warranty 5 Years 5 Years 3 Years

+ Much more affordable than the HAT5300 Series

+ Better range off smaller capacities than HAT5300

+ Drive Firmware can be Updated from within the Synology DSM GUI

– Not Supported on Bigger Synology NAS Systems (eg XS or SA Series)

– Lacks Data Recovery Service of Seagate Ironwolf HDDs

– 12TB Maximum Capacity (at time of writing)

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Synology DS224+ 8TB 2 Bay NAS Solution installed with 2 x 4TB HAT3300 Drives Amazon UK UK 113.7 OFF (WAS 747) [LINK]
Synology DS224+ 32TB 2 Bay NAS Solution installed with 2 x 16 HAT3300 Drives Amazon UK UK 318.35 OFF (WAS 1224) [LINK]
Synology DS1621+ 24TB 6 Bay Desktop NAS Solution installed with 6 x 4TB HAT3300 Amazon UK UK 63.02 OFF (WAS 1662) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

IMPORTANT! Compatibility of Hard Drives with Synology NAS Systems

An increasingly important factor when selecting NAS hard drives is their compatibility with specific NAS systems. Over the last 18-24 months, there has been a noticeable trend, especially with Synology, towards reducing the range of compatible, supported, or verified HDDs. Synology has shown a preference for their own HAT3300 and HAT5300 drives, somewhat limiting the choice for users of their systems. This shift marks a departure from the traditionally open approach where most NAS brands, including Synology, supported a wide range of third-party drives.

This change in policy is significant for users needing specific storage solutions or those accustomed to a broader choice of drives. It contrasts with other NAS brands, which continue to support a variety of third-party drives, including the latest high-capacity models. When choosing a NAS hard drive in 2023/2024, it’s crucial to consider not just the drive’s specifications but also its compatibility with your NAS system. This ensures that you can take full advantage of the NAS’s features and avoid potential compatibility issues.

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle

Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

 

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today’s video. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

]]>
https://nascompares.com/2024/03/18/a-guide-to-buying-the-right-hard-drives-for-your-nas-2024-edition/feed/ 516 70622
Seagate’s IronWolf Pro 24TB: The Ultimate NAS Hard Drive for Businesses ST24000NT002 https://nascompares.com/news/seagates-ironwolf-pro-24tb-the-ultimate-nas-hard-drive-for-businesses-st24000nt002/ https://nascompares.com/news/seagates-ironwolf-pro-24tb-the-ultimate-nas-hard-drive-for-businesses-st24000nt002/#respond Thu, 25 Jan 2024 16:36:12 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?post_type=news&p=70038 Seagate’s IronWolf Pro 24TB: The Ultimate NAS Hard Drive for Businesses ST24000NT002

Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ: STX) has just launched the IronWolf Pro 24TB hard drive, setting a new standard in NAS storage solutions. Aimed at SMBs and enterprise-level NAS systems, this drive is a game-changer in handling the ever-increasing data demands.

The IronWolf Pro series, now boasting capacities from 2TB to 24TB, is built to grow with your business needs. The 24TB model, in particular, showcases an impressive sustained transfer rate of 285MB/s and a robust workload rate of 550TB/year, all while maintaining a mean time between failures (MTBF) of 2.5 million hours. This makes it a reliable choice for 24/7 operations in multi-bay and multi-user setups.

What sets this drive apart is Seagate’s AgileArray™ technology, enhancing RAID configuration performance with features like dual-plane balancing and time-limited error recovery. Moreover, built-in rotational vibration sensors ensure consistent performance, crucial for multi-bay NAS systems.

Seagate also prioritizes data protection with its IronWolf Health Management system, offering prevention, intervention, and recovery options. The package includes a five-year warranty and three years of Seagate Rescue Data Recovery Services.

Priced at £569.00, the IronWolf Pro 24TB is now available and promises to be a valuable asset for businesses prioritizing data integrity and performance.

 

 


If you like this service, please consider supporting us.
We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you. Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which is used to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H. You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks! To find out more about how to support this advice service check HERE   If you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver   Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
     

]]>
https://nascompares.com/news/seagates-ironwolf-pro-24tb-the-ultimate-nas-hard-drive-for-businesses-st24000nt002/feed/ 0 70038
NAS Hard Drive Buyers Guide https://nascompares.com/guide/black-friday-nas-hard-drive-buyers-guide/ https://nascompares.com/guide/black-friday-nas-hard-drive-buyers-guide/#comments Wed, 22 Nov 2023 12:17:20 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?post_type=guide&p=69096 Choosing the Best Hard Drives for your NAS

If you’re considering a NAS server for your home or business, selecting the appropriate hard drive is crucial. Just as each utensil in a cutlery set serves a unique purpose, NAS drives are designed for specific scenarios. Using unsuitable drive media in your NAS can significantly affect its performance and efficiency. In the past years, hard drive manufacturers have developed server-tailored hard drives (including SSDs) that cater to the unique demands of NAS systems. These drives are designed for sporadic access patterns, continuous operation (24×7), quick read/write cycles, and enhanced durability required in NAS environments.

As of late 2023, the market has seen an evolution in storage capacity, with commercial hard drives reaching up to 22TB and data centers testing drives between 24-30TB. This increase in capacity reflects the growing data storage demands in both personal and professional settings. However, the abundance of options, with more than fifteen top-tier NAS and Data Center class drives available, can make the selection process overwhelming. In this guide, I aim to simplify this process. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of eight different NAS/Server architectures along with the most suitable hard drive options for each, updated to reflect the latest advancements in technology and market trends as of 2023/2024.

Note – Use our Best Price Per TB Calculator tool HERE in order to get the best value storage for your needs. It includes filters for NAS size, redundancy, budget and capacity needs too!

Recommended NAS Hard Drives

Key Considerations in Buying Hard Drives for Your NAS

Before selecting the right NAS hard drive, it’s essential to grasp some key terms in the data storage industry. This knowledge ensures that the drive you choose meets your requirements to the highest standard. Here are some crucial terms you need to know, updated for 2023/2024, to decode the marketing jargon and understand the strengths and weaknesses of each drive:

RAID – Standing for Redundant Array of Independent Disks, RAID is a method of using multiple NAS HDDs simultaneously to enhance capacity, speed, and, most importantly, data safety. Unlike backups, RAID 0 combines total storage for high performance but lacks a safety net if a drive fails. RAID 1 cuts your total storage in half but provides a one-drive safety net. RAID 5 and RAID 6 offer one or two disk safety nets, respectively, and support much larger storage arrays. Other RAID levels exist, but these are the most widely used.

SATA – Despite it’s age, SATA still remains the most popular connection of HDDs in 2023/2024 (despite the rise of M.2 NVMe SSD use in NAS). SATA allows up to 6 Gigabits per second throughput. However, mechanical HDDs rarely exceeded 280MB/s. By 2023/2024, while SATA remains prevalent, advancements in connections like SAS, NVMe, and U.2, particularly in SSDs, have become more significant in enterprise settings.

Saturation – This term refers to the amount of data flowing through an interface/bandwidth. For instance, a SATA HDD might allow up to 600MB/s, but most NAS HDDs achieve around 180-280MB/s due to their mechanical design. Therefore, the saturation for a single drive is lower, at 180/280MB/s.

Platters – These are the disks inside the HDD that store data. Higher capacity drives feature more platters. Although compression techniques can increase space, there’s a limit to their effectiveness.

Rotation Speed – This indicates how fast the platters spin, enabling the arm/actuator to locate and write data magnetically.

Cache – This memory area on the NAS hard drive compiles and distributes data being processed by the disk. Larger capacity NAS hard drives typically have a larger cache, as do drives using Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR), which requires more handling space due to its unique writing style.

Terabytes Written (TBW), AKA ‘Workload Rating’– A metric often given annually, TBW indicates the amount of data a NAS Hard Drive can handle in a year while maintaining performance. This figure considers the potential for repeatedly filling and emptying the drive, common in data centers or tiered backups. Standard NAS hard drives usually have a TBW of around 180TBW, Pro series around 300TBW, and Enterprise-class HDDs 550TBW or more. This is often referred to as the workload rating.

Magnetic Recording – This refers to how data is stored on the platters. As of 2023/2024, there are several prevalent types: SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording), PMR/CMR (Perpendicular/Conventional Magnetic Recording), EAMR (Energy Assisted Magnetic Recording), and HAMR (Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording). Each type has its pros and cons, but PMR/CMR remains the most popular for NAS hard drives.

Warranty Length – This is the period during which the manufacturer will repair or replace a NAS hard drive if it fails due to manufacturing issues. Warranties typically range from 3 to 5 years.

These terms are essential for choosing the best NAS hard drive for your system in the context of 2023/2024. Next, we’ll examine different NAS hardware environments and recommend the best NAS hard drive for each.

Best Hard Drives for an Affordable RAID 6 Desktop 6/8-Bay NAS – Seagate Ironwolf (non-Pro)

1-12TB, 5900-7200RPM, 64-256MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, Rescue Data Recovery Services Included $50-229 

For those who are looking at a NAS server for business, or are home users who have made the enterprising move into the Prosumer bracket, then a 6-Bay or 8-Bay desktop NAS solution will become incredibly attractive. At this storage tier, we find a number of very cool and incredibly useful features become more widely available. For a start, we find the utility of RAID 6 (the 2 disk safety net configuration) much more palatable, as it makes less of a dent on our total available storage. Additionally, at this storage size, we start to see much more powerful processors, such as the Intel Core (i3, i5, etc) series arrive, AMD Ryzen and even Xeons. This combined with huge expandability of both memory internally and storage externally and generally with 10Gbe included as standard or available as an upgrade. So, at this scale of NAS storage, the hard drive choice becomes more important, as you do not want to create an internal bottleneck. For this tier of storage, I recommend the Seagate Ironwolf range of NAS drives. They arrive with a large number of 7200RM drives (with 5400RPM in the smaller capacities), a 180 terabytes per year guaranteed workload and the Seagate Rescue service. For those that are not aware, the Seagate Rescue+ package is a data recovery service that is included with your Ironwolf and Ironwolf Pro drives that, alongside your 3 year warranty, includes an additional 3 years of data recovery services.

What that means is that if your drive fails through no fault of your own within reason (so, no, not smashing it with a hammer), you can send the drive off to the Seagate recovery labs and they will try to get that data back. From accidental deletion, all the way through to mechanical and forensic level recovery, this is an impressive inclusion! You should still factor other safety nets in your architecture (backups, UPS, RAID, etc) but given the cost of data recovery services (costing anything from hundreds to thousands of pounds), this is a very, VERY useful inclusion when you need it. Additionally, Seagate Ironwolf hard drives sill manage to be the most affordable NAS drives on the market compared with their competitors, even when including the Rescue recovery included. They are also the only 3rd party NAS hard drive brand that has a tool to monitor drive health available on practically ALL the NAS software GUIs in the market, in Seagate Ironwolf Health Management.

+ Excellent Price Point

+ Rescue Data Recovery Services

+ Seagate Ironwolf Health Management

+ ONLY CMR/PMR Drives in their NAS Range

– Max Drive Capacity is 12TB (Pro Series go up to 22TB)

– Noisier General Operation than WD Red Drives

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Seagate Ironwolf (non-Pro) 8TB NAS HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA $149.99 (17% OFF, was $179.99) [LINK]
QNAP 1 Bay Home NAS with 4TB Storage Capacity, Preconfigured Seagate IronWolf Dr Amazon usa USA 13.19 OFF (WAS 155) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Small NAS Drive – WD Red & WD Red Plus

1-14TB, 5400/7200RPM (higher Caps = 7200RPM), 64-256MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, WD Red 1-6TB (SMR), WD Red Plus 1-14TB (CMR) $69-379

If you are looking to populate a compact, modestly powered, desktop NAS system (so a 1-Bay or 2-Bay NAS drive), then you have quite a large range of Hard Drives on offer. It is worth highlighting though that larger and more enterprise drives (i.e faster and longer warranty) will be noticeably noisier. Additionally, you will need to factor in that your maximum storage is going to be capped at either a single drive OR (in a 2-Bay NAS with RAID 1)  your storage halved to maintain redundancy. Finally, you will need to factor in that most 2-Bay NAS devices will either have a smaller external network connection (1/2.5Gbe) or are not really capable of saturating a full connection externally. So, baring these factors in mind, I would recommend the WD Red series of NAS hard drives for small NAS systems. They do not typically have more aggressive hardware internally, so the ambient noise when these drives are running will be remarkably low.

The performance, due to the lower rotations per minute (RPM) and cache might not seem spectacularly high, but in a 1-Bay or 2-Bay NAS, you likely could not push much performance externally anyway, so why spend much more on something that in most cases you will not be able to take advantage of. Be warned though, as you reach the much higher capacities above 8TB, the general background noise of the drives will increase incrementally.

+ Affordable Price Tag

+ Low Noise and Power Consumption in 24×7 Use

+ Good base level of Capacities Available

– Some Drive feature Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR)

– Performance is fairly average in the smaller capacities

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

WD Red Plus Internal NAS HDD 3.5\" - 12TB WesternDigital usa USA 2 HDD for $399 [LINK]
WD 8TB WD RED PLUS HDD B&H usa USA £159.99 ($49 off) [LINK]
WD Red Plus 4TB NAS Hard Drive (BF) Amazon usa USA 29% OFF, Now $84.99 (was $119.99) [LINK]
Western Digital 6TB WD Red Plus HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA $99.99 (33% OFF) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Affordable Hard Drives for a RAID 5 Desktop 4-Bay NAS – Toshiba N300

4-18TB, 7200RPM, 128-512MB Cache, 180 TBW, 3yr Warranty, 1-1.2M MTBF Rating $250-450  

A 4-Bay NAS drive is generally when home and small/medium business users start to take their storage seriously. There are such a wide variety of hardware options that arrive at this storage tier, ranging from powerful Intel/AMD processors and DDR4 memory, to 10Gbe and PCIe upgrades. This arrives with the utility if RAID 5, that allows users to have a much larger potential capacity and performance, but still have a single drive of redundancy to fall back on in the event of drive failure. At this degree of NAS storage, you have a much greater potential to not only largely saturate a 10Gbe connection, but alternatively, you can also look into installing 2.5Gbe and 5Gbe upgrades and fill multiple plus gigabit connections directly or via a switch.  In order to maximize this connection, but to also not max out your budget, I recommend the Toshiba N300 range of Hard Drives. Although they are a brand that is generally held commercially in the 3rd place when it comes to NAS media drives, their N300 range arrives at a similar/lower price point than Seagate Ironwolf and WD Red, but also arrives with 7200RPM on all capacities, with the lowest capacity arriving with 128MB caching and scaling up to 256MB quickly in the series. The increase in RPM will increase the background clicks, hums and whirs of the drive, but at 4-Bays, this is something that the NAS enclosure itself will begin to generate too. A high performing and often overlooked drive that, at the top capacity, can hit performance of up to 274MB/s.

+ Well Priced for a 7200RPM and 128/256/512 Cache Drive

+ Available in up to 18TB, even in non-Pro N300 Series

+ Error Recovery Control

– Will Generate More Noise at 7200RPM

– Not As Widely Available

– Not as well regarded as Seagate or WD

The 3.5-inch N300 NAS Hard Drive offers unprecedented reliability for NAS and other high-performance storage systems. It is optimized to meet the reliability, endurance, performance and scalability requirements of 24-hour x 7-day high-capacity storage for personal, home office and small business use. The N300 is available in capacities of up to 18 TB.

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?


These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Small Rackmount NAS – WD Red Pro

2-22TB, 7200RPM, 128-512MB Cache, 300TBW, 5yr Warranty $85-429 

Now we move onto the Rackmount NAS compatible hard drives, we have to start looking squarely at two main factors – Performance and Durability. If you are a business or established Prosumer user, then chances are that your NAS system is going to be used for a much larger % per day than most average users. Whether it is for surveillance, virtual machines, business file-sharing or just a combination of all of them every day, you want drives that are going to give you a good level of performance internally AND externally. Likewise, as the hard drives in even a modest rackmount NAS will be on for extended periods, you need to know that the drive can maintain the promising performance indefinitely AND without braking. This is where we start to look at specifications such as TBW (Terabytes Written), Mean time between failure, workload cycles and the warranty in more detail. For those looking at 10Gbe equipped or at least ’10Gbe Ready’ modest rackmount systems, I would recommend the WD Red Pro series of compatible NAS hard drives. Generally, one of the first Pro series NAS hard drives to arrive on the market, the WD Red Pro series is designed for NAS systems up to 24Bays and is available up to 18TB currently.

What did we say about the WD Red Pro 22TB highest tier model? We reviewed it back on September ’22 and whichever way you look at it, the WD Red Pro 22TB Hard drive is a stone-cold WINNER of a drive – both in terms of what it brings to the end user AND what this new 10-platter/OptiNAND drive design means for the future of the WD drive line up. WD does not over promise with this drive (with performance exceeding the brands reported benchmarks in almost every one of my tests, even using mid-range equipment) and they even nailed the price point in line with previous drives in the portfolio (though there is simply no avoiding that you are going to need deep pockets to fully populate any system with these 22TB drives). That said, much like any other WD Red Pro drive, the more industrial architecture still leads to a slightly higher running temp, noisier operation and slight increased power use. This is to be expected, but with no non-Pro alternative available at this capacity, the feasibility of fully populating a smaller scale system with the WD Red Pro 22TB is going to be both expensive AND noisy. I definitely recommend this drive to larger-scale NAS and SAN environments that need sustained RAID performance, high capacity and storage reliability – just maybe buy some earplugs if you plan on working in the same room as them.

Certainly one of the most expensive NAS HDDs out there, but provides a very good level of storage, performance, durability and overall is a very dependable drive for SMB users (Small/Medium Business) that want a drive they can rely on.

+ Top Tier NAS Drive Performance

+ 300TB/Y Workload

+ Build for up to 24-Bay Servers

– Certainly Noiser than non-Pro equivalents

– More Expensive than the Seagate Pro Option

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?


These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for an SMB Rackmount NAS 12-Bay – Seagate Ironwolf Pro

4-22TB, 7200RPM, 256MB Cache, 300 TBW (Newer NT version rates at 550TBW), 5yr Warranty, Rescue Data Recovery Services Included $79-399 

When it comes to the move into Rackmount storage for businesses (novices stop here) then not only do you have to only consider Pro/Enterprise-class drives only, but you can also start to look at drives that include certain business level advantages in terms of coverage and service. Much like the non-PRO series of hard drives mentioned earlier, the Seagate Ironwolf Pro series of HDDs include the Rescue+ data recovery services but also includes an impressive 5 years of the manufacturers warranty. However, it is in terms of performance, capacity and durability that the difference between these two ranges become apparent. For a start, the Ironwolf Pro HDD range arrives in capacities of up to 18TB (20TB promised for later in 2021 thanks to Energy Assisted Magnetic Recording), with ALL drives in the PRO range arriving with 7200RPM and 256/512MB of cache. The result is that these drives will hit up to an impressive 260MB/s, which even in smaller RAID 5 groups will easily saturate a 10Gb connection with just 4-5 drives.I performed te sts on 64MB, 256MB, 1GB and 4GB test files, as well as mixed 70/30% R/W. The results were consistent and largely lived up to Seagate’s claims here.

What did we think of the Seagate Ironwolf Pro larger capacities? We reviewed the new NT series (higher durability at 550TBW over 300TBW in the previous revisions) 20TB version and Straight out the gate, the Seagate Ironwolf Pro 20TB HDD comfortably delivers on it’s promises of performance. This alongside full tested and confirmed compatibility with Synology and QNAP NAS devices means that you have a drive here that can turn any 4-Bay NAS into a 60TB RAID5 Storage colossus – let alone once you start thinking about rackmounts and hyperscale. The pricing at the time of writing is a little muddled (the result of having two SKUs/Model IDs floating around in the market and eTailers having to play catch up) but that should hopefully iron out over time. I particularly appreciate that the workload discussion surrounding ‘Pro’ Class drives at 300TB/yr vs rapid HDD capacity growth is being addressed here with a 550TB/yr version to rival that of ‘Ent’ class drives – whatever the reason/motivation. The value of the Ironwolf Health Management tool is going to be something of debate and the inclusion of 3yrs data recovery services is a nice extra that (with any luck) few will need to use – but having them included in a 20TB HDD that still manages to maintain a similar level of Price per TB vs the bulk of NAS HDDs in the Pro tier increases the value notably. As HDDs continue to increase in scale and Seagate (among other brands) continues to outline their plans to hit 50TB by the end of the decade, the Seagate Ironwolf Pro ST2000NT001 is another good example of an HDD that finds a sweet spot between price, durability and value. Just be aware that this is a drive designed for large-scale use and that means high operational noise and higher than typical power use than non-Pro and smaller cap drives!

In recent years we have seen Seagate reshuffle their range of available capacities to align the capacities from 1-12TB to arrive in the standard Ironwolf range and Capacities of up to 18TB and 22TB to arrive on the PRO series (likely due to those larger capacity options requiring the more enterprise hardware as standard and making a non-PRO version impossible without purposely nerf’ing the lesser drives intentionally. There is crossover in 4-12TB models in between, however, the distinction in RPM, cache, build design and TBW rating is wide enough to justify this. The noise level of the Ironwolf HDD series in PRO is noticeable higher, but given these are designed for larger arrays, this noise increase will be less noticeable over the ambient noise of the whole system generally.

+ Excellent Price Point vs Ironwolf NON-Pro in the Portfolio

+ Rescue Data Recovery Services

+ New NT Version Available with 550 TB Annual Workload

+ Seagate Ironwolf Health Management

+ ONLY CMR/PMR Drives in their NAS Range

– Smallest Drive Capacity is 4TB

– Noticeable Boot Up Noise

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Seagate 24TB Ironwolf Pro $439 B&H usa USA $439.99 ($210 off) [LINK]
Seagate 24TB Ironwolf PRO HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA 38% OFF - Now $399 [LINK]
Seagate Ironwolf (non-Pro) 8TB NAS HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA $149.99 (17% OFF, was $179.99) [LINK]
QNAP 1 Bay Home NAS with 4TB Storage Capacity, Preconfigured Seagate IronWolf Dr Amazon usa USA 13.19 OFF (WAS 155) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

 

Best Hard Drives for an Enterprise Rackmount NAS Server – Seagate EXOS

1-24TB, 72000RPM, 256-512MB Cache, SAS & SATA Options, 550 TBW, 5yr Warranty, $99-519   

Now we finally move into the class of hard drive that is more classically defined at ‘Data Center’ and/or Hyperscale environments. Often choosing between a PRO class and Enterprise-class drive can be ticky at a glance. However, Pro class drives generally arrive with a much longer terabytes written rating per year (ie the amount of data that can be written to the drive throughout its lifespan per annum), arrive in numerous interfaces (so both SAS and SATA generally) and typically arrive with numerous format and encryption standard versions available. These are available because some industries and organizations insist on drive media that features in-built protection and secure erase on the drive itself. Of all the enterprise and data centre-class media in the market, I generally recommend the Seagate EXOS series for any hyper scale system environment. They are very, VERY closely followed by the Western Digital UltraStar class of drives, but the Seagate EXOS series is a little clearer to understand, has larger capacity options available earlier, will hopefully release Mach2 version drives in 2021 (dual actuator/arm SATA drives at 400MB/s+) and generally arrive a pinch lower in price too in like-for-like comparisons against the Ultrastar.

Sound Test Video Live Soon (Below)

Recent changes by Synology in their newest 2021 series of rackmounts systems to ONLY support their own range of HDD media has led to their own drives featuring on their own respective hardware, so make sure to check that your intended NAS rackmount system supports Seagate EXOS drives before you head to checkout!

+ Huge Range of Architecture Options (FIPS, Military Encryp, 4KN, SED, SAS and more)

+ Constantly Evolving (Mach 2 versions, x14, x16 & x18 etc)

+ Comparatively Lower in Price vs Ultrastar

+ New 24TB Model (X24) Version Available in 2024

– Range Can Be Confusing

– Availability Can Be Difficult + Some Models Are ‘Bulk Purchase’ Only

– Noisy!

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Seagate EXOS Enterprise Server 24TB Hard Drive (BF) Amazon usa USA 20% off – $479.99 (was $599.99) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Business Synology NAS – Synology HAT5300

8-18TB, 7200RPM, 256/512MB Cache, 550TBW, 5yr Warranty, Synology System ONLY, Firmware Control on Synology DSM $199-599 

Arriving on the scene in Jan 2021, the Synology branded range of Hard drives for enterprise server use took ALOT of people by surprise! Synology has always had a long-standing reputation with the production of network-attached storage, so in efforts to produce a complete first-party storage system that includes the software, the network hardware AND the media inside is very what their brand has been all about. In their defence too, these are not just cash-grab drives and are in-fact enterprise-class drives that are being priced at PRO series drives (so an Ultrastar/EXOS drive that is at the price tag of a WD Red or Ironwolf Pro). The drives themselves arrive (at launch anyway) with just three capacities available (8TB, 12TB and 16TB) and the architecture of them is quite eye-catching. A 550TBW per year rating, a 2.5Million MTTF, 256/512MB cache and performance ranging across the capacities from 230MB/s to a reported 270MB/s+. The drives are originally Toshiba M06/07/08 Enterprise drives that have a tweaked Synology NAS firmware onboard, so they are geared specifically towards utilization inside the Synology ecosystem. You can even check and upgrade the individual drive firmware directly from with the Synology DSM graphical user interface too, which is quite a unique and convenient feature for those larger arrays with differing drive versions being installed throughout your server’s lifespan.

You cannot really question the quality of the hardware architecture featured on the Synology HAT5300 range of hard drives. We clearly find here a range of drives that have been designed by Toshiba (an HDD vendor with decades of experience and Synology are not being coy about highlighting the partnership on this media), combined with one of the biggest providers of modern NAS in Synology, with media that is tweaked for use within their NAS systems and despite arriving at a Pro series price tag, arrive with hardware far more comparable to that of Seagate EXOS and Western digital Ultrastar hard drives. With a terrifically impressive annual workload, an approach to drive firmware and upgrades relatively unseen from any other drive for NAS’ and remarkable transparency from Synology in the marketing of these drives on day one certainly needs to be acknowledged. Moreover, Synology is not the first brand to champion the use of locked hard drive media in their service systems and they certainly won’t be the last. Overall, I am happy with the new Synology hard drives and despite possible reservations about where the logic of locked drives and exclusivity on this product and range will be extended to in the future (standard class versions?), I still happily recommend the Synology HAT5300 media series alongside other champions of NAS hard drive in 2021.

The move towards hard drive locking by Synology is something that has impressed some and disappointed others – but if you were going to be installing drive media inside a NAS system for business anyway, then ultimately these are still a very solid and well-performing product for you.

+ Enterprise Drives at a PRO class Price

+ 550TBW on ALL Capacities

+ Drive Firmware can be Updated from within the Synology DSM GUI

– Using them in not Synology NAS Hardware is not Supported

– More Expensive than other Enterprise Class HDDs from Seagate & WD

– Noisy Operation

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Synology DS1821+/128TB HAT5300 8 Bay Amazon UK UK 15.47 OFF (WAS 6657) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Business QNAP NAS – WD Ultrastar

1-18TB, 7200RPM, 256-512MB Cache, 550TBW, 5yr Warranty, FIPS and SED Options, SATA, SAS and U.2 NVMe SSD Options $70-550  

Finally, we move onto possibly the most well known of the enterprise-class of Hard Drives on the market. When it comes to data center and hyper-scale storage environments, Western Digital’s UltraStar range has the same reputation and long-running recognition as IBM has in the computer industry. They have been the go-to drive media of choice in the huge storage environment’s for years, thanks in large part to the fact they have been designed, developed and improved at the same time as the systems they were going into. In recent years, competitors have taken chunks of the market from them (as they are a larger and slightly slower behemoth to suddenly change tactic) and feature larger product runs that have to last extensive lengths of time to facilitate data center replacement media as needed. Nevertheless, in recent years the Ultrastar brand under WD has diversified hugely and alongside the popular WD Gold label has branched into a vast array of interface types, form factors, media variants and scales. Typically the first drive series to crack into a new capacity tier (the first to crack 20TB too).

Sound Test Video Live Soon (Below)

The Ultrastar series of hard drives will often be compared against the WD Red Pro range of NAS hard drives when considering populating a server. It is worth remembering that the Ultrastar series is designed for both a higher performance AND a much more enduring performance – i.e it can maintain that level, as well as switch between processes, for much longer. Indeed in testing, the Ultrastar even features a much higher Read and Write performance than pretty much any other drive that peaks as high as 280MB/s in our ATTO DiskBenchmark testing below with just a single HDD. Even the IOs (IOPS_ went as high as 19,000, which although low when compared with modern high-end SSDs, for a single HDD is really impressive).

The drives themselves are fantastically dull in appearance of course, as one might expect from the enterprise tier and also feature quite an aggressive spin up noise. However, in much larger scale environments, you will almost certainly not hear the drive media over the ambient system fan noise. Overall still an oldie but a goodie!

+ Consistently High Performance

+ Well-established HDD Drive and Brand

+ Numerous Interfaces, in-Drive Encryption Systems and Choices

– DEFINITELY one of the most confusing product ranges

– Noticeably Noisy at boot

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?


These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Home or Small Business 2023/2024 Gen Synology NAS – Synology HAT3300 Plus Series

4/6/8/12TB, 5900-7200RPM, 64-256MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, Synology NAS Designed, Firmware Update in DSM $109-189 

There is most certainly a clear design choice here to mirror that of the existing regular-class server drives on the market right now. The Synology HAT 3300+ series has been reported several times, not just here on the blog, to be built using Seagate Iron Wolf drive media with specific Synology firmware on board. Arriving with 180-terabyte annual workloads, 5400rpm, 256-megabyte cache, arriving in a CMR architecture and air-sealed – the specifications we see here are all quite standard. The 12TB benefits from an increased RPM and helium sealing, as per most 12 TB drives in the market, but apart from that the Synology Plus hard drive series are going to run quieter than most pro or enterprise-class drives, as well as have a slightly lower power consumption, but are also going to have a slight performance decrease than that of the HAT5300 and HAT3300. But that is only going to be of significance in larger RAID configurations realistically.

The differences between the Synology HAT3300, HAT5300/HAS5300 are pretty much exactly as you would find if you compared WD Red and Seagate IronWolf versus that of Seagate Exos and WD Ultrastar. Indeed, I am a little surprised that Synology has not introduced a middle ground in the form of a pro series drive, but perhaps this is something that will roll out later down the line. Nevertheless, this results in quite a void of performance, durability, and scale between these two ranges when compared to long-term established server hard drive ranges from these other companies filling the gaps of capacity and pro middle ground choices. It should be immediately highlighted that regardless of which Synology hard drive you opt for, you still benefit from firmware updates being actionable from within the Synology DSM software, easier and more streamlined warranty support, and firmware optimization that is specifically tailored towards Synology hardware deployment. We have discussed this at length previously when discussing the Synology enterprise hard drives and SSDs, and although you pay a premium for Synology’s own branded drives when compared to third-party alternatives that people have been using for decades, there are nonetheless merits in using drives specifically geared towards your NAS system rather than requiring a slightly broader design that suits more diverse servers. Here is how the Synology enterprise SATA, enterprise SAS, and mid-range plus hard drives differ in their specifications:

 
Classification Enterprise SATA Enterprise SAS Domestic SATA
Series Name Enterprise/XS Enterprise/XS PLUS
Model HAT5300 HAS5300 HAT3300
Interface SATA 6Gb SAS 12Gb SATA 6Gb
Recording CMR/PMR CMR/PMR CMR/PMR
Capacity (5/23) 4/8/12/16/18TB 8/12/16/18TB 4/6/8/12TB
RPM 7200RPM 7200RPM 5400RPM (7200 on 12TB)
Cache 256/512MB 256/512MB 256MB
Sector Size 512e 512e 512e
Max Transfer Speed (Capacity Dependant) 254/260/253/274/281MB/s 241/253/274MB/s 202/240MB/s
Drive Sealing AIR/AIR/Helium/Helium/Helium AIR/Helium/Helium/Helium AIR/AIR/AIR/Helium
Power Use (Idle) 4.07/5.61/4.25/4.00/4.16W 6.62/4.36/4.46W 3.96/3.4/3.4/5.07W
Power Use (Active) 7.76/9.29/7.83/7.63/8.35W 9.87/7.80/8.12W 4.85/5.3/5.3/8.33W
Load/Unload Cycles 600K 600K 600K
Workload Rating 550TB (Annual) 550TB (Annual) 180TB (Annual)
MTBF (Hrs) 2.0/2.5Million 2.5Million 1Million
Warranty 5 Years 5 Years 3 Years

+ Much more affordable than the HAT5300 Series

+ Better range off smaller capacities than HAT5300

+ Drive Firmware can be Updated from within the Synology DSM GUI

– Not Supported on Bigger Synology NAS Systems (eg XS or SA Series)

– Lacks Data Recovery Service of Seagate Ironwolf HDDs

– 12TB Maximum Capacity (at time of writing)

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Synology DS224+ 8TB 2 Bay NAS Solution installed with 2 x 4TB HAT3300 Drives Amazon UK UK 113.7 OFF (WAS 747) [LINK]
Synology DS224+ 32TB 2 Bay NAS Solution installed with 2 x 16 HAT3300 Drives Amazon UK UK 318.35 OFF (WAS 1224) [LINK]
Synology DS1621+ 24TB 6 Bay Desktop NAS Solution installed with 6 x 4TB HAT3300 Amazon UK UK 63.02 OFF (WAS 1662) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

IMPORTANT! Compatibility of Hard Drives with Synology NAS Systems

An increasingly important factor when selecting NAS hard drives is their compatibility with specific NAS systems. Over the last 18-24 months, there has been a noticeable trend, especially with Synology, towards reducing the range of compatible, supported, or verified HDDs. Synology has shown a preference for their own HAT3300 and HAT5300 drives, somewhat limiting the choice for users of their systems. This shift marks a departure from the traditionally open approach where most NAS brands, including Synology, supported a wide range of third-party drives.

This change in policy is significant for users needing specific storage solutions or those accustomed to a broader choice of drives. It contrasts with other NAS brands, which continue to support a variety of third-party drives, including the latest high-capacity models. When choosing a NAS hard drive in 2023/2024, it’s crucial to consider not just the drive’s specifications but also its compatibility with your NAS system. This ensures that you can take full advantage of the NAS’s features and avoid potential compatibility issues.

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle

Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

 

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today’s video. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

]]>
https://nascompares.com/guide/black-friday-nas-hard-drive-buyers-guide/feed/ 515 69096
The Best Hard Drives for Your NAS – 2023/2024 https://nascompares.com/2023/11/23/the-best-hard-drives-for-your-nas-2023-2024/ https://nascompares.com/2023/11/23/the-best-hard-drives-for-your-nas-2023-2024/#comments Thu, 23 Nov 2023 01:00:40 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?p=69055 Choosing the Best Hard Drives for your NAS

If you’re considering a NAS server for your home or business, selecting the appropriate hard drive is crucial. Just as each utensil in a cutlery set serves a unique purpose, NAS drives are designed for specific scenarios. Using unsuitable drive media in your NAS can significantly affect its performance and efficiency. In the past years, hard drive manufacturers have developed server-tailored hard drives (including SSDs) that cater to the unique demands of NAS systems. These drives are designed for sporadic access patterns, continuous operation (24×7), quick read/write cycles, and enhanced durability required in NAS environments.

As of late 2023, the market has seen an evolution in storage capacity, with commercial hard drives reaching up to 22TB and data centers testing drives between 24-30TB. This increase in capacity reflects the growing data storage demands in both personal and professional settings. However, the abundance of options, with more than fifteen top-tier NAS and Data Center class drives available, can make the selection process overwhelming. In this guide, I aim to simplify this process. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of eight different NAS/Server architectures along with the most suitable hard drive options for each, updated to reflect the latest advancements in technology and market trends as of 2023/2024.

Note – Use our Best Price Per TB Calculator tool HERE in order to get the best value storage for your needs. It includes filters for NAS size, redundancy, budget and capacity needs too!

Recommended NAS Hard Drives

Key Considerations in Buying Hard Drives for Your NAS

Before selecting the right NAS hard drive, it’s essential to grasp some key terms in the data storage industry. This knowledge ensures that the drive you choose meets your requirements to the highest standard. Here are some crucial terms you need to know, updated for 2023/2024, to decode the marketing jargon and understand the strengths and weaknesses of each drive:

RAID – Standing for Redundant Array of Independent Disks, RAID is a method of using multiple NAS HDDs simultaneously to enhance capacity, speed, and, most importantly, data safety. Unlike backups, RAID 0 combines total storage for high performance but lacks a safety net if a drive fails. RAID 1 cuts your total storage in half but provides a one-drive safety net. RAID 5 and RAID 6 offer one or two disk safety nets, respectively, and support much larger storage arrays. Other RAID levels exist, but these are the most widely used.

SATA – Despite it’s age, SATA still remains the most popular connection of HDDs in 2023/2024 (despite the rise of M.2 NVMe SSD use in NAS). SATA allows up to 6 Gigabits per second throughput. However, mechanical HDDs rarely exceeded 280MB/s. By 2023/2024, while SATA remains prevalent, advancements in connections like SAS, NVMe, and U.2, particularly in SSDs, have become more significant in enterprise settings.

Saturation – This term refers to the amount of data flowing through an interface/bandwidth. For instance, a SATA HDD might allow up to 600MB/s, but most NAS HDDs achieve around 180-280MB/s due to their mechanical design. Therefore, the saturation for a single drive is lower, at 180/280MB/s.

Platters – These are the disks inside the HDD that store data. Higher capacity drives feature more platters. Although compression techniques can increase space, there’s a limit to their effectiveness.

Rotation Speed – This indicates how fast the platters spin, enabling the arm/actuator to locate and write data magnetically.

Cache – This memory area on the NAS hard drive compiles and distributes data being processed by the disk. Larger capacity NAS hard drives typically have a larger cache, as do drives using Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR), which requires more handling space due to its unique writing style.

Terabytes Written (TBW), AKA ‘Workload Rating’– A metric often given annually, TBW indicates the amount of data a NAS Hard Drive can handle in a year while maintaining performance. This figure considers the potential for repeatedly filling and emptying the drive, common in data centers or tiered backups. Standard NAS hard drives usually have a TBW of around 180TBW, Pro series around 300TBW, and Enterprise-class HDDs 550TBW or more. This is often referred to as the workload rating.

Magnetic Recording – This refers to how data is stored on the platters. As of 2023/2024, there are several prevalent types: SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording), PMR/CMR (Perpendicular/Conventional Magnetic Recording), EAMR (Energy Assisted Magnetic Recording), and HAMR (Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording). Each type has its pros and cons, but PMR/CMR remains the most popular for NAS hard drives.

Warranty Length – This is the period during which the manufacturer will repair or replace a NAS hard drive if it fails due to manufacturing issues. Warranties typically range from 3 to 5 years.

These terms are essential for choosing the best NAS hard drive for your system in the context of 2023/2024. Next, we’ll examine different NAS hardware environments and recommend the best NAS hard drive for each.

Best Hard Drives for an Affordable RAID 6 Desktop 6/8-Bay NAS – Seagate Ironwolf (non-Pro)

1-12TB, 5900-7200RPM, 64-256MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, Rescue Data Recovery Services Included $50-229 

For those who are looking at a NAS server for business, or are home users who have made the enterprising move into the Prosumer bracket, then a 6-Bay or 8-Bay desktop NAS solution will become incredibly attractive. At this storage tier, we find a number of very cool and incredibly useful features become more widely available. For a start, we find the utility of RAID 6 (the 2 disk safety net configuration) much more palatable, as it makes less of a dent on our total available storage. Additionally, at this storage size, we start to see much more powerful processors, such as the Intel Core (i3, i5, etc) series arrive, AMD Ryzen and even Xeons. This combined with huge expandability of both memory internally and storage externally and generally with 10Gbe included as standard or available as an upgrade. So, at this scale of NAS storage, the hard drive choice becomes more important, as you do not want to create an internal bottleneck. For this tier of storage, I recommend the Seagate Ironwolf range of NAS drives. They arrive with a large number of 7200RM drives (with 5400RPM in the smaller capacities), a 180 terabytes per year guaranteed workload and the Seagate Rescue service. For those that are not aware, the Seagate Rescue+ package is a data recovery service that is included with your Ironwolf and Ironwolf Pro drives that, alongside your 3 year warranty, includes an additional 3 years of data recovery services.

What that means is that if your drive fails through no fault of your own within reason (so, no, not smashing it with a hammer), you can send the drive off to the Seagate recovery labs and they will try to get that data back. From accidental deletion, all the way through to mechanical and forensic level recovery, this is an impressive inclusion! You should still factor other safety nets in your architecture (backups, UPS, RAID, etc) but given the cost of data recovery services (costing anything from hundreds to thousands of pounds), this is a very, VERY useful inclusion when you need it. Additionally, Seagate Ironwolf hard drives sill manage to be the most affordable NAS drives on the market compared with their competitors, even when including the Rescue recovery included. They are also the only 3rd party NAS hard drive brand that has a tool to monitor drive health available on practically ALL the NAS software GUIs in the market, in Seagate Ironwolf Health Management.

+ Excellent Price Point

+ Rescue Data Recovery Services

+ Seagate Ironwolf Health Management

+ ONLY CMR/PMR Drives in their NAS Range

– Max Drive Capacity is 12TB (Pro Series go up to 22TB)

– Noisier General Operation than WD Red Drives

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Seagate Ironwolf (non-Pro) 8TB NAS HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA $149.99 (17% OFF, was $179.99) [LINK]
QNAP 1 Bay Home NAS with 4TB Storage Capacity, Preconfigured Seagate IronWolf Dr Amazon usa USA 13.19 OFF (WAS 155) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Small NAS Drive – WD Red & WD Red Plus

1-14TB, 5400/7200RPM (higher Caps = 7200RPM), 64-256MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, WD Red 1-6TB (SMR), WD Red Plus 1-14TB (CMR) $69-379

If you are looking to populate a compact, modestly powered, desktop NAS system (so a 1-Bay or 2-Bay NAS drive), then you have quite a large range of Hard Drives on offer. It is worth highlighting though that larger and more enterprise drives (i.e faster and longer warranty) will be noticeably noisier. Additionally, you will need to factor in that your maximum storage is going to be capped at either a single drive OR (in a 2-Bay NAS with RAID 1)  your storage halved to maintain redundancy. Finally, you will need to factor in that most 2-Bay NAS devices will either have a smaller external network connection (1/2.5Gbe) or are not really capable of saturating a full connection externally. So, baring these factors in mind, I would recommend the WD Red series of NAS hard drives for small NAS systems. They do not typically have more aggressive hardware internally, so the ambient noise when these drives are running will be remarkably low.

The performance, due to the lower rotations per minute (RPM) and cache might not seem spectacularly high, but in a 1-Bay or 2-Bay NAS, you likely could not push much performance externally anyway, so why spend much more on something that in most cases you will not be able to take advantage of. Be warned though, as you reach the much higher capacities above 8TB, the general background noise of the drives will increase incrementally.

+ Affordable Price Tag

+ Low Noise and Power Consumption in 24×7 Use

+ Good base level of Capacities Available

– Some Drive feature Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR)

– Performance is fairly average in the smaller capacities

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

WD Red Plus Internal NAS HDD 3.5\" - 12TB WesternDigital usa USA 2 HDD for $399 [LINK]
WD 8TB WD RED PLUS HDD B&H usa USA £159.99 ($49 off) [LINK]
WD Red Plus 4TB NAS Hard Drive (BF) Amazon usa USA 29% OFF, Now $84.99 (was $119.99) [LINK]
Western Digital 6TB WD Red Plus HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA $99.99 (33% OFF) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Affordable Hard Drives for a RAID 5 Desktop 4-Bay NAS – Toshiba N300

4-18TB, 7200RPM, 128-512MB Cache, 180 TBW, 3yr Warranty, 1-1.2M MTBF Rating $250-450  

A 4-Bay NAS drive is generally when home and small/medium business users start to take their storage seriously. There are such a wide variety of hardware options that arrive at this storage tier, ranging from powerful Intel/AMD processors and DDR4 memory, to 10Gbe and PCIe upgrades. This arrives with the utility if RAID 5, that allows users to have a much larger potential capacity and performance, but still have a single drive of redundancy to fall back on in the event of drive failure. At this degree of NAS storage, you have a much greater potential to not only largely saturate a 10Gbe connection, but alternatively, you can also look into installing 2.5Gbe and 5Gbe upgrades and fill multiple plus gigabit connections directly or via a switch.  In order to maximize this connection, but to also not max out your budget, I recommend the Toshiba N300 range of Hard Drives. Although they are a brand that is generally held commercially in the 3rd place when it comes to NAS media drives, their N300 range arrives at a similar/lower price point than Seagate Ironwolf and WD Red, but also arrives with 7200RPM on all capacities, with the lowest capacity arriving with 128MB caching and scaling up to 256MB quickly in the series. The increase in RPM will increase the background clicks, hums and whirs of the drive, but at 4-Bays, this is something that the NAS enclosure itself will begin to generate too. A high performing and often overlooked drive that, at the top capacity, can hit performance of up to 274MB/s.

+ Well Priced for a 7200RPM and 128/256/512 Cache Drive

+ Available in up to 18TB, even in non-Pro N300 Series

+ Error Recovery Control

– Will Generate More Noise at 7200RPM

– Not As Widely Available

– Not as well regarded as Seagate or WD

The 3.5-inch N300 NAS Hard Drive offers unprecedented reliability for NAS and other high-performance storage systems. It is optimized to meet the reliability, endurance, performance and scalability requirements of 24-hour x 7-day high-capacity storage for personal, home office and small business use. The N300 is available in capacities of up to 18 TB.

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?


These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Small Rackmount NAS – WD Red Pro

2-22TB, 7200RPM, 128-512MB Cache, 300TBW, 5yr Warranty $85-429 

Now we move onto the Rackmount NAS compatible hard drives, we have to start looking squarely at two main factors – Performance and Durability. If you are a business or established Prosumer user, then chances are that your NAS system is going to be used for a much larger % per day than most average users. Whether it is for surveillance, virtual machines, business file-sharing or just a combination of all of them every day, you want drives that are going to give you a good level of performance internally AND externally. Likewise, as the hard drives in even a modest rackmount NAS will be on for extended periods, you need to know that the drive can maintain the promising performance indefinitely AND without braking. This is where we start to look at specifications such as TBW (Terabytes Written), Mean time between failure, workload cycles and the warranty in more detail. For those looking at 10Gbe equipped or at least ’10Gbe Ready’ modest rackmount systems, I would recommend the WD Red Pro series of compatible NAS hard drives. Generally, one of the first Pro series NAS hard drives to arrive on the market, the WD Red Pro series is designed for NAS systems up to 24Bays and is available up to 18TB currently.

What did we say about the WD Red Pro 22TB highest tier model? We reviewed it back on September ’22 and whichever way you look at it, the WD Red Pro 22TB Hard drive is a stone-cold WINNER of a drive – both in terms of what it brings to the end user AND what this new 10-platter/OptiNAND drive design means for the future of the WD drive line up. WD does not over promise with this drive (with performance exceeding the brands reported benchmarks in almost every one of my tests, even using mid-range equipment) and they even nailed the price point in line with previous drives in the portfolio (though there is simply no avoiding that you are going to need deep pockets to fully populate any system with these 22TB drives). That said, much like any other WD Red Pro drive, the more industrial architecture still leads to a slightly higher running temp, noisier operation and slight increased power use. This is to be expected, but with no non-Pro alternative available at this capacity, the feasibility of fully populating a smaller scale system with the WD Red Pro 22TB is going to be both expensive AND noisy. I definitely recommend this drive to larger-scale NAS and SAN environments that need sustained RAID performance, high capacity and storage reliability – just maybe buy some earplugs if you plan on working in the same room as them.

Certainly one of the most expensive NAS HDDs out there, but provides a very good level of storage, performance, durability and overall is a very dependable drive for SMB users (Small/Medium Business) that want a drive they can rely on.

+ Top Tier NAS Drive Performance

+ 300TB/Y Workload

+ Build for up to 24-Bay Servers

– Certainly Noiser than non-Pro equivalents

– More Expensive than the Seagate Pro Option

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?


These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for an SMB Rackmount NAS 12-Bay – Seagate Ironwolf Pro

4-22TB, 7200RPM, 256MB Cache, 300 TBW (Newer NT version rates at 550TBW), 5yr Warranty, Rescue Data Recovery Services Included $79-399 

When it comes to the move into Rackmount storage for businesses (novices stop here) then not only do you have to only consider Pro/Enterprise-class drives only, but you can also start to look at drives that include certain business level advantages in terms of coverage and service. Much like the non-PRO series of hard drives mentioned earlier, the Seagate Ironwolf Pro series of HDDs include the Rescue+ data recovery services but also includes an impressive 5 years of the manufacturers warranty. However, it is in terms of performance, capacity and durability that the difference between these two ranges become apparent. For a start, the Ironwolf Pro HDD range arrives in capacities of up to 18TB (20TB promised for later in 2021 thanks to Energy Assisted Magnetic Recording), with ALL drives in the PRO range arriving with 7200RPM and 256/512MB of cache. The result is that these drives will hit up to an impressive 260MB/s, which even in smaller RAID 5 groups will easily saturate a 10Gb connection with just 4-5 drives.I performed te sts on 64MB, 256MB, 1GB and 4GB test files, as well as mixed 70/30% R/W. The results were consistent and largely lived up to Seagate’s claims here.

What did we think of the Seagate Ironwolf Pro larger capacities? We reviewed the new NT series (higher durability at 550TBW over 300TBW in the previous revisions) 20TB version and Straight out the gate, the Seagate Ironwolf Pro 20TB HDD comfortably delivers on it’s promises of performance. This alongside full tested and confirmed compatibility with Synology and QNAP NAS devices means that you have a drive here that can turn any 4-Bay NAS into a 60TB RAID5 Storage colossus – let alone once you start thinking about rackmounts and hyperscale. The pricing at the time of writing is a little muddled (the result of having two SKUs/Model IDs floating around in the market and eTailers having to play catch up) but that should hopefully iron out over time. I particularly appreciate that the workload discussion surrounding ‘Pro’ Class drives at 300TB/yr vs rapid HDD capacity growth is being addressed here with a 550TB/yr version to rival that of ‘Ent’ class drives – whatever the reason/motivation. The value of the Ironwolf Health Management tool is going to be something of debate and the inclusion of 3yrs data recovery services is a nice extra that (with any luck) few will need to use – but having them included in a 20TB HDD that still manages to maintain a similar level of Price per TB vs the bulk of NAS HDDs in the Pro tier increases the value notably. As HDDs continue to increase in scale and Seagate (among other brands) continues to outline their plans to hit 50TB by the end of the decade, the Seagate Ironwolf Pro ST2000NT001 is another good example of an HDD that finds a sweet spot between price, durability and value. Just be aware that this is a drive designed for large-scale use and that means high operational noise and higher than typical power use than non-Pro and smaller cap drives!

In recent years we have seen Seagate reshuffle their range of available capacities to align the capacities from 1-12TB to arrive in the standard Ironwolf range and Capacities of up to 18TB and 22TB to arrive on the PRO series (likely due to those larger capacity options requiring the more enterprise hardware as standard and making a non-PRO version impossible without purposely nerf’ing the lesser drives intentionally. There is crossover in 4-12TB models in between, however, the distinction in RPM, cache, build design and TBW rating is wide enough to justify this. The noise level of the Ironwolf HDD series in PRO is noticeable higher, but given these are designed for larger arrays, this noise increase will be less noticeable over the ambient noise of the whole system generally.

+ Excellent Price Point vs Ironwolf NON-Pro in the Portfolio

+ Rescue Data Recovery Services

+ New NT Version Available with 550 TB Annual Workload

+ Seagate Ironwolf Health Management

+ ONLY CMR/PMR Drives in their NAS Range

– Smallest Drive Capacity is 4TB

– Noticeable Boot Up Noise

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Seagate 24TB Ironwolf Pro $439 B&H usa USA $439.99 ($210 off) [LINK]
Seagate 24TB Ironwolf PRO HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA 38% OFF - Now $399 [LINK]
Seagate Ironwolf (non-Pro) 8TB NAS HDD (BF) Amazon usa USA $149.99 (17% OFF, was $179.99) [LINK]
QNAP 1 Bay Home NAS with 4TB Storage Capacity, Preconfigured Seagate IronWolf Dr Amazon usa USA 13.19 OFF (WAS 155) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

 

Best Hard Drives for an Enterprise Rackmount NAS Server – Seagate EXOS

1-24TB, 72000RPM, 256-512MB Cache, SAS & SATA Options, 550 TBW, 5yr Warranty, $99-519   

Now we finally move into the class of hard drive that is more classically defined at ‘Data Center’ and/or Hyperscale environments. Often choosing between a PRO class and Enterprise-class drive can be ticky at a glance. However, Pro class drives generally arrive with a much longer terabytes written rating per year (ie the amount of data that can be written to the drive throughout its lifespan per annum), arrive in numerous interfaces (so both SAS and SATA generally) and typically arrive with numerous format and encryption standard versions available. These are available because some industries and organizations insist on drive media that features in-built protection and secure erase on the drive itself. Of all the enterprise and data centre-class media in the market, I generally recommend the Seagate EXOS series for any hyper scale system environment. They are very, VERY closely followed by the Western Digital UltraStar class of drives, but the Seagate EXOS series is a little clearer to understand, has larger capacity options available earlier, will hopefully release Mach2 version drives in 2021 (dual actuator/arm SATA drives at 400MB/s+) and generally arrive a pinch lower in price too in like-for-like comparisons against the Ultrastar.

Sound Test Video Live Soon (Below)

Recent changes by Synology in their newest 2021 series of rackmounts systems to ONLY support their own range of HDD media has led to their own drives featuring on their own respective hardware, so make sure to check that your intended NAS rackmount system supports Seagate EXOS drives before you head to checkout!

+ Huge Range of Architecture Options (FIPS, Military Encryp, 4KN, SED, SAS and more)

+ Constantly Evolving (Mach 2 versions, x14, x16 & x18 etc)

+ Comparatively Lower in Price vs Ultrastar

+ New 24TB Model (X24) Version Available in 2024

– Range Can Be Confusing

– Availability Can Be Difficult + Some Models Are ‘Bulk Purchase’ Only

– Noisy!

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Seagate EXOS Enterprise Server 24TB Hard Drive (BF) Amazon usa USA 20% off – $479.99 (was $599.99) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Business Synology NAS – Synology HAT5300

8-18TB, 7200RPM, 256/512MB Cache, 550TBW, 5yr Warranty, Synology System ONLY, Firmware Control on Synology DSM $199-599 

Arriving on the scene in Jan 2021, the Synology branded range of Hard drives for enterprise server use took ALOT of people by surprise! Synology has always had a long-standing reputation with the production of network-attached storage, so in efforts to produce a complete first-party storage system that includes the software, the network hardware AND the media inside is very what their brand has been all about. In their defence too, these are not just cash-grab drives and are in-fact enterprise-class drives that are being priced at PRO series drives (so an Ultrastar/EXOS drive that is at the price tag of a WD Red or Ironwolf Pro). The drives themselves arrive (at launch anyway) with just three capacities available (8TB, 12TB and 16TB) and the architecture of them is quite eye-catching. A 550TBW per year rating, a 2.5Million MTTF, 256/512MB cache and performance ranging across the capacities from 230MB/s to a reported 270MB/s+. The drives are originally Toshiba M06/07/08 Enterprise drives that have a tweaked Synology NAS firmware onboard, so they are geared specifically towards utilization inside the Synology ecosystem. You can even check and upgrade the individual drive firmware directly from with the Synology DSM graphical user interface too, which is quite a unique and convenient feature for those larger arrays with differing drive versions being installed throughout your server’s lifespan.

You cannot really question the quality of the hardware architecture featured on the Synology HAT5300 range of hard drives. We clearly find here a range of drives that have been designed by Toshiba (an HDD vendor with decades of experience and Synology are not being coy about highlighting the partnership on this media), combined with one of the biggest providers of modern NAS in Synology, with media that is tweaked for use within their NAS systems and despite arriving at a Pro series price tag, arrive with hardware far more comparable to that of Seagate EXOS and Western digital Ultrastar hard drives. With a terrifically impressive annual workload, an approach to drive firmware and upgrades relatively unseen from any other drive for NAS’ and remarkable transparency from Synology in the marketing of these drives on day one certainly needs to be acknowledged. Moreover, Synology is not the first brand to champion the use of locked hard drive media in their service systems and they certainly won’t be the last. Overall, I am happy with the new Synology hard drives and despite possible reservations about where the logic of locked drives and exclusivity on this product and range will be extended to in the future (standard class versions?), I still happily recommend the Synology HAT5300 media series alongside other champions of NAS hard drive in 2021.

The move towards hard drive locking by Synology is something that has impressed some and disappointed others – but if you were going to be installing drive media inside a NAS system for business anyway, then ultimately these are still a very solid and well-performing product for you.

+ Enterprise Drives at a PRO class Price

+ 550TBW on ALL Capacities

+ Drive Firmware can be Updated from within the Synology DSM GUI

– Using them in not Synology NAS Hardware is not Supported

– More Expensive than other Enterprise Class HDDs from Seagate & WD

– Noisy Operation

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Synology DS1821+/128TB HAT5300 8 Bay Amazon UK UK 15.47 OFF (WAS 6657) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Business QNAP NAS – WD Ultrastar

1-18TB, 7200RPM, 256-512MB Cache, 550TBW, 5yr Warranty, FIPS and SED Options, SATA, SAS and U.2 NVMe SSD Options $70-550  

Finally, we move onto possibly the most well known of the enterprise-class of Hard Drives on the market. When it comes to data center and hyper-scale storage environments, Western Digital’s UltraStar range has the same reputation and long-running recognition as IBM has in the computer industry. They have been the go-to drive media of choice in the huge storage environment’s for years, thanks in large part to the fact they have been designed, developed and improved at the same time as the systems they were going into. In recent years, competitors have taken chunks of the market from them (as they are a larger and slightly slower behemoth to suddenly change tactic) and feature larger product runs that have to last extensive lengths of time to facilitate data center replacement media as needed. Nevertheless, in recent years the Ultrastar brand under WD has diversified hugely and alongside the popular WD Gold label has branched into a vast array of interface types, form factors, media variants and scales. Typically the first drive series to crack into a new capacity tier (the first to crack 20TB too).

Sound Test Video Live Soon (Below)

The Ultrastar series of hard drives will often be compared against the WD Red Pro range of NAS hard drives when considering populating a server. It is worth remembering that the Ultrastar series is designed for both a higher performance AND a much more enduring performance – i.e it can maintain that level, as well as switch between processes, for much longer. Indeed in testing, the Ultrastar even features a much higher Read and Write performance than pretty much any other drive that peaks as high as 280MB/s in our ATTO DiskBenchmark testing below with just a single HDD. Even the IOs (IOPS_ went as high as 19,000, which although low when compared with modern high-end SSDs, for a single HDD is really impressive).

The drives themselves are fantastically dull in appearance of course, as one might expect from the enterprise tier and also feature quite an aggressive spin up noise. However, in much larger scale environments, you will almost certainly not hear the drive media over the ambient system fan noise. Overall still an oldie but a goodie!

+ Consistently High Performance

+ Well-established HDD Drive and Brand

+ Numerous Interfaces, in-Drive Encryption Systems and Choices

– DEFINITELY one of the most confusing product ranges

– Noticeably Noisy at boot

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?


These Offers are Checked Daily

Best Hard Drives for a Home or Small Business 2023/2024 Gen Synology NAS – Synology HAT3300 Plus Series

4/6/8/12TB, 5900-7200RPM, 64-256MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, Synology NAS Designed, Firmware Update in DSM $109-189 

There is most certainly a clear design choice here to mirror that of the existing regular-class server drives on the market right now. The Synology HAT 3300+ series has been reported several times, not just here on the blog, to be built using Seagate Iron Wolf drive media with specific Synology firmware on board. Arriving with 180-terabyte annual workloads, 5400rpm, 256-megabyte cache, arriving in a CMR architecture and air-sealed – the specifications we see here are all quite standard. The 12TB benefits from an increased RPM and helium sealing, as per most 12 TB drives in the market, but apart from that the Synology Plus hard drive series are going to run quieter than most pro or enterprise-class drives, as well as have a slightly lower power consumption, but are also going to have a slight performance decrease than that of the HAT5300 and HAT3300. But that is only going to be of significance in larger RAID configurations realistically.

The differences between the Synology HAT3300, HAT5300/HAS5300 are pretty much exactly as you would find if you compared WD Red and Seagate IronWolf versus that of Seagate Exos and WD Ultrastar. Indeed, I am a little surprised that Synology has not introduced a middle ground in the form of a pro series drive, but perhaps this is something that will roll out later down the line. Nevertheless, this results in quite a void of performance, durability, and scale between these two ranges when compared to long-term established server hard drive ranges from these other companies filling the gaps of capacity and pro middle ground choices. It should be immediately highlighted that regardless of which Synology hard drive you opt for, you still benefit from firmware updates being actionable from within the Synology DSM software, easier and more streamlined warranty support, and firmware optimization that is specifically tailored towards Synology hardware deployment. We have discussed this at length previously when discussing the Synology enterprise hard drives and SSDs, and although you pay a premium for Synology’s own branded drives when compared to third-party alternatives that people have been using for decades, there are nonetheless merits in using drives specifically geared towards your NAS system rather than requiring a slightly broader design that suits more diverse servers. Here is how the Synology enterprise SATA, enterprise SAS, and mid-range plus hard drives differ in their specifications:

 
Classification Enterprise SATA Enterprise SAS Domestic SATA
Series Name Enterprise/XS Enterprise/XS PLUS
Model HAT5300 HAS5300 HAT3300
Interface SATA 6Gb SAS 12Gb SATA 6Gb
Recording CMR/PMR CMR/PMR CMR/PMR
Capacity (5/23) 4/8/12/16/18TB 8/12/16/18TB 4/6/8/12TB
RPM 7200RPM 7200RPM 5400RPM (7200 on 12TB)
Cache 256/512MB 256/512MB 256MB
Sector Size 512e 512e 512e
Max Transfer Speed (Capacity Dependant) 254/260/253/274/281MB/s 241/253/274MB/s 202/240MB/s
Drive Sealing AIR/AIR/Helium/Helium/Helium AIR/Helium/Helium/Helium AIR/AIR/AIR/Helium
Power Use (Idle) 4.07/5.61/4.25/4.00/4.16W 6.62/4.36/4.46W 3.96/3.4/3.4/5.07W
Power Use (Active) 7.76/9.29/7.83/7.63/8.35W 9.87/7.80/8.12W 4.85/5.3/5.3/8.33W
Load/Unload Cycles 600K 600K 600K
Workload Rating 550TB (Annual) 550TB (Annual) 180TB (Annual)
MTBF (Hrs) 2.0/2.5Million 2.5Million 1Million
Warranty 5 Years 5 Years 3 Years

+ Much more affordable than the HAT5300 Series

+ Better range off smaller capacities than HAT5300

+ Drive Firmware can be Updated from within the Synology DSM GUI

– Not Supported on Bigger Synology NAS Systems (eg XS or SA Series)

– Lacks Data Recovery Service of Seagate Ironwolf HDDs

– 12TB Maximum Capacity (at time of writing)

DEAL WATCH Is It On Offer Right Now?

Synology DS224+ 8TB 2 Bay NAS Solution installed with 2 x 4TB HAT3300 Drives Amazon UK UK 113.7 OFF (WAS 747) [LINK]
Synology DS224+ 32TB 2 Bay NAS Solution installed with 2 x 16 HAT3300 Drives Amazon UK UK 318.35 OFF (WAS 1224) [LINK]
Synology DS1621+ 24TB 6 Bay Desktop NAS Solution installed with 6 x 4TB HAT3300 Amazon UK UK 63.02 OFF (WAS 1662) [LINK]

These Offers are Checked Daily

IMPORTANT! Compatibility of Hard Drives with Synology NAS Systems

An increasingly important factor when selecting NAS hard drives is their compatibility with specific NAS systems. Over the last 18-24 months, there has been a noticeable trend, especially with Synology, towards reducing the range of compatible, supported, or verified HDDs. Synology has shown a preference for their own HAT3300 and HAT5300 drives, somewhat limiting the choice for users of their systems. This shift marks a departure from the traditionally open approach where most NAS brands, including Synology, supported a wide range of third-party drives.

This change in policy is significant for users needing specific storage solutions or those accustomed to a broader choice of drives. It contrasts with other NAS brands, which continue to support a variety of third-party drives, including the latest high-capacity models. When choosing a NAS hard drive in 2023/2024, it’s crucial to consider not just the drive’s specifications but also its compatibility with your NAS system. This ensures that you can take full advantage of the NAS’s features and avoid potential compatibility issues.

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle

Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

 

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today’s video. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

]]>
https://nascompares.com/2023/11/23/the-best-hard-drives-for-your-nas-2023-2024/feed/ 542 69055
How to Choose the BEST Value Hard Drive and Best Price per TB – Get it Right, FIRST TIME! https://nascompares.com/2022/12/28/how-to-choose-the-best-value-hard-drive-and-best-price-per-tb-get-it-right-first-time/ https://nascompares.com/2022/12/28/how-to-choose-the-best-value-hard-drive-and-best-price-per-tb-get-it-right-first-time/#comments Wed, 28 Dec 2022 10:13:25 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?p=60310 Choosing the Best Hard Drive for Price per Terabyte or Gigabyte

One question that storage users who are more concerned about the longevity and future-proofing of their storage ask us is:

“HDD Price per TB (best cost Hard Drives). Is it better to get bigger size drives or smaller drives but more of them to achieve desired storage space?”

Yes, this is a popular question indeed, especially with bigger size hard drives. Those drives tend to be much more expensive per terabyte. It is often cheaper to get an additional drive which is smaller and gain the same total capacity (using two or 3 drives) cheaper.

How to calculate price per GB / TB?

If a 4 TB hard drive (let’s say 4000 MB, for simplicity’s sake) costs $50, how much is that per GB?

4 TB = 4000 GB                  $50 / 4000 GB = 0,0125 $/GB        $0,0125 x 1000 = 12.5 $/TB

How to use the Price per Terabyte Calculator table below?

Below you will find our automatic hard drive price per TB/GB tool, designed to crawl many, MANY different eShops and divide their cost between the available storage. This allows us to rank/list these drives by the largest amount of terabytes youwill get for your money. This list includes popular hard drive manufacturers, such as Seagate, WD and Toshiba, allowing you to ensure that you are getting excellent value for money on your storage, as well as only choosing the most reputable HDD makers in the world. Before you head down there though, take a moment to quick familiarize yourself with a few key factors that will aid you in understanding how to understand what separates one HDD from another

CMR VS SMR HDDs

You can filter CMR drives only if you need better performance (more info). SMR drives are acceptable in RAID1/0 or no raid setup.

Seagate VS WD Hard Drives?

You can go brand specific such as Seagate, WD, and Toshiba. WD might offer things like OptiNAND

WD Hard Drive Buyers Guide Seagate Hard Drive Buyers Guide

Home vs Business Hard Drives, is there a difference?

You can also choose a specific type of drives such as for home use you would use a filter (WD Red or Ironwolf. For business use in a NAS with 8 bays and above filter would look like WD RED Pro or Ironwolf Pro. For enterprise drives, you would choose Exos, HGST, Gold or Ultrastar. For surveillance, you would choose a filter “purple” or “Surveillance”. For simple desktop use you would choose Barracuda, Black or Blue drives. The colours are explained here.

6TB vs 8TB, or 10TB vs 20TB – Which is Best?

You may choose bigger capacity drives if you have fewer drive bays on your NAS. This limits your options for mixing drives smarter way. You might realise that bigger drives but fewer of them can actually be cheaper than smaller drives that use every drive bay.

NOTE – Use the GREEN Bar (ideally for NAS users) to enter your number of bays, RAID failure protection level, budget and whether you want NAS optimized drives only
Note – Use the YELLOW Bar to filter the results by brand, price per TB range, strict capacity and recording method
TOTAL CAPACITY NEEDED IN TB? HDD bays available? Redundancy? Budget? NAS HDD ONLY?
Show only United Kingdom United States
LAST UPDATED: December 24, 2024 00:10
$12.67 Seagate Seagate Constellation St33000650Ss Hard Disk Drive ST33000650SS 3TB CMR 35 Link
$14.5 Seagate 4TB 7.2K 6G SAS 3.5-inch Hard Drive Compatible with ST4000NM0023 ST4000NM0023 4TB CMR 52 Link
$15 WD Western Digital 8TB WD Blue PC Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5640 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD80EAAZ WD80EAAZ 8TB CMR 120 Link
$15.53 Seagate Seagate IronWolf Pro ST16000NE000 16 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600), Mechanical Hard Disk ST16000NE000 16TB CMR 249 Link
$15.63 Toshiba Toshiba MG08ACA16TE 16TB 7200RPM 512e 3.5" SATA Enterprise Desktop Hard Drive MG08ACA16TE 16TB CMR 250 Link
$15.71 Seagate 3.5" 14TB Enterprise Hard Drive 7200RPM SATAIII 6Gb/s 256MB Cache SMechanical Hard Disk ST14000NM001G ST14000NM001G 14TB CMR 220 Link
$16 Seagate Seagate 2TB Pipeline HD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive (ST2000VM003) ST2000VM003 2Tb CMR 32 Link
$16.25 WD Western Digital 8TB WD Blue PC Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5640 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 128 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD80EAZZ WD80EAZZ 8TB CMR 130 Link
$16.25 WD Western Digital WUH721816ALE6L4 3.5" 16TB SATA 6Gb/s7.2K RPM 512M 0F38462 512e/4Kn HDD WUH721816ALE6L4 16TB CMR 260 Link
$16.43 WD Western Digital WUH721414ALE6L4 14TB Ultrastar DC HC530 SATA HDD - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 512MB Cache, 3.5" WUH721414ALE6L4 14TB CMR 230 Link
$16.58 Toshiba Toshiba X300 12TB Performance & Gaming 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive - CMR SATA 6 GB/s 7200 RPM 256 MB Cache - HDWR21CXZSTA HDWR21CXZSTA 12TB CMR 199 Link
$16.79 Seagate Seagate IronWolf Pro ST14000NE0008 14 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600) ST14000NE0008 14TB CMR 235 Link
$16.79 Toshiba Toshiba MG Series Enterprise 14TB 3.5’’ SATA 6Gbit/s Internal HDD 7200RPM 550TB/year 24/7 Operation. MG07ACA14TE MG07ACA14TE 14TB CMR 235 Link
$17.14 Seagate Seagate Skyhawk AI 14TB Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD–3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 256MB Cache with Drive Health Management + 3-Year Rescue Service (ST14000VE0008) ST14000VE0008 14TB CMR 240 Link
$17.38 Seagate Seagate IronWolf ST12000VN0007 12 TB 3.5 Internal Hard Drive - SATA - 7200rpm - 256 MB Buffer ST12000VN0007 12TB CMR 209 Link
$17.42 HGST HGST Ultrastar He12 HUH721212ALE600 12 TB Hard Drive - SATA (SATA/600) - 3.5 Drive - Internal HUH721212ALE600 12TB CMR 205 Link
$17.5 WD Western Digital 4TB WD Blue PC Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD40EZAX WD40EZAX 4TB CMR 70 Link
$17.5 Seagate 20TB 7.2K 256MB SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Compatible ST20000NM007D Hard Drive ST20000NM007D 20TB CMR 350 Link
$17.5 Seagate Seagate Enterprise Capacity 3.5 HDD 8TB 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 256MB Cache 4Kn 3.5-Inch Enterprise Hard Disk Drive (ST8000NM0045) ST8000NM0045 8TB CMR 140 Link
$17.56 Seagate 1Pcs New ST6000NM0095 st6000nm0095 6TB CMR 105 Link
$17.92 Seagate Seagate IronWolf 12TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD – 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache RAID Home Servers - Newest Model (ST12000VN0008) ST12000VN0008 12TB CMR 215 Link
$17.92 Seagate Seagate IronWolf Pro ST12000NE0008 12 TB Hard Drive - 512E Format - SATA 600-3.5" Drive - Internal - 7200RPM - 256 MB Buffer - Hot Pluggable ST12000NE0008 12TB CMR 211 Link
$18.25 Toshiba Toshiba MG Series Enterprise 12TB 3.5’’ SATA 6Gbit/s Internal HDD 7200RPM 550TB/year 24/7 Operation. MG07ACA12TE MG07ACA12TE 12TB CMR 219 Link
$18.43 Seagate Seagate IronWolf ST16000VN001 16 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600) ST16000VN001 16TB CMR 295 Link
$18.5 Toshiba Toshiba X300 10TB Performance & Gaming 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive - CMR SATA 6 GB/s 7200 RPM 256 MB Cache - HDWR11AXZSTA HDWR11AXZSTA 10TB CMR 185 Link
$18.77 Seagate Seagate Skyhawk AI ST20000VE002 - Hard Drive - 20 TB - SATA 6Gb/s ST20000VE002 20TB CMR 375 Link
$18.79 Seagate Seagate 8TB Enterprise Capacity 3.5 HDD 7200RPM SATA 6Gbps 256 MB Cache Internal Bare Drive (ST8000NM0055) ST8000NM0055 8TB CMR 109 Link
$18.92 Seagate Seagate Skyhawk AI ST12000VE001 12 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600) - Network Video Recorder, Camera Device Supported - 3 Year Warranty ST12000VE001 12TB CMR 227 Link
$19.1 Seagate Seagate Exos X20 ST20000NM002D 512E/4KN SAS 12Gb/s 20TB 7200RPM 256MB Enterprise Hard Drive,Mechanical Hard Disk ST20000NM002D 20TB CMR 382 Link
$19.17 WD Western Digital HUH721212ALE604 12TB Ultrastar DC HC520 SATA HDD - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256MB Cache, 3.5" HUH721212ALE604 12TB CMR 230 Link
$19.53 Toshiba BUSlink 18TB MG09ACA18TE 7200RPM 512e 3.5" SATA Enterprise Desktop Hard Drive mg09aca18te 16TB CMR 295 Link
$19.64 Seagate Seagate Exos X16 ST16000NM003G 16 TB Hard Drive - Internal - SATA (SATA/600) ST16000NM003G 16TB CMR 314 Link
$19.67 Seagate Seagate BarraCuda Pro Performance Internal Hard Drive SATA HDD 12TB 6GB/s 256MB Cache 3.5-Inch (ST12000DM0007) ST12000DM0007 12TB CMR 236 Link
$19.75 WD Western Digital 20TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD201KFGX WD201KFGX 20TB CMR 395 Link
$19.8 Seagate Seagate Skyhawk AI ST10000VE0008 10 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600) ST10000VE0008 10TB CMR 198 Link
$19.9 WD 10TB Western Digital WD100EMAZ Hard Drive SATA 6Gb/s 256MB WD100EMAZ 10TB CMR 199 Link
$20 WD WD 2 TB WD AV-GP SATA III Intellipower 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM AV Hard Drive WD20EURX WD20EURX 2TB CMR 40 Link
$20 WD Western Digital 6TB WD Blue PC Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD60EZAX WD60EZAX 6TB CMR 120 Link
$20 WD Western Digital 10TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD101EFBX WD101EFBX 10TB CMR 200 Link
$20.07 HGST HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 4 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM SATA Internal Enterprise Hard Drive 64 MB Buffer 6.0Gb/s - HUS724040ALA640 / 0F14688 64 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare or OEM Drives 0F14688 HUS724040ALA640 4TB CMR 80 Link
$20.31 Seagate Seagate Skyhawk AI ST16000VE002 - Hard Drive - 16 TB - Internal - 3.5" - SATA 6Gb/s - Buffer: 256 MB - with 3 Years Rescue Data Recovery ST16000VE002 16TB CMR 325 Link
$20.35 WD Western Digital 6TB WD Blue PC Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD60EZAZ WD60EZAZ 6TB SMR 122 Link
$20.45 WD Western Digital 22TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD221KFGX WD221KFGX 22TB CMR 450 Link
$20.45 WD Western Digital WD Ultrastar HC570 WUH722222ALE6L4 22TB 7200RPM 3.5'' Desktop HDD 0F48155 WUH722222ALE6L4 22TB CMR 450 Link
$20.45 WD Western Digital 22TB WD Gold Enterprise Class SATA Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD221KRYZ WD221KRYZ 22TB CMR 450 Link
$20.45 WD Western Digital 22TB WD Purple Pro Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD221PURP WD221PURP 22TB CMR 450 Link
$20.5 WD Western Digital 18TB WD Purple Pro Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD181PURP WD181PURP 18TB CMR 369 Link
$20.51 Seagate Seagate Exos X20 ST20000NM003D 20 TB Hard Drive - Internal - SAS (12Gb/s SAS) - Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR) Method ST20000NM003D 20TB CMR 410 Link
$20.54 Seagate Seagate ST18000NM003D 18TB Exos X20 SATA Hard Drive, 3.5" HDD, SATA 6Gb/s, 7200rpm, 256MB Cache, 512E, 4.16ms, NCQ ST18000NM003D 18TB CMR 370 Link
$20.6 Seagate ST8000NM0075 ST8000NM0075 1Pcs New ST8000NM0075 ST8000NM0075 8TB CMR 138 Link
$21 WD Western Digital 20TB WD Gold Enterprise Class SATA Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD202KRYZ WD202KRYZ 20TB CMR 420 Link
$21 Seagate Seagate ST4000DM000 F/W: CC54 4TB Desktop HDD st4000dm000 4TB CMR 84 Link
$21.11 WD Western Digital 18TB WD Gold Enterprise Class Internal Hard Drive - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD181KRYZ WD181KRYZ 18TB CMR 380 Link
$21.2 Seagate Seagate IronWolf ST10000NE0008 10 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600) ST10000NE0008 10TB CMR 212 Link
$21.24 Seagate Seagate 4TB NL SATA 6GB/S 7.2K RPM (ST4000NM0024) ST4000NM0024 4TB CMR 85 Link
$21.31 WD Western Digital 18TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD181KFGX WD181KFGX 18TB CMR 384 Link
$21.37 WD Western Digital 4TB WD Blue PC Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD40EZAZ WD40EZAZ 4TB SMR 85 Link
$21.71 WD Western Digital 12TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 GB/s, CMR, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD120EFBX WD120EFBX 12TB CMR 261 Link
$21.8 Seagate Seagate IronWolf 10TB NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD – 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache RAID Network Attached Storage Home Servers - (ST10000VN0008) ST10000VN0008 10TB CMR 218 Link
$21.83 WD Western Digital 6TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD64PURZ WD64PURZ 6TB CMR 131 Link
$22.04 Toshiba Toshiba P300 HDWD240UZSVA 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM 64MB Cache SATA III Internal HDD HDWD240UZSVA 4TB SMR 88 Link
$22.35 Seagate Seagate SkyHawk 10TB Surveillance Hard Drive - SATA 6Gb/s 256MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Drive (ST10000VX0004) ST10000VX0004 10TB CMR 224 Link
$22.49 WD Western Digital 18TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 256MB Cache, 3.5" - WD180PURZ WD180PURZ 18TB CMR 405 Link
$22.49 Seagate Seagate Skyhawk ST6000VX001 6TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - SATA ST6000VX001 6TB CMR 135 Link
$22.5 WD Western Digital 8TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5640 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD80EFPX WD80EFPX 8TB CMR 180 Link
$22.5 Seagate Seagate Exos X20 ST20000NM000D 20 TB Hard Drive - Internal - SATA (SATA/600) - Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR) Method - Storage System, Video Surveillance System Device Supported - 7200rpm - 285 ST20000NM000D 20TB CMR 450 Link
$22.5 Seagate ATP 4TB 7.2K SATA 6G LFF Hard Drive Compatible ST4000NM0033 9PR63 9ZM170-136 ST4000NM0033 4TB CMR 61 Link
$22.67 WD WD Purple 6TB Surveillance Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD60PURX [Old Version] WD60PURX 6TB CMR 136 Link
$22.86 Seagate Seagate - ST8000VX004 Skyhawk ST8000VX004 8 TB Hard Drive - 3.5 Internal - SATA (SATA/600) - Video Surveillance System, Network Video Recorder Device Supported - 256 MB Buffer ST8000VX004 8TB CMR 183 Link
$23 WD WD 3 TB 3.5-Inch Desktop Mainstream WDBH2D0030HNC-NRSN WDBH2D0030HNC 3TB CMR 69 Link
$23.04 WD Western Digital 14TB WD Purple Pro Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD141PURP WD141PURP 14TB CMR 322 Link
$23.33 WD Western Digital 6TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" -WD60EFPX WD60EFPX 6TB CMR 140 Link
$23.51 WD WD Purple 4TB Surveillance Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD40PURX [Old Version] WD40PURX 4TB CMR 94 Link
$23.75 WD Western Digital WD Ultrastar dc hc310 hus726t4tale6l4 - HDD - 4 TB - sata 6gb/s 0b36040 HUS726T4TALE6L4 4TB CMR 70 Link
$23.75 Seagate 4TB 7200RPM 128MB 3.5" SATA Hard Drive Compatible ST4000NM0035-HPE ST4000NM0035 4TB CMR 95 Link
$23.75 WD Western Digital WD Gold 16 to (WD161KRYZ) WD161KRYZ 16TB CMR 343 Link
$23.78 Seagate HEWLETT PACKARD ST6000NM0034-HPE 6TB 7.2K 12G LFF SAS Hard Drive ST6000NM0034 6TB CMR(PMR) 80 Link
$23.79 WD Western Digital 12TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD121PURZ WD121PURZ 12TB CMR 286 Link
$23.83 WD Western Digital 6TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD60PURZ WD60PURZ 6TB CMR 143 Link
$23.86 WD Western Digital 14TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD140PURZ WD140PURZ 14TB CMR 334 Link
$23.99 WD Western Digital 6TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD63PURZ WD63PURZ 6TB CMR 144 Link
$24 WD Western Digital 10TB WD Purple Pro Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD101PURP WD101PURP 10TB CMR 240 Link
$24.17 WD Western Digital 12TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD121KFBX WD121KFBX 12TB CMR 290 Link
$24.17 Seagate Seagate IronWolf Pro ST6000NE000 6 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600) ST6000NE000 6TB CMR 145 Link
$24.25 WD Western Digital 12TB WD Purple Pro Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD121PURP WD121PURP 12TB CMR 291 Link
$24.25 WD Western Digital 4TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD40PURZ WD40PURZ 4TB CMR 97 Link
$24.25 WD Western Digital 4TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD42PURZ WD42PURZ 4TB CMR 97 Link
$24.46 Seagate Seagate Exos X24 ST24000NM001H - 24TB ST24000NM001H 24TB CMR 587 Link
$24.5 WD Western Digital 24TB WD Gold Enterprise Class SATA Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD241KRYZ WD241KRYZ 24TB CMR 588 Link
$24.52 Seagate Generic ST16000NM001G Enterprise Hard Disk 16T 7.2K SATA 3.5"" ST16000NM001G 16TB CMR 263 Link
$24.75 Seagate SEAGATE ST4000VX007 Skyhawk 4TB Surveillance Hard SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Drive-Frustration Free Packaging (ST4000VXZ07) Mechanical Hard Disk ST4000VX007 4TB CMR 99 Link
$24.75 Seagate SEAGATE ST4000VX007 Skyhawk 4TB Surveillance Hard SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Drive-Frustration Free Packaging (ST4000VXZ07) Mechanical Hard Disk ST4000VXZ07 4TB CMR 99 Link
$24.87 Seagate SEAGATE SkyHawk 8TB Surveillance Hard SATA 6Gb/s 256MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Drive-Frustration Free Packaging (ST8000VX0022) ST8000VX0022 8TB CMR 199 Link
$24.88 HGST HGST Ultrastar He8 HUH728080ALE600 8TB 3.5" SATA 7.2K 6Gb/s Internal Hard Drive HUH728080ALE600 8TB CMR 197 Link
$24.9 WD Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC330 WUS721010ALE6L4 10 TB Hard Drive - 3.5 Internal - SATA [SATA/600] WUS721010ALE6L4 10TB CMR 249 Link
$24.91 WD WD 6TB 3.5" Re+ SATA III 128 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Enterprise Hard Drive (WD6005FRPZ) WD6005FRPZ 6TB CMR 149 Link
$24.97 WD Western Digital WD Bulk WD10EURX 1TB AV GP SATA 6Gbs 3.5", 1 TB WD10EURX 1TB CMR 25 Link
$25 WD Western Digital 4TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" -WD40EFPX WD40EFPX 4TB CMR 100 Link
$25 WD Western Digital 8TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD85PURZ WD85purz 8 TB CMR 200 Link
$25 WD WD 4 TB 3.5" Performance Hard Drive 128 MB Cache, 3.5" Internal Bare or OEM Drives, Black (WD4004FZWX) wd4004fzwx 4TB CMR 100 Link
$25.12 WD WD_BLACK 6TB Gaming Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 128 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD6004FZWX WD6004FZWX 6TB CMR 151 Link
$25.15 WD WESTERN DI - WD Red PRO Nas Hard Drive WD161KFGX - HD - 6176923 WD161KFGX 16TB CMR 335 Link
$25.16 WD Western Digital 8TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 128 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD84PURZ WD84PURZ 8TB CMR 201 Link
$25.45 Seagate Seagate Exos 7E10 ST10000NM017B 10 TB Hard Drive - Internal - SATA [SATA/600] ST10000NM017B 10TB CMR 254 Link
$25.58 Seagate Generic ST16000NM000J Enterprise Hard Disk 7.2K 16T SATA 3.5"" Hard Drive ST16000NM000J 16TB CMR 299 Link
$25.73 WD Western Digital 12TB WD Gold Enterprise Class Internal Hard Drive - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD121KRYZ WD121KRYZ 12TB CMR 309 Link
$25.8 WD Western Digital 10TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD102PURZ WD102PURZ 10TB CMR 258 Link
$25.8 WD Western Digital 10TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive - SATA 6 Gb/s, , 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD101PURZ (Old Version) WD101PURZ 10TB CMR 258 Link
$26.28 WD Western Digital 10TB WD Black Performance Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD101FZBX WD101FZBX 10TB CMR 263 Link
$26.34 Seagate Seagate Exos 7E8 4TB Internal Hard Drive Enterprise HDD – 3.5 Inch 512n SATA 6Gb/s, 7200RPM, 256MB Cache – Frustration Free Packaging (ST4000NM000A) st4000nm000a 4TB CMR 105 Link
$26.39 Seagate Seagate Exos X18 ST18000NM004J 18 TB Hard Drive - Internal - SAS (12Gb/s SAS) ST18000NM004J 18TB CMR 475 Link
$26.5 Toshiba Toshiba HDWT360UZSVA 6TB S300 3.5" Surveillance Hard Drive HDWT360UZSVA 6TB SMR 159 Link
$26.6 Seagate Seagate Skyhawk ST4000VX013 4 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600) - Network Video Recorder, Video Surveillance System Device Supported ST4000VX013 4TB SMR 106 Link
$26.67 WD Western Digital 6TB WD Blue PC Internal Hard Drive - 5400 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, , 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD60EZRZ WD60EZRZ 6TB CMR 160 Link
$26.71 Seagate ST6000NM0115 3.5"-Inch HDD 6TB 7200 RPM 512e SATA 6Gb/s 256MB Cache Internal Hard Drive ST6000NM0115 6TB CMR 125 Link
$26.73 WD Western Digital 14TB WD Gold Enterprise Class Internal Hard Drive - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD141KRYZ WD141KRYZ 14TB CMR 374 Link
$26.95 WD Western Digital 10TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD102KFBX WD102KFBX 10TB CMR 269 Link
$27 WD Western Digital Gold WD102KRYZ 10 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600) WD102KRYZ 10TB CMR 270 Link
$27.03 WD Western Digital 3TB WD Blue PC Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD30EZAZ WD30EZAZ 3TB SMR 81 Link
$27.08 Hitachi ATP 12TB 7.2K SAS 12G LFF Hard Drive Compatible HUH721212AL5200 09HXK6 0F29535 HUH721212AL5200 12TB CMR 250 Link
$27.33 Seagate Seagate Skyhawk ST6000VX0023 6 TB Internal Hard Drive ST6000VX0023 6TB CMR 164 Link
$27.49 WD Western Digital 8TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD82PURZ WD82PURZ 8TB CMR 220 Link
$27.81 WD Western Digital 20TB WD Gold Enterprise Class SATA Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD201KRYZ WD201KRYZ 20TB CMR 556 Link
$28 WD Western Digital 3TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD33PURZ WD33PURZ 3TB CMR 84 Link
$28.06 WD WD Gold 8TB Enterprise Class Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 256MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD8003FRYZ WD8003FRYZ 8TB CMR 225 Link
$28.73 WD Western Digital 6TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD6003FFBX WD6003FFBX 6TB CMR 172 Link
$28.92 WD WD Purple 8TB Surveillance Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 128MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD80PURZ WD80PURZ 8TB CMR 231 Link
$29.16 WD Western Digital 6TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD60EFRX WD60EFRX 6TB CMR 175 Link
$29.16 wd Western Digital 6TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD60EFRX wd60efrx 6tb cmr 175 Link
$29.25 WD Western Digital 4TB WD Blue PC Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD40EZRZ WD40EZRZ 4TB CMR 117 Link
$29.31 Seagate Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM007 3 TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - SATA ST3000DM007 3TB SMR 88 Link
$29.43 Seagate Seagate Barracuda® 6TB Internal Hard Drive 8.9 cm (3.5 Inches) SATA III ST6000DM003 Bulk ST6000DM003 6TB SMR 177 Link
$29.45 Seagate Seagate 10TB IronWolf Pro ST10000NE000 NAS ST10000NE000 10TB CMR 294 Link
$29.54 WD Western Digital 12TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD120EFAX WD120EFAX 12TB CMR 354 Link
$29.63 Seagate Seagate Barracuda St2000dm001 2 Tb 3.5 Internal Hard Drive - Sata - 7200 RPM - 64 Mb Buffer ST2000DM001 2TB SMR 59 Link
$29.67 WD Western Digital 10TB WD Red NAS Internal Hard Drive - 5400 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD100EFAX (Old Version) WD100EFAX 10TB CMR 297 Link
$29.77 WD Western Digital 8TB WD Purple Pro Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD8001PURP WD8001PURP 8TB CMR 238 Link
$29.83 wd Western Digital 6TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5640 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 128 MB Cache, 3.5" -WD60EFZX WD60EFZX 6TB CMR 179 Link
$29.88 Toshiba Toshiba MG08-D MG08ADA800E 8 TB Hard Drive - 3.5 Internal - SATA [SATA/600] MG08ADA800E 8TB CMR 239 Link
$29.99 Toshiba Toshiba MQ01ABD100 1000 GB Internal MQ01ABD100 1TB SMR 30 Link
$30 WD Western Digital 14TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD141KFGX WD141KFGX 14TB CMR 420 Link
$30 HGST HGST Ultrastar HUS724040ALE640 (0F18567) 4TB 64MB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 3.5in Internal Enterprise Hard Drive - 5 Year Warranty HUS724040ALE640 4TB CMR 76 Link
$30 WD 8TB WD Ultrastar DC HC320 SATA 7200 RPM 256 MB 3.5" HDD HUS728T8TALE6L4 HUS728T8TALE6L4 8TB CMR 169 Link
$30.19 Seagate (Old Model) Seagate 8TB Desktop HDD SATA 6Gb/s NCQ 256MB Cache 7200 RPM 3.5" Internal Bare Drive ST8000DM002 st8000DM002 8TB CMR 241 Link
$30.33 Toshiba Toshiba MG08-D MG08ADA600E 6 TB Hard Drive - 3.5 Internal - SATA [SATA/600] MG08ADA600E 6TB CMR 182 Link
$30.33 WD Western Digital 6TB WD Red NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, SMR, 256MB Cache, 3.5" - WD60EFAX WD60EFAX 6TB SMR 182 Link
$30.35 WD Western Digital 10TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD101EFAX WD101EFAX 10TB CMR 303 Link
$30.5 WD Western Digital 14TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD140EFFX WD140EFFX 14TB CMR 427 Link
$30.61 Toshiba Toshiba 2TB HDD 7.2K RPM 3.5" 6Gb/s SATA Hard Disk Drive Model: DT01ACA200 DP/N: 6HFW3 DT01ACA200 2TB CMR 58 Link
$30.83 Seagate Seagate ST6000VN0033 Iron Wolf Multimedia Server Storage 6TB Internal Hard Drive 3.5" - SATA ST6000VN0033 6TB CMR 185 Link
$30.87 WD WD Gold 4TB Enterprise Class Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 128MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD4002FYYZ WD4002FYYZ 4TB CMR 123 Link
$31.11 WD Western Digital 3TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" -WD30EFPX WD30EFPX 3 TB CMR 93 Link
$31.13 WD Western Digital 8TB WD Gold Enterprise Class Internal Hard Drive - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD8004FRYZ WD8004FRYZ 8TB CMR 249 Link
$31.17 WD Western Digital 8TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5640 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 128 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD80EFZZ WD80EFZZ 8TB CMR 249 Link
$31.25 Toshiba Toshiba X300 8TB Performance & Gaming 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive – CMR SATA 6 GB/s 7200 RPM 128 MB Cache - HDWF180XZSTA HDWF180XZSTA 8TB CMR 250 Link
$31.67 Seagate Seagate Barracuda ST3000DM001 3 TB 3.5 Internal Hard Drive - Bulk st3000dm001 3TB CMR 84 Link
$31.87 WD Western Digital 8TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD8003FFBX WD8003FFBX 8TB CMR 255 Link
$31.9 Toshiba Toshiba N300 10TB NAS 3.5” SATA HDD 'Bulk' (HDWG11AUZSVA) HDWG11AUZSVA 10TB CMR 319 Link
$32 WD Western Digital 2TB WD Blue PC Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD20EARZ WD20EARZ 2TB CMR 64 Link
$32.02 Seagate Seagate Video 3.5 HDD Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive - 1000GB (ST1000VM002) ST1000VM002 1TB PMR 32 Link
$32.03 Seagate Seagate IronWolf Pro ST4000NE001 4 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600) ST4000NE001 4TB CMR 128 Link
$32.1 WD Western Digital 14TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 GB/s, CMR, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD140EFGX WD140EFGX 14TB CMR 449 Link
$32.25 Toshiba Toshiba 4.0TB MD04ACA400 SATA 6.0Gb/s 7200rpm Internal Hard Disk Drive MD04ACA400 4TB CMR 129 Link
$32.27 WD Western Digital 3TB WD Blue PC Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD30EZRZ WD30EZRZ 3TB CMR 97 Link
$32.3 Toshiba Toshiba 3.5-Inch 3TB 7200 RPM SATA3/SATA 6.0 GB/s 64MB Hard Drive DT01ACA300 DT01ACA300 3TB CMR 97 Link
$32.5 Seagate Seagate BarraCuda 2TB Internal Hard Drive HDD – 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache – Frustration Free Packaging (ST2000DM008/ST2000DMZ08) ST2000DMZ08 2TB SMR 65 Link
$32.59 Seagate Seag 4TB ST4000VX016 5900 SA3 Skyhawk st4000vx016 4TB CMR 96 Link
$32.75 WD Western Digital 3TB WD Blue PC Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD30EZAX WD30EZAX 3TB CMR 98 Link
$32.77 Seagate Seagate ST3000VN006 3TB 3.5" 5400 256M Hard Drive ST3000VN006 3TB CMR 98 Link
$32.83 WD Western Digital 3TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD30PURZ WD30PURZ 3TB CMR 98 Link
$33 Seagate Seagate Exos 7E10 ST6000NM000B 6TB 512N SATA 6Gb/s 7200RPM 256MB Enterprise Hard Drive ST6000NM000B 6TB CMR 198 Link
$33.33 WD WD Green 6TB 3.5-Inch SATA 6.0Gb/s IntelliPower 64MB Cache Hard Drive (WD60EZRX) WD60EZRX 6TB CMR 200 Link
$33.76 Seagate ST18000NM000J Enterprise Mechanical Hard Disk 18T 7.2K SATA 3.5" 6Gb Hard Drive ST18000NM000J 18TB CMR 360 Link
$33.94 WD WD Red 8TB NAS Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 128MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD80EFZX WD80EFZX 8TB CMR 272 Link
$33.99 Seagate (Old Model) Seagate 1TB Desktop HDD Sata 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive (ST1000DM003) st1000dm003 1TB CMR 34 Link
$34 Seagate Seagate Exos 7E10 ST2000NM001B - Hard Drive - 2 TB - SAS 12Gb/s ST2000NM001B 2TB CMR 68 Link
$34.23 WD Western Digital 6TB Ultrastar DC HC310 SATA HDD - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256MB Cache, 3.5" - HUS726T6TALE6L4 HUS726T6TALE6L4 6TB CMR 205 Link
$34.37 Toshiba Toshiba Enterprise MG06ACA800E 3.5 8TB 256MB 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive MG06ACA800E 8TB CMR 199 Link
$34.38 Seagate Seagate 4 TB Terascale HDD SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive (ST4000NC001) ST4000NC001 4TB CMR 138 Link
$34.43 Toshiba Toshiba 14TB N300 NAS 3.5’’ SATA Internal Hard Drive. 24/7 Operation, Supports 1-8 Bay Systems, 256MB Cache, 180TB/Year workload, 3yr Warranty (HDWG21EUZSVA). HDWG21EUZSVA 14TB CMR 482 Link
$34.52 WD WD Gold 6TB Enterprise Class Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 128MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD6002FRYZ WD6002FRYZ 6TB CMR 207 Link
$34.87 Seagate Seagate IronWolf Pro ST8000NE001 8TB Internal 3.5" SATA 6Gb/s 7200rpm - 256MB - with 2 Years Rescue Data Recovery Service Plan ST8000NE001 8TB CMR 279 Link
$34.98 WD Western Digital 4TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 128 MB Cache, 3.5" -WD40EFZX WD40EFZX 4TB CMR 140 Link
$34.99 Toshiba Toshiba MAIN-47587 3.5-Inch 1TB 7200 RPM SATA3/SATA 6.0 GB/s 32MB Hard Drive DT01ACA100 / HDKPC03 dt01aca100 1TB CMR 35 Link
$34.99 WD OEM bare Drive WD Red 8tb NAS hard drive 256MB Cache WD80EFAX WD80EFAX 8TB CMR 255 Link
$35 WD Western Digital 4TB WD Red NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, SMR, 256MB Cache, 3.5" - WD40EFAX WD40EFAX 4TB SMR 140 Link
$35.45 WD Western Digital 10TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD101KFBX (Old Version) WD101KFBX 10TB CMR 354 Link
$35.48 WD Western Digital 4TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD4003FFBX WD4003FFBX 4TB CMR 142 Link
$35.5 WD Western Digital 2 TB 3.5-Inch Desktop Mainstream WDBH2D0020HNC-NRSN WDBH2D0020HNC 2TB SMR 71 Link
$35.75 WD Western Digital 2TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD22PURZ WD22PURZ 2TB CMR 71 Link
$36 Seagate Seagate Barracuda ST5000DM000 5TB 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive, SATA, 5900 Rpm, 128 Mb Buffer ST5000DM000 5TB SMR 180 Link
$36.11 Synology Synology HAT5300 HAT5310-18T 18 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600) HAT5310-18T 18TB CMR 650 Link
$36.13 Toshiba Toshiba X300 8TB Performance & Gaming 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive – CMR SATA 6 GB/s 7200 RPM 256 MB Cache - HDWR180XZSTA HDWR180XZSTA 8TB CMR 289 Link
$36.25 Toshiba Toshiba N300 8TB NAS 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive - CMR SATA 6 GB/s 7200 RPM 256 MB Cache - HDWG180XZSTA HDWG180XZSTA 8TB CMR 290 Link
$36.25 WD Western Digital WD WD40EZRX wd40ezrx 4TB CMR 145 Link
$36.5 WD Western Digital 2TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD23PURZ WD23PURZ 2TB CMR 73 Link
$36.5 seagate Seagate ST2000VX017 2TB Skyhawk 5400 Hard Drive ST2000VX017 2TB CMR 73 Link
$36.58 Seagate Seagate Compatible IronWolf ST4000VN006 - Festplatte - 4 TB - SATA 6Gb/s ST4000VN006 4TB CMR 95 Link
$36.75 WD Western Digital 2TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD20PURZ WD20PURZ 2TB CMR 73 Link
$36.81 WD WD Gold 8TB Datacenter Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 128MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD8002FRYZ WD8002FRYZ 8TB CMR 294 Link
$37 Seagate SEAGATE ST2000VXZ08 Skyhawk 2TB Surveillance Hard SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5" Internal Drive-Frustration Free Packaging (ST2000VX008),Mechanical Hard Disk ST2000VX008 2TB CMR 74 Link
$37.19 Synology Synology HAT5300-16T 16 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600) HAT5300-16T 16TB CMR 595 Link
$37.24 Seagate Seagate 6TB IronWolf NAS SATA 6Gb/s NCQ 128MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive (ST6000VN0041) st6000vn0041 6TB CMR 223 Link
$37.25 Toshiba Toshiba X300 4TB Performance & Gaming 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive - CMR SATA 6.0 GB/s 7200 RPM 128 MB Cache - HDWE140XZSTA HDWE140XZSTA 4TB CMR 149 Link
$37.5 WD Western Digital 4TB WD Gold Enterprise Class Internal Hard Drive - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD4003FRYZ WD4003FRYZ 4TB CMR 150 Link
$37.5 Seagate Seagate 2TB 3.5" SATA 5400 RPM 6GB/s Hard Drive - OEM Model ST2000DM005 ST2000DM005 2TB SMR 75 Link
$37.86 Seagate Seagate SEBKO HD ST2000DM008 Barracuda 2TB 3.5´ SATA III ST2000DM008 2TB SMR 65 Link
$37.87 Seagate Seagate IronWolf ST6000VN001 6 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600) - Storage System Device Supported - 7200rpm - 256 MB Buffer St6000vn001 6TB CMR 227 Link
$38.13 Seagate Mzimanyug 2TB Internal Hard Disk Drive 7200 RPM 64MB Cache ST2000DM006 ST2000DM006 2TB SMR 76 Link
$38.5 WD WD Purple 2TB Surveillance Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD20PURX [Old Version] WD20PURX 2TB CMR 73 Link
$38.52 Seagate Seagate Exos 7E10 ST4000NM000B - Hard Drive - 4 TB - SATA 6Gb/s st4000nm000b 4TB CMR 154 Link
$38.83 WD Western Digital 6TB WD Gold Enterprise Class Internal Hard Drive - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD6003FRYZ WD6003FRYZ 6TB CMR 233 Link
$38.87 Seagate Seagate FireCuda HDD 8TB Internal Hard Drive HDD - 3.5 Inch CMR SATA 6Gb/s 7200RPM 256MB Cache 300TB/year with Rescue Services (ST8000DX001) ST8000DX001 8TB CMR 311 Link
$38.93 Synology Synology HAT5300 HAT5310-8T 8 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600) HAT5310-8T 8TB CMR 311 Link
$38.96 WD Western Digital 2TB WD Blue PC Internal Hard Drive - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD20EZBX WD20EZBX 2TB SMR 78 Link
$39.19 WD WD Black 6TB Performance Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 128MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD6001FZWX WD6001FZWX 6TB CMR 235 Link
$39.25 WD Western Digital 4TB WD Black Performance Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD4005FZBX WD4005FZBX 4TB CMR 157 Link
$39.33 Synology Synology HAT5300-12T 12 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600) HAT5300-12T 12TB CMR 472 Link
$39.5 Seagate SEAGATE ST2000VX015 3.5 in. 256 MB & 2TB Skyhawk Lite Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD ST2000VX015 2TB SMR 79 Link
$39.58 Toshiba TOSHIBA HD Surveillance S300 4TB 3.5 SATA 5400 HDWT840UZSVA HDWT840UZSVA 4TB SMR 158 Link
$39.75 Seagate (Old Model) Seagate 4TB Surveillance HDD 6Gb/s Internal Hard Drive (ST4000VX000) ST4000VX000 4TB CMR 159 Link
$39.9 WD Western Digital WD101KRYZ Hard Disk - Black WD101KRYZ 10TB CMR 317 Link
$40 WD Western Digital RE WD2000FYYZ 2TB 7.2 K RPM 64MB Cache SATA 3.5" Enterprise HDD WD2000FYYZ 2TB CMR 30 Link
$40 WD Western Digital 2TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" -WD20EFPX WD20EFPX 2TB CMR 80 Link
$40.69 Toshiba Toshiba MG08-D MG08ADA400E 4 TB Hard Drive - 3.5 Internal - SATA [SATA/600] MG08ADA400E 4TB CMR 163 Link
$41.43 Seagate Seagate BarraCuda Pro Performance Internal Hard Drive SATA HDD 14TB 6GB/s 256MB Cache 3.5-Inch - Frustration Free Packaging (ST14000DM001) st14000dm001 14TB CMR 580 Link
$41.5 Toshiba TOSHIBA 6TB HDD 7.2K RPM 3.5" 6Gb/s SATA Hard Disk Drive Model: MG04ACA600E DP/N: KP22D MG04ACA600E 6TB CMR 245 Link
$41.67 Toshiba Toshiba P300 3TB 7200RPM 3.5" SATA HDD 'Bulk' (HDWD130UZSVA) HDWD130UZSVA 3TB CMR 125 Link
$41.68 Seagate Seagate - Seagate Barracuda ST4000DM005 ST4000dm005 4TB SMR 144 Link
$41.74 Toshiba Toshiba 8TB N300 NAS 3.5 Inch SATA Internal Hard Drive. 24/7 Operation, Supports 1-8 Bay Systems, 256 MB Cache, 180TB/Year Workload, 3 Year Warranty (HDWG480UZSVA) HDWG480UZSVA 8TB CMR 334 Link
$41.75 Seagate Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST2000DL003 ST2000DL003 2TB SMR 84 Link
$42 WD Western Digital WD5000LPLX-00ZNTT0 DCM: HA0TJAB WXG1A 500GB WD5000LPLX 500GB CMR 21 Link
$42.23 TOSHIBA Toshiba DT01ACA100 MAIN-47587 3.5" Internal Bare/OEM Drive DT01ACA100 1TB CMR 35 Link
$42.25 Seagate SEAGATE - ESG SINGLE ST4000NM0053 4TB CONSTELLATION ES SATA 7200 ST4000NM0053 4TB CMR 141 Link
$42.49 WD WD Green 2 TB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, SATA III, 64 MB Cache (WD20EARX) (Old Model) WD20EARX 2TB CMR 42 Link
$42.5 Seagate Seagate Exos 7E8 ST4000NM005A 4 TB Hard Drive - Internal - SAS (12Gb/s SAS) ST4000NM005A 4TB CMR 170 Link
$43.33 WD WD30EZRX Western Digital Caviar Green Hard Drive WD30EZRX WD30EZRX 3TB CMR 88 Link
$43.75 HGST HDN724040ALE640 P/N: 0F22408 MLC: MPK5E0 HGST 4TB HDN724040ALE640 4TB CMR 175 Link
$44 WD WESTERN DIGITAL WD30EFRX RED 3TB IntelliPower 64MB cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5 internal hard drive WD30EFRX 3TB CMR 106 Link
$44.17 WD Western Digital 6TB WD Black Performance Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD6003FZBX WD6003FZBX 6TB CMR 265 Link
$44.55 Toshiba TOSHIBA HD Surveillance S300 6TB 3.5 SATA 5400 HDWT860UZSVA HDWT860UZSVA 6Tb SMR 267 Link
$44.94 Seagate Seagate 500 GB Pipeline HD SATA 3Gb/s NCQ 8MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive (ST3500312CS) st3500312cs 500GB SMR 22 Link
$44.98 HGST HGST WD 0B26887 - HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 HUS724020ALS640 2 TB 3.5 Internal Hard Dr HUS724020ALS640 2TB CMR 55 Link
$45 WD Western Digital 3TB WD Red NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, SMR, 256MB Cache, 3.5" - WD30EFAX WD30EFAX 3TB SMR 135 Link
$46.54 Toshiba Toshiba X300 6TB High Performance Internal Hard Drive 3.5’’ SATA. 7200rpm, 128MB Buffer, 3 Yr Warranty (HDWR460UZSVA) HDWR460UZSVA 6TB CMR 279 Link
$46.66 WD Western Digital 3TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 128 MB Cache, 3.5" -WD30EFZX WD30EFZX 3TB CMR 140 Link
$46.67 WD WD Black 6TB Performance Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 128MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD6002FZWX WD6002FZWX 6TB CMR 280 Link
$47.81 WD WD4000FYYZ 4T 3.5" Monitoring Desktop Hard Disk Enterprise Server 7200 RPM WD4000FYYZ 4TB CMR 127 Link
$48.33 WD WD SE 3TB Datacenter Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD3000F9YZ WD3000F9YZ 3TB CMR 145 Link
$48.95 WD Western Digital 2TB Ultrastar DC HA200 SATA HDD - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 128MB Cache, 3.5" - HUS722T2TALA604 HUS722T2TALA604 2TB CMR 98 Link
$49.5 Seagate (Old Model) Seagate 2TB Surveillance HDD 5900RPM SATA 6.0GB/s 64MB Hard Drive (ST2000VX003) ST2000VX003 2TB CMR 67 Link
$49.67 WD Western Digital RE WD3001FYYG 3TB 7200rpm SAS-2 32MB desktop Hard Disk Drive New. WD3001FYYG 3TB SMR 140 Link
$49.75 WD WD Red Pro 6TB 3.5-Inch SATA III 7200rpm 128MB Cache NAS Internal Hard Drive (WD6002FFWX) WD6002FFWX 6TB CMR 298 Link
$49.9 Seagate ST3000VX000 ST3000VX000 3TB CMR 150 Link
$50 WD Western Digital 2TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD2002FFSX WD2002FFSX 2TB CMR 100 Link
$50 WD WD Purple 3TB Surveillance Hard Disk Drive -5400 RPM Class SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch Model WD30PURX WD30PURX 3TB CMR 85 Link
$50.84 WD Western Digital HUS722T1TALA604 1TB Ultrastar DC HA200 SATA HDD - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 GB/S, 128MB Cache, 3.5" HUS722T1TALA604 2TB CMR 102 Link
$51.03 Synology Synology HAT5300-4T 4 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600) HAT5300-4T 4TB CMR 204 Link
$52 WD Western Digital 1 TB RE3 SATA 3 Gb/s 7200 RPM 32 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Enterprise Hard Drive - WD1002FBYS wd1002fbys 1TB CMR 43 Link
$53.25 Toshiba Toshiba 4TB N300 NAS 3.5'' SATA Internal Hard Drive. 24/7 Operation, Supports 1-8 Bay Systems, 128MB Cache, 180TB/Year workload, 3yr Warranty (HDWQ140UZSVA). HDWQ140UZSVA 4TB CMR 213 Link
$53.6 WD WD Red Pro 4TB NAS Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD4001FFSX WD4001FFSX 4TB CMR 214 Link
$54.99 WD WD SE 4TB Datacenter Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD4000F9YZ wd4000f9yz 4TB CMR 117 Link
$54.99 Seagate Seagate Barracuda LP 2 TB 5900RPM SATA 3 GB/s 32 MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive ST32000542AS-Bare Drive ST32000542AS 2TB SMR 110 Link
$55 WD Western Digital 2TB WD Gold Enterprise Class Internal Hard Drive - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 128 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD2005FBYZ WD2005FBYZ 2TB CMR 110 Link
$55.62 WD Western Digital 2TB WD Black Performance Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD2003FZEX WD2003FZEX 2TB CMR 111 Link
$56 WD Western Digital 2TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 128 MB Cache, 3.5" -WD20EFZX WD20EFZX 2TB CMR 112 Link
$56.5 Seagate Seagate FireCuda HDD 4TB Internal Hard Drive HDD - 3.5 Inch CMR SATA 6Gb/s 7200RPM 256MB Cache 300TB/year with Rescue Services (ST4000DX005) ST4000DX005 4TB CMR 226 Link
$56.9 Seagate ST8000NM000A Enterprise-Class Hard Disk Monitoring Dedicated 8TB 7.2K SATA3 3.5" Hard Drive ST8000NM000A 8TB CMR 191 Link
$57.07 WD WD40EFRX 4T 3.5" NAS Storage Server Hard Disk 5400 RPM 64M SATA WD40EFRX 4TB CMR 228 Link
$58.33 Seagate (Old Model) Seagate Surveillance 3 Tb Serial ATA-600 5900 Rpm 64mb Cache 3.5 Inch Internal Hard Drive (St3000vx006) ST3000VX006 3TB CMR 175 Link
$59.95 WD Western Digital 1TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD10PURZ WD10PURZ 1TB CMR 60 Link
$59.99 Seagate SAMSUNG ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB/D 1TB SATA Drive st1000lm024 1TB SMR 60 Link
$59.99 HGST HGST HTS541010A9E680 P/N: 0J34283 MLC: DA5972 1TB China HTS541010A9E680 1TB CMR 60 Link
$59.99 Samsung SAMSUNG ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB/D 1TB SATA Drive ST1000LM024 1TB CMR 60 Link
$60.45 WD Western Digital Refurbished: WD Caviar Green WD20EADS Hard Drive - 2TB - Internal - Bulk wd20eads 2TB CMR 121 Link
$60.52 Toshiba Toshiba P300 500GB 7200RPM 3.5" SATA HDD 'Bulk' (HDWD105UZSVA) HDWD105UZSVA 500GB CMR 30 Link
$61.38 WD WD TDSourcing RE4 WD2003FYYS - Hard drive - 2 TB - internal - 3.5" - SATA 3Gb/s - 7200 rpm - buffer: 64 MB WD2003FYYS 2TB CMR 32 Link
$61.48 Seagate Seagate Skyhawk Surveillance ST3000VX009 3TB SATA 6.0 Gb/s 256MB Hard Drive ST3000VX009 3TB CMR 184 Link
$61.98 WD Western Digital 1TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD11PURZ WD11PURZ 1TB CMR 62 Link
$62 Seagate Seagate 1TB SATA 3.5 BarraCuda SingPk (ST1000DM010) ST1000DM010 1TB SMR 62 Link
$62.59 Toshiba Toshiba X300 8TB High Performance Internal Hard Drive 3.5’’ SATA. 7200rpm, 256mb Buffer, 3 Yr Warranty (HDWR480UZSVA) HDWR480UZSVA 8TB CMR 501 Link
$63.68 HGST HUS726060ALE610 6T 7.2K 128M SATA Can Provide Goods Photos 100% In BOX HUS726060ALE610 6TB CMR 122 Link
$64.25 Seagate Teekos 3tb 4tb St4000dm004 Household 4T Computer Desktop Mechanical Hard Disk - (Color: 4TB) ST4000DM004 4TB SMR 111 Link
$64.7 WD WD Black 4TB Performance Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD4001FAEX WD4001FAEX 4TB CMR 259 Link
$65.4 Toshiba Toshiba 500GB SATAIII 32MB, DT01ACA050 DT01ACA050 500GB CMR 30 Link
$65.5 WD Western Digital Green 2TB 3.5" SATA III Desktop Hard Drive HDD (WD20EZRX) wd20ezrx 2TB CMR 84 Link
$66 WD Western Digital 2TB WD NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, SMR, 256MB Cache, 3.5" - WD20EFAX, Red WD20EFAX 2TB SMR 132 Link
$66.4 Seagate ST4000VN008 3.5 inch SATA3 Cool Wolf Desktop NAS Mechanical Hard Drive 4T Non-red Disk ST4000VN008 4TB CMR 266 Link
$67.48 WD Wd10juct Western Digital 1Tb 5400Rp 16Mb Sata 3Gb/S WD10JUCT 1TB CMR 52 Link
$67.5 WD Western Digital Red Pro 4TB 3.5-Inch 7200rpm 64MB Cache NAS Hard Drive (WD4002FFWX) WD4002FFWX 4TB CMR 270 Link
$67.89 Seagate ST8000VX0002 ST8000VX0002 8TB CMR 308 Link
$69 WD Western Digital WD10JPCX-24UE4T0 1TB DCM: HBOTJBK WD10JPCX 1TB SMR 69 Link
$69.13 Toshiba Toshiba 4TB HDD 7.2K RPM 3.5" 6Gb/s SATA Hard Disk Drive Model: MG04ACA400N DP/N: 4N6CY MG04ACA400N 4TB CMR 108 Link
$69.38 WD Western Digital 1TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD10EFRX WD10EFRX 1TB CMR 69 Link
$69.39 Seagate SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY, Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000524AS 1 TB Internal Hard Drive (Catalog Category: Computer Technology / Storage Components) ST31000524AS 1TB CMR 69 Link
$69.9 WD Western Digital WD Blue WD5000AZLX 500 GB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - SATA - 7200rpm - 32 MB Buffer wd5000azlx 500GB CMR 35 Link
$70 WD WD Purple 1TB Surveillance Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD10PURX [Old Version] WD10PURX 1TB CMR 68 Link
$70 WD WD Caviarâ"¢ Blackâ"¢ WD2002FAEX 2 TB SATA 6.0GB/s HDD WD2002FAEX 2TB CMR 140 Link
$71.51 WD Western Digital WD20EFRX-68AX9N0 NAS DCM: HHRNKTJCH WMC30 2TB WD20EFRX 2TB CMR 105 Link
$72.5 Seagate 1Pcs New ST2000LM007 ST2000LM007 2TB SMR 75 Link
$73.45 Seagate Seagate SkyHawk 1TB Surveillance Hard Drive - Sata 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Drive (ST1000VX005) ST1000VX005 1TB CMR 73 Link
$73.63 Seagate Seagate Exos 7E8 ST2000NM001A - Disque dur - 2 to - interne - 3.5" - SATA 6Gb/s - 7200 Tours/min - mémoire Tampon : 256 Mo ST2000NM001A 2TB CMR 147 Link
$74 WD WD WD10EZRX WD10EZRX 1TB CMR 74 Link
$74.5 WD WESTERN DIGITAL WD20EARS Caviar Green 2TB 64MB cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5 internal hard drive (Bare Drive) wd20ears 2TB CMR 149 Link
$79.5 WD Connectors WD Blue Disk 2TB SATA6Gb/s 256MB 5400RPM Desktop Mechanical Hard Drive (WD20EZAZ) wd20ezaz 2TB SMR 97 Link
$79.67 Seagate Tucus Multitool Accessories - 100% in box 3 year 6T 3.5inch SATA 7.2K 6GB ST6000NM0024 Need more angles photos, please contact me ST6000NM0024 6TB CMR 99 Link
$79.98 WD Western Digital 500GB WD Blue PC Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD5000AZRZ wd5000azrz 500GB CMR 40 Link
$80 WD WD TDSourcing SE WD2000F9YZ - Hard drive - 2 TB - internal - 3.5" - SATA 6Gb/s - 7200 rpm - buffer: 64 MB Wd2000f9yz 2TB CMR 40 Link
$80 WD WESTERN DIGITAL WD50EZRX Caviar Green 5TB 64MB cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" internal hard drive Bare Drive WD50EZRX 5TB CMR 400 Link
$80 WD Genuine WD10EZEX 1TB 7.2K 6G LFF SATA Hard Drive Original wd10ezex 1TB CMR 38 Link
$81.19 WD WD WD5001FZWX 5TB WD WD5001FZWX SATA Black WD5001FZWX 5TB CMR 406 Link
$82.72 Seagate Seagate Constellation ES.2 ST32000645NS - Festplatte - 2 TB ST32000645NS 2TB CMR 165 Link
$83 Seagate Seagate Constellation CS ST3000NC000 3 TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - 6Gb/s SATA - 7200 RPM - 64 MB Buffer - Secure Erase - Hot Pluggable - 7200rpm - 3 Year Warranty ST3000NC000 3TB CMR 249 Link
$83.9 Seagate Seagate HD 2T ST2000NM000B R ST2000NM000B 2TB CMR 168 Link
$84.99 WD Western Digital 1TB WD Gold Enterprise Class Internal Hard Drive - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 128 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD1005FBYZ WD1005FBYZ 1TB CMR 85 Link
$84.99 Seagate HP ST91000640NS New ST91000640NS 1TB CMR 85 Link
$85 WD Western Digital WD20EZRZ 2TB BLUE SATA 5400 RPM 64MB 6GB/S 3.5IN PC HARD DRIVE wd20ezrz 2TB CMR 99 Link
$88.99 HGST Trace TienYi 7K1000 1TB SATA 2,5" 7200 U/min HTS721010A9E630 Festplatten HDD hts721010a9e630 1TB CMR 89 Link
$90 WD Western Digital WD WD1003FZEX 1TB 3.5IN Internal HD TF3650 1 TB WD1003FZEX 1TB CMR 90 Link
$90 WD Western Digital 1TB WD1000FYPS 7200RPM SATA 3.0 Gbps 3.5 inch Hard Drive WD1000FYPS 1TB CMR 58 Link
$90.24 Toshiba Davitu Remote Controls - 100% in original 1 year warranty MG03ACA400 4TB 720PRM 64M SATA3 Need more pictures, please contact me mg03aca400 4TB CMR 130 Link
$90.73 Seagate Seagate ST31000528AS 1TB Hard Drive ST31000528AS 1TB CMR 89 Link
$93.73 WD Western Digital 640 GB 3.5-Inch, 16 MB Cache, 7200 RPM SATA II Bulk/OEM Hard Drive WD6400AAKS (Caviar Blue) WD6400AAKS 640GB CMR 36 Link
$93.98 WD Western Digital 500GB WD Black Performance Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD5003AZEX WD5003AZEX 500GB CMR 47 Link
$99.72 WD WD Blue 1 TB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, SATA III, 32 MB Cache - WD10EALX WD10EALX 1TB CMR 59 Link
$100 Seagate Seagate Barracuda 500GB SATA Hard Drive ST500DM002 16MB Cache Bulk/OEM 7200 RPM Desktop ST500DM002 500GB SMR 29 Link
$102.83 WD WD10SPCX Western Digital 1TB 5400RPM SATA 6.0 ... WD10SPCX 1TB SMR 75 Link
$103.83 WD ACTi - PHDD-2503 - PHDD-2503 WD WD43PURZ 4 TB 3.5 Hard Disk Drive, 5400 RPM 256 MB Cache WD43PURZ 4TB CMR 100 Link
$109.73 WD WD Red Pro 2TB NAS Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD2001FFSX WD2001FFSX 2TB CMR 219 Link
$110 WD Western Digital HDD WD5000AAKX 500GB SATA 6Gb/s Desktop 7200rpm 16MB Cache 3.5inch Bare Drive WD5000AAKX 500GB CMR 19 Link
$110 Hitachi HGST HTS545050A7E680 P/N: 0J45805 MLC: DA6851 500GB HTS545050A7E680 500GB SMR 55 Link
$113.29 HGST Tucus Multitool Accessories - HTS541010B7E610 Within HTS541010B7E610 1TB SMR 82 Link
$118 Seagate Seagate ST3500418AS 500GB Hard Drive ST3500418AS 500GB cmr 39 Link
$119.5 WD Scorpio Blue Wd6400Bpvt 640 Gb Plug WD6400BPVT 640GB CMR 76 Link
$119.97 WD Western Digital 1.5 TB Caviar Green SATA Intellipower 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive WD15EARS wd15ears 1.5TB CMR 131 Link
$120 WD Wd10Eads Hard Drive 1Tb Sata 3.5" Dcm/Hgnnnt2Mab 21Nov2009 WD10EADS 1TB CMR 50 Link
$120 WD WD Blue PC Hard Drive WD10EZRZ - hard drive - 1 TB - SATA 6Gb/s - By NETCNA wd10ezrz 1TB CMR 54 Link
$124.98 WD WD1002FAEX Western Digital 1tb 7200rpm Serial Ata/600 Serial Ata Inte WD1002FAEX 1TB CMR 125 Link
$133.25 Seagate Calvas New and original 1 year warranty ST2000VN000 4TB ST2000VN000 2TB CMR 266 Link
$139.88 Toshiba Toshiba 8TB S300 Surveillance HDD - 3.5' SATA Internal Hard Drive Supports up to 64 HD Cameras at a 180TB/Year Workload (HDWT720UZSVA) HDWT720UZSVA 2TB SMR 187 Link
$147.94 WD Western Digital 6TB WD Purple Surveillance Internal Hard Drive HDD - SATA 6 Gb/s, 128 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD62PURZ WD62PURZ 1TB CMR 148 Link
$149.5 Seagate FireCuda ST2000DX002 Hybrid Hard Drive ST2000DX002 2TB CMR 299 Link
$195 WD Western Digital WD10JPVX-75JC3T0 DCM: SBKT2BB 750GB WD10JPVX 1TB CMR 195 Link
$207.82 HGST Tucus Multitool Accessories - HUC106060CSS600 And Within HUC106060CSS600 600GB CMR 52 Link
$265.47 WD Western Digital Caviar Blue 320 GB Bulk/OEM Hard Drive 3.5 Inch, 8 MB Cache, 7200 RPM SATA II WD3200AAJS WD3200aajs 320GB CMR 25 Link
$278 WD Western Digital WD5000LPVX-55V0TT0 500GB DCM: HBOTJBB WD5000LPVX 500GB CMR 139 Link
$29998.75 WD Western Digital 8TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD8005FFBX WD8005FFBX 8T CMR 240 Link

What is the cost of 0.008TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is $239.99 [US]
What is the cost of 320GB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £26.95 [UK] $24.99 [US]
What is the cost of 500GB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £10.29 [UK] $19 [US]
What is the cost of 600GB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is $52 [US]
What is the cost of 640GB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £33 [UK] $36.33 [US]
What is the cost of 1TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £19.9 [UK] $24.97 [US]
What is the cost of 1.5TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £92.03 [UK] $130.5 [US]
What is the cost of 2TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £29.99 [UK] $30 [US]
What is the cost of 3TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £58.04 [UK] $35 [US]
What is the cost of 4TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £74.99 [UK] $52 [US]
What is the cost of 5TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £173.64 [UK] $179.99 [US]
What is the cost of 6TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £132.45 [UK] $80 [US]
What is the cost of 8TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £131.45 [UK] $109 [US]
What is the cost of 10TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £184.58 [UK] $184.99 [US]
What is the cost of 12TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £195.52 [UK] $198.99 [US]
What is the cost of 14TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £229 [UK] $220 [US]
What is the cost of 16TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £208.94 [UK] $248.5 [US]
What is the cost of 18TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £284.99 [UK] $359.79 [US]
What is the cost of 20TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £507.76 [UK] $350 [US]
What is the cost of 22TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £543.98 [UK] $449.99 [US]
What is the cost of 24TB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £708.22 [UK] $587.01 [US]
What is the cost of 8GB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £199 [UK]
What is the cost of 250GB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £56.48 [UK]
What is the cost of 750GB drive?
The price of the cheapest drive is £47.86 [UK]



How much can 0.008TB hold?
0.008TB can hold around
2667 MP3 songs
OR 1600 5MB Photos
OR 533 FLAC audio files
OR 11 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 1 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 0 Blu-ray
OR 0.01 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 320GB hold?
320GB can hold around
106667 MP3 songs
OR 64000 5MB Photos
OR 21333 FLAC audio files
OR 457 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 38 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 6 Blu-ray
OR 0.32 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 500GB hold?
500GB can hold around
166667 MP3 songs
OR 100000 5MB Photos
OR 33333 FLAC audio files
OR 714 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 59 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 10 Blu-ray
OR 0.5 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 600GB hold?
600GB can hold around
200000 MP3 songs
OR 120000 5MB Photos
OR 40000 FLAC audio files
OR 857 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 71 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 12 Blu-ray
OR 0.6 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 640GB hold?
640GB can hold around
213333 MP3 songs
OR 128000 5MB Photos
OR 42667 FLAC audio files
OR 914 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 75 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 13 Blu-ray
OR 0.64 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 1TB hold?
1TB can hold around
333333 MP3 songs
OR 200000 5MB Photos
OR 66667 FLAC audio files
OR 1429 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 118 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 20 Blu-ray
OR 1 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 1.5TB hold?
1.5TB can hold around
500000 MP3 songs
OR 300000 5MB Photos
OR 100000 FLAC audio files
OR 2143 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 176 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 30 Blu-ray
OR 1.5 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 2TB hold?
2TB can hold around
666667 MP3 songs
OR 400000 5MB Photos
OR 133333 FLAC audio files
OR 2857 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 235 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 40 Blu-ray
OR 2 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 3TB hold?
3TB can hold around
1000000 MP3 songs
OR 600000 5MB Photos
OR 200000 FLAC audio files
OR 4286 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 353 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 60 Blu-ray
OR 3 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 4TB hold?
4TB can hold around
1333333 MP3 songs
OR 800000 5MB Photos
OR 266667 FLAC audio files
OR 5714 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 471 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 80 Blu-ray
OR 4 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 5TB hold?
5TB can hold around
1666667 MP3 songs
OR 1000000 5MB Photos
OR 333333 FLAC audio files
OR 7143 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 588 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 100 Blu-ray
OR 5 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 6TB hold?
6TB can hold around
2000000 MP3 songs
OR 1200000 5MB Photos
OR 400000 FLAC audio files
OR 8571 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 706 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 120 Blu-ray
OR 6 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 8TB hold?
8TB can hold around
2666667 MP3 songs
OR 1600000 5MB Photos
OR 533333 FLAC audio files
OR 11429 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 941 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 160 Blu-ray
OR 8 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 10TB hold?
10TB can hold around
3333333 MP3 songs
OR 2000000 5MB Photos
OR 666667 FLAC audio files
OR 14286 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 1176 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 200 Blu-ray
OR 10 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 12TB hold?
12TB can hold around
4000000 MP3 songs
OR 2400000 5MB Photos
OR 800000 FLAC audio files
OR 17143 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 1412 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 240 Blu-ray
OR 12 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 14TB hold?
14TB can hold around
4666667 MP3 songs
OR 2800000 5MB Photos
OR 933333 FLAC audio files
OR 20000 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 1647 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 280 Blu-ray
OR 14 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 16TB hold?
16TB can hold around
5333333 MP3 songs
OR 3200000 5MB Photos
OR 1066667 FLAC audio files
OR 22857 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 1882 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 320 Blu-ray
OR 16 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 18TB hold?
18TB can hold around
6000000 MP3 songs
OR 3600000 5MB Photos
OR 1200000 FLAC audio files
OR 25714 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 2118 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 360 Blu-ray
OR 18 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 20TB hold?
20TB can hold around
6666667 MP3 songs
OR 4000000 5MB Photos
OR 1333333 FLAC audio files
OR 28571 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 2353 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 400 Blu-ray
OR 20 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 22TB hold?
22TB can hold around
7333333 MP3 songs
OR 4400000 5MB Photos
OR 1466667 FLAC audio files
OR 31429 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 2588 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 440 Blu-ray
OR 22 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 24TB hold?
24TB can hold around
8000000 MP3 songs
OR 4800000 5MB Photos
OR 1600000 FLAC audio files
OR 34286 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 2824 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 480 Blu-ray
OR 24 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 8GB hold?
8GB can hold around
2667 MP3 songs
OR 1600 5MB Photos
OR 533 FLAC audio files
OR 11 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 1 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 0 Blu-ray
OR 0.01 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 250GB hold?
250GB can hold around
83333 MP3 songs
OR 50000 5MB Photos
OR 16667 FLAC audio files
OR 357 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 29 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 5 Blu-ray
OR 0.25 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 320GB hold?
320GB can hold around
106667 MP3 songs
OR 64000 5MB Photos
OR 21333 FLAC audio files
OR 457 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 38 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 6 Blu-ray
OR 0.32 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 500GB hold?
500GB can hold around
166667 MP3 songs
OR 100000 5MB Photos
OR 33333 FLAC audio files
OR 714 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 59 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 10 Blu-ray
OR 0.5 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 640GB hold?
640GB can hold around
213333 MP3 songs
OR 128000 5MB Photos
OR 42667 FLAC audio files
OR 914 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 75 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 13 Blu-ray
OR 0.64 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 750GB hold?
750GB can hold around
250000 MP3 songs
OR 150000 5MB Photos
OR 50000 FLAC audio files
OR 1071 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 88 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 15 Blu-ray
OR 0.75 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 1TB hold?
1TB can hold around
333333 MP3 songs
OR 200000 5MB Photos
OR 66667 FLAC audio files
OR 1429 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 118 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 20 Blu-ray
OR 1 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 1.5TB hold?
1.5TB can hold around
500000 MP3 songs
OR 300000 5MB Photos
OR 100000 FLAC audio files
OR 2143 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 176 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 30 Blu-ray
OR 1.5 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 2TB hold?
2TB can hold around
666667 MP3 songs
OR 400000 5MB Photos
OR 133333 FLAC audio files
OR 2857 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 235 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 40 Blu-ray
OR 2 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 3TB hold?
3TB can hold around
1000000 MP3 songs
OR 600000 5MB Photos
OR 200000 FLAC audio files
OR 4286 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 353 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 60 Blu-ray
OR 3 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 4TB hold?
4TB can hold around
1333333 MP3 songs
OR 800000 5MB Photos
OR 266667 FLAC audio files
OR 5714 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 471 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 80 Blu-ray
OR 4 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 5TB hold?
5TB can hold around
1666667 MP3 songs
OR 1000000 5MB Photos
OR 333333 FLAC audio files
OR 7143 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 588 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 100 Blu-ray
OR 5 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 6TB hold?
6TB can hold around
2000000 MP3 songs
OR 1200000 5MB Photos
OR 400000 FLAC audio files
OR 8571 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 706 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 120 Blu-ray
OR 6 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 8TB hold?
8TB can hold around
2666667 MP3 songs
OR 1600000 5MB Photos
OR 533333 FLAC audio files
OR 11429 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 941 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 160 Blu-ray
OR 8 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 10TB hold?
10TB can hold around
3333333 MP3 songs
OR 2000000 5MB Photos
OR 666667 FLAC audio files
OR 14286 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 1176 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 200 Blu-ray
OR 10 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 12TB hold?
12TB can hold around
4000000 MP3 songs
OR 2400000 5MB Photos
OR 800000 FLAC audio files
OR 17143 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 1412 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 240 Blu-ray
OR 12 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 14TB hold?
14TB can hold around
4666667 MP3 songs
OR 2800000 5MB Photos
OR 933333 FLAC audio files
OR 20000 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 1647 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 280 Blu-ray
OR 14 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 16TB hold?
16TB can hold around
5333333 MP3 songs
OR 3200000 5MB Photos
OR 1066667 FLAC audio files
OR 22857 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 1882 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 320 Blu-ray
OR 16 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 18TB hold?
18TB can hold around
6000000 MP3 songs
OR 3600000 5MB Photos
OR 1200000 FLAC audio files
OR 25714 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 2118 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 360 Blu-ray
OR 18 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 20TB hold?
20TB can hold around
6666667 MP3 songs
OR 4000000 5MB Photos
OR 1333333 FLAC audio files
OR 28571 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 2353 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 400 Blu-ray
OR 20 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 22TB hold?
22TB can hold around
7333333 MP3 songs
OR 4400000 5MB Photos
OR 1466667 FLAC audio files
OR 31429 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 2588 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 440 Blu-ray
OR 22 Surveillance cameras (30 days)
How much can 24TB hold?
24TB can hold around
8000000 MP3 songs
OR 4800000 5MB Photos
OR 1600000 FLAC audio files
OR 34286 HD Movies or Audio CDs
OR 2824 4K Movies or DVDs
OR 480 Blu-ray
OR 24 Surveillance cameras (30 days)



Actual size of 0.008TB drive?
0.008TB HDD can have around 7 GB usable storage space
Actual size of 320GB drive?
320GB HDD can have around 298 GB usable storage space
Actual size of 500GB drive?
500GB HDD can have around 466 GB usable storage space
Actual size of 600GB drive?
600GB HDD can have around 559 GB usable storage space
Actual size of 640GB drive?
640GB HDD can have around 596 GB usable storage space
Actual size of 1TB drive?
1TB HDD can have around 931 GB usable storage space
Actual size of 1.5TB drive?
1.5TB HDD can have around 1.397 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 2TB drive?
2TB HDD can have around 1.863 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 3TB drive?
3TB HDD can have around 2.794 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 4TB drive?
4TB HDD can have around 3.725 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 5TB drive?
5TB HDD can have around 4.657 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 6TB drive?
6TB HDD can have around 5.588 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 8TB drive?
8TB HDD can have around 7.451 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 10TB drive?
10TB HDD can have around 9.313 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 12TB drive?
12TB HDD can have around 11.176 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 14TB drive?
14TB HDD can have around 13.039 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 16TB drive?
16TB HDD can have around 14.901 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 18TB drive?
18TB HDD can have around 16.764 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 20TB drive?
20TB HDD can have around 18.626 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 22TB drive?
22TB HDD can have around 20.489 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 24TB drive?
24TB HDD can have around 22.352 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 8GB drive?
8GB HDD can have around 7 GB usable storage space
Actual size of 250GB drive?
250GB HDD can have around 233 GB usable storage space
Actual size of 320GB drive?
320GB HDD can have around 298 GB usable storage space
Actual size of 500GB drive?
500GB HDD can have around 466 GB usable storage space
Actual size of 640GB drive?
640GB HDD can have around 596 GB usable storage space
Actual size of 750GB drive?
750GB HDD can have around 698 GB usable storage space
Actual size of 1TB drive?
1TB HDD can have around 931 GB usable storage space
Actual size of 1.5TB drive?
1.5TB HDD can have around 1.397 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 2TB drive?
2TB HDD can have around 1.863 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 3TB drive?
3TB HDD can have around 2.794 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 4TB drive?
4TB HDD can have around 3.725 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 5TB drive?
5TB HDD can have around 4.657 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 6TB drive?
6TB HDD can have around 5.588 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 8TB drive?
8TB HDD can have around 7.451 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 10TB drive?
10TB HDD can have around 9.313 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 12TB drive?
12TB HDD can have around 11.176 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 14TB drive?
14TB HDD can have around 13.039 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 16TB drive?
16TB HDD can have around 14.901 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 18TB drive?
18TB HDD can have around 16.764 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 20TB drive?
20TB HDD can have around 18.626 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 22TB drive?
22TB HDD can have around 20.489 TB usable storage space
Actual size of 24TB drive?
24TB HDD can have around 22.352 TB usable storage space

How do I find the actual hard drive size?

The hard drive capacity calculation method of the Manufacturer is: 120GB=120,000MB=120,000,000KB=120,000,000,000 bytes; while the hard drive capacity calculation method of is: 120,000,000,000 bytes/1024=117,187,500KB/1024=114, 440.9MB/1024=111.8GB.

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle


Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

  ]]>
https://nascompares.com/2022/12/28/how-to-choose-the-best-value-hard-drive-and-best-price-per-tb-get-it-right-first-time/feed/ 379 60310
WD 22TB HDDs Released! Featuring the WD Gold WD221KRYZ, WD Red WD221KFGX and WD Purple WD221PURP Drives https://nascompares.com/news/wd-22tb-hdds-released-featuring-the-wd-gold-wd221kryz-wd-red-wd221kfgx-and-wd-purple-wd221purp-drives/ https://nascompares.com/news/wd-22tb-hdds-released-featuring-the-wd-gold-wd221kryz-wd-red-wd221kfgx-and-wd-purple-wd221purp-drives/#comments Tue, 19 Jul 2022 14:30:48 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?post_type=news&p=59346 Western Digital Release 22TB Hard Drive in WD Red Pro, WD Gold and WD Purple

That’s Right! WD has now officially released their 22TB series of HDDs to the WD Gold, WD Red Pro and WD Purple Pro series of hard disks. So, why is this such a big deal? Well, anyone who has been watching the development of hard drives over at Western Digital will have surely noticed a tremendous change in strategy by one of (if not THE) biggest brand in hard drives in the last couple of years. For a long time, WD had been a little more cautious in it’s releasing of larger capacities (especially compared with their biggest rival Seagate) and was rarely the first to commercially release the biggest capacities into the consumer and business market. However, the last 24 months have seen WD change this development/release method dramatically and we have seen them release a wide variety of extremely high capacity HDDs into their respect ranges (we only JUST reviewed their 20TB WD Red Pro on YouTube and Western Digital Ultrastar HC560 20TB HDDs here on NASCompares shortly after release). Add to this that these larger capacity HDDs are getting added to each of the brand’s highest-profile product ranges (as well as the 26TB Ultrastar UltraSMR drives being released now in July ’22) and we are seeing a very, VERY different WD to one we saw back in 2019/2020. So, let’s take a closer look at these three new 22TB Hard Drives, what they are designed for and what separates them from one another!

Hardware Specifications of the WD Red Pro, WD Purple and WD Gold 22TB Hard Drives

The first thing to note is that these three 22TB hard drives is that they are designed very similarity in terms of standard hardware architecture. They are all 7200 RPM (rotations per min) and data is spread across 10 internal platters that are comprised of 2.2TB per platter. Despite it’s remarkable capacity, the drive uses traditional CMR/PMR, but is improved upon with the use of energy-assisted magnetic recording too. These amply internal physical storage spacing in accompanied with a huge 512MB of on board cache to keep things moving and each drive also features a small flash module on board known as OptiNAND (we will go into more detail on that in a moment). All three 2TB Hard drives are available in SATA/6Gb (and SAS options available in other model IDs), but thanks to small differences in the gearing of each drive to be better suited to their end user, the WD Red Pro and WD Purple Pro have a maximum reported 265MB/s Sustained Sequential Read and the WD Gold has a much higher and possibly industry winning (for SATA in traditional platter-arm design) 291MB/s Performance, almost half way saturating SATA 6Gb/s. Herre is a breakdown of the specifications of each of the WD 22TB Hard Disks:

Branding
Drive Family GOLD RED PRO PURPLE PRO / AI
Price £639.99 /  $769 (Est on Conversion)

Check Amazon HERE

£601.99 /  $729 (Est on Conversion)

Check Amazon HERE

£539.99 /  $649 (Est on Conversion)

Check Amazon HERE

Model ID 22 WD221KFGX WD221PURP
Designed Use Data-Center Large Scale NAS NAS Surveillance / NVR
RPM (Rotations per Minute) 7200RPM 7200RPM 7200RPM
Platter Density/Frequency 10 Platters (2.2TB each) 10 Platters (2.2TB each) 10 Platters (2.2TB each)
On-board Cache 512MB 512MB 512MB
Recording Method EPMR EPMR EPMR
OptiNAND Yes Yes Yes
Max Performance (aka Transfer 291 265 265
Workload Rating (TB per Year) 550 300 550
Load / Unload Cycle Rtaing 600K 600K 600K
Unrecoverable Read Errors 1 in 10E15 1 in 10E13 1 in 10E15
MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure Hrs) 2.5M 1M 2.5M
Power Usage (Idle / Active) (W) 5.7 / 9.3 3.4 / 6.8 5.6 / 6.9
Manf Warranty 5 5 5

What is the Difference Between the 22TB WD Red Pro vs WD Gold vs WD Purple Pro HDD?

The WD Red Pro series of HDDs are designed for use in 24×7 NAS servers that are used in Medium-large businesses (recommended for any system in desktop or rackmount above 8 bays). The WD Gold series is designed for Enterprise, Data Center and/or Hyper-scale deployment, as they are geared towards a much faster spin up and spin down, whilst also ensuring high sustained speeds over time and can endure larger scales of write-delete-re-write throughout their lifespan (something very common in enterprise hot-warm-cold storage systems that use different media types at each tier). Finally, there is the WD Purple Por series, a range of drives specifically geared towards surveillance (cameras and data recording instruments generally) and although similar in deployment to the WD Red Pro series (ie small-medium-large business and above 8 bays of storage per system), the main difference is that WD Purple is significant;y geared more towards Write than read, as NVR/Surveillance-servers will spend 95%+ of there operations time WRITING data from recording cameras etc , whilst 5% or less will be spent retrieving/viewing those recordings.

The main difference between all three in terms of actual use is:

  • The WD Purple 22TB is an HDD that will allow a tremendously sustainable Write Speed over time but not at the expense of durability, thanks to a high 2.5M MTBF and 550TB annual workload. Therefore ensuring that surveillance recordings are consistent and the drive will have sufficient robust hardware to endure repeated write actions over and over. That heavier focus on write-over-read results in the drive arriving noticeably lower in price than the WD Red Pro or WD Gold.
  • The WD Red Pro 22TB HDD on the other hand has a much better Read/Write balance and although is not quite as high in it’s durability upon repeated/recycled writing, it makes up for it by being much better than the Purple Pro when it comes to mixed and sporadic access patterns, as a 24×7 large scale NAS server is likely to do
  • The WD Gold 22TB is the premium Hard Drive of the three, with it’s excellent sustained read AND write, as well as high durability of 550TB per year workload, 2.5M MTBF hours and it’s suitability of deployment in hyperscale (12-24-48+ bay) rack environments of NAS or SAN. The only real downside compared with WD Red Pro and WD Purple Pro is that the drive is noisier and consumes more power in use to maintain those speeds and durability over time. The price tag of the WD Gold (at least at the time of writing) is higher than the WD Red Pro and WD Purple Pro too – though that can change later as larger capacities arrive and the RRP becomes increasingly flexible.

That is the core difference between all three 22TB HDDs that WD have released. But what about OptiNAND? Why is that a big deal?

What is OptiNAND and Why is it so Important on a big drive like the WD 22TB?

Of course, users who have been following the developments of WD in their roadmaps and reveals of larger-scale drive media will be aware that the WD Red Pro, Purple and Gold 22TB also features a new technological design being rolled out in these bigger drives to merge existing storage technologies into something even better – OptiNAND. This is a new approach to an old idea that never really took off, where the benefits of small areas of faster NAND storage (more typically associated with SSD media) and affords a small area of NAND to a larger scale hard drive to be used for metadata and for storing data in the event of power failure. Flash is also interesting from a persistence standpoint. DRAM gets flushed on power loss, but NAND is non-volatile and can continue to keep metadata information without having to re-hydrate after a boot sequence, be removed from the system for some reason, or any other event where power drops. The newer gen 18, 20 and 22TB hard drives arrives with a portion of 64-layer/64GB BICS3 (3D TLC)

WD states that OptiNAND drives can secure more than 100MB of write cache data in the event of an unplanned power loss, a 50X improvement over standard drives that can flush about 2MB. Hybrid Drive media is not new, but whereas older generation hybrid drives were more parallel in architecture, this is far more intertwined. It also brings enhancements to the firmware algorithm and system-on-a-chip (SoC). Once again, to be clear, OptiNAND and its iNAND isn’t flash cache (such as the 512MB this drive also features). Rather, it’s a portion of flash memory used to store metadata–or data about existing data–so they can be managed more efficiently.

The slice of iNAND has its own dedicated controller, much like an SSD. While metadata management itself doesn’t help to increase platter density, it enables a range of benefits that do. As one can imagine, the higher the density of the HDD, the more metadata it generates. Moving metadata to a fast, dense and scalable storage area gives more freedom for manufacturers to create higher capacity drives.

OptiNAND DRAM

But why choose NAND over DRAM? Western Digital explained back in August 2021 that modern high-density HDDs generate gigabytes of metadata and it’s too costly to include sufficient  DRAM to hold it. In addition, moving metadata to their own dedicated area will free up more space on the platters themselves to store user data. There’s more to it than capacity increases, though; using OptiNAND also helps with reliability, specifically with the repeatable runout (RRO) and adjacent track interference (ATI).

Overall, what we find in the WD Ultrastar HC560 20TB hard drive architecture is a solidly designed and hugely impressive piece of hardware that challenges alot of the standard conventions of hard drive storage (in AND outside of server use).

When Will the WD Red Pro, WD Gold and WD Purple Pro 22TB Hard Drive Be Released and the Price?

In short, all three 22TB Hard Drives are available NOW, as they were officially released by Western Digital Earlier today. Expect stock to take a little longer to arrive, maybe by the end of July ’22, but as we speak, they are being gradually added to WDD’s websites and online portals. Regarding pricing, only the WD Red Pro Price of £601 from WD themselves. The rest of the pricing of 22TB drives in WD Gold and Purple will likely hit circulation shortly.

Branding
Drive Family GOLD RED PRO PURPLE PRO / AI
Price £639.99 /  $769 (Est on Conversion)

Check Amazon HERE

£601.99 /  $729 (Est on Conversion)

Check Amazon HERE

£539.99 /  $649 (Est on Conversion)

Check Amazon HERE

 

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle

Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

 


If you like this service, please consider supporting us.
We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you. Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which is used to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H. You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks! To find out more about how to support this advice service check HERE   If you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver   Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
     

]]>
https://nascompares.com/news/wd-22tb-hdds-released-featuring-the-wd-gold-wd221kryz-wd-red-wd221kfgx-and-wd-purple-wd221purp-drives/feed/ 28 59346
22TB WD Red Pro, WD Gold and WD Purple Hard Drive Released https://nascompares.com/2022/07/19/22tb-wd-red-pro-wd-gold-and-wd-purple-hard-drive-released/ https://nascompares.com/2022/07/19/22tb-wd-red-pro-wd-gold-and-wd-purple-hard-drive-released/#comments Tue, 19 Jul 2022 14:00:50 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?p=59335 Western Digital Release 22TB Hard Drive in WD Red Pro, WD Gold and WD Purple

That’s Right! WD has now officially released their 22TB series of HDDs to the WD Gold, WD Red Pro and WD Purple Pro series of hard disks. So, why is this such a big deal? Well, anyone who has been watching the development of hard drives over at Western Digital will have surely noticed a tremendous change in strategy by one of (if not THE) biggest brand in hard drives in the last couple of years. For a long time, WD had been a little more cautious in it’s releasing of larger capacities (especially compared with their biggest rival Seagate) and was rarely the first to commercially release the biggest capacities into the consumer and business market. However, the last 24 months have seen WD change this development/release method dramatically and we have seen them release a wide variety of extremely high capacity HDDs into their respect ranges (we only JUST reviewed their 20TB WD Red Pro on YouTube and Western Digital Ultrastar HC560 20TB HDDs here on NASCompares shortly after release). Add to this that these larger capacity HDDs are getting added to each of the brand’s highest-profile product ranges (as well as the 26TB Ultrastar UltraSMR drives being released now in July ’22) and we are seeing a very, VERY different WD to one we saw back in 2019/2020. So, let’s take a closer look at these three new 22TB Hard Drives, what they are designed for and what separates them from one another!

Hardware Specifications of the WD Red Pro, WD Purple and WD Gold 22TB Hard Drives

The first thing to note is that these three 22TB hard drives is that they are designed very similarity in terms of standard hardware architecture. They are all 7200 RPM (rotations per min) and data is spread across 10 internal platters that are comprised of 2.2TB per platter. Despite it’s remarkable capacity, the drive uses traditional CMR/PMR, but is improved upon with the use of energy-assisted magnetic recording too. These amply internal physical storage spacing in accompanied with a huge 512MB of on board cache to keep things moving and each drive also features a small flash module on board known as OptiNAND (we will go into more detail on that in a moment). All three 2TB Hard drives are available in SATA/6Gb (and SAS options available in other model IDs), but thanks to small differences in the gearing of each drive to be better suited to their end user, the WD Red Pro and WD Purple Pro have a maximum reported 265MB/s Sustained Sequential Read and the WD Gold has a much higher and possibly industry winning (for SATA in traditional platter-arm design) 291MB/s Performance, almost half way saturating SATA 6Gb/s. Herre is a breakdown of the specifications of each of the WD 22TB Hard Disks:

Branding
Drive Family GOLD RED PRO PURPLE PRO / AI
Price £639.99 /  $769 (Est on Conversion)

Check Amazon HERE

£601.99 /  $729 (Est on Conversion)

Check Amazon HERE

£539.99 /  $649 (Est on Conversion)

Check Amazon HERE

Model ID WD221KRYZ WD221KFGX WD221PURP
Designed Use Data-Center Large Scale NAS NAS Surveillance / NVR
RPM (Rotations per Minute) 7200RPM 7200RPM 7200RPM
Platter Density/Frequency 10 Platters (2.2TB each) 10 Platters (2.2TB each) 10 Platters (2.2TB each)
On-board Cache 512MB 512MB 512MB
Recording Method EPMR EPMR EPMR
OptiNAND Yes Yes Yes
Max Performance (aka Transfer 291 265 265
Workload Rating (TB per Year) 550 300 550
Load / Unload Cycle Rtaing 600K 600K 600K
Unrecoverable Read Errors 1 in 10E15 1 in 10E13 1 in 10E15
MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure Hrs) 2.5M 1M 2.5M
Power Usage (Idle / Active) (W) 5.7 / 9.3 3.4 / 6.8 5.6 / 6.9
Manf Warranty 5 5 5

What is the Difference Between the 22TB WD Red Pro vs WD Gold vs WD Purple Pro HDD?

The WD Red Pro series of HDDs are designed for use in 24×7 NAS servers that are used in Medium-large businesses (recommended for any system in desktop or rackmount above 8 bays). The WD Gold series is designed for Enterprise, Data Center and/or Hyper-scale deployment, as they are geared towards a much faster spin up and spin down, whilst also ensuring high sustained speeds over time and can endure larger scales of write-delete-re-write throughout their lifespan (something very common in enterprise hot-warm-cold storage systems that use different media types at each tier). Finally, there is the WD Purple Por series, a range of drives specifically geared towards surveillance (cameras and data recording instruments generally) and although similar in deployment to the WD Red Pro series (ie small-medium-large business and above 8 bays of storage per system), the main difference is that WD Purple is significant;y geared more towards Write than read, as NVR/Surveillance-servers will spend 95%+ of there operations time WRITING data from recording cameras etc , whilst 5% or less will be spent retrieving/viewing those recordings.

The main difference between all three in terms of actual use is:

  • The WD Purple 22TB is an HDD that will allow a tremendously sustainable Write Speed over time but not at the expense of durability, thanks to a high 2.5M MTBF and 550TB annual workload. Therefore ensuring that surveillance recordings are consistent and the drive will have sufficient robust hardware to endure repeated write actions over and over. That heavier focus on write-over-read results in the drive arriving noticeably lower in price than the WD Red Pro or WD Gold.
  • The WD Red Pro 22TB HDD on the other hand has a much better Read/Write balance and although is not quite as high in it’s durability upon repeated/recycled writing, it makes up for it by being much better than the Purple Pro when it comes to mixed and sporadic access patterns, as a 24×7 large scale NAS server is likely to do
  • The WD Gold 22TB is the premium Hard Drive of the three, with it’s excellent sustained read AND write, as well as high durability of 550TB per year workload, 2.5M MTBF hours and it’s suitability of deployment in hyperscale (12-24-48+ bay) rack environments of NAS or SAN. The only real downside compared with WD Red Pro and WD Purple Pro is that the drive is noisier and consumes more power in use to maintain those speeds and durability over time. The price tag of the WD Gold (at least at the time of writing) is higher than the WD Red Pro and WD Purple Pro too – though that can change later as larger capacities arrive and the RRP becomes increasingly flexible.

That is the core difference between all three 22TB HDDs that WD have released. But what about OptiNAND? Why is that a big deal?

What is OptiNAND and Why is it so Important on a big drive like the WD 22TB?

Of course, users who have been following the developments of WD in their roadmaps and reveals of larger-scale drive media will be aware that the WD Red Pro, Purple and Gold 22TB also features a new technological design being rolled out in these bigger drives to merge existing storage technologies into something even better – OptiNAND. This is a new approach to an old idea that never really took off, where the benefits of small areas of faster NAND storage (more typically associated with SSD media) and affords a small area of NAND to a larger scale hard drive to be used for metadata and for storing data in the event of power failure. Flash is also interesting from a persistence standpoint. DRAM gets flushed on power loss, but NAND is non-volatile and can continue to keep metadata information without having to re-hydrate after a boot sequence, be removed from the system for some reason, or any other event where power drops. The newer gen 18, 20 and 22TB hard drives arrives with a portion of 64-layer/64GB BICS3 (3D TLC)

WD states that OptiNAND drives can secure more than 100MB of write cache data in the event of an unplanned power loss, a 50X improvement over standard drives that can flush about 2MB. Hybrid Drive media is not new, but whereas older generation hybrid drives were more parallel in architecture, this is far more intertwined. It also brings enhancements to the firmware algorithm and system-on-a-chip (SoC). Once again, to be clear, OptiNAND and its iNAND isn’t flash cache (such as the 512MB this drive also features). Rather, it’s a portion of flash memory used to store metadata–or data about existing data–so they can be managed more efficiently.

The slice of iNAND has its own dedicated controller, much like an SSD. While metadata management itself doesn’t help to increase platter density, it enables a range of benefits that do. As one can imagine, the higher the density of the HDD, the more metadata it generates. Moving metadata to a fast, dense and scalable storage area gives more freedom for manufacturers to create higher capacity drives.

OptiNAND DRAM

But why choose NAND over DRAM? Western Digital explained back in August 2021 that modern high-density HDDs generate gigabytes of metadata and it’s too costly to include sufficient  DRAM to hold it. In addition, moving metadata to their own dedicated area will free up more space on the platters themselves to store user data. There’s more to it than capacity increases, though; using OptiNAND also helps with reliability, specifically with the repeatable runout (RRO) and adjacent track interference (ATI).

Overall, what we find in the WD Ultrastar HC560 20TB hard drive architecture is a solidly designed and hugely impressive piece of hardware that challenges alot of the standard conventions of hard drive storage (in AND outside of server use).

When Will the WD Red Pro, WD Gold and WD Purple Pro 22TB Hard Drive Be Released and the Price?

In short, all three 22TB Hard Drives are available NOW, as they were officially released by Western Digital Earlier today. Expect stock to take a little longer to arrive, maybe by the end of July ’22, but as we speak, they are being gradually added to WDD’s websites and online portals. Regarding pricing, only the WD Red Pro Price of £601 from WD themselves. The rest of the pricing of 22TB drives in WD Gold and Purple will likely hit circulation shortly.

Branding
Drive Family GOLD RED PRO PURPLE PRO / AI
Price £639.99 /  $769 (Est on Conversion)

Check Amazon HERE

£601.99 /  $729 (Est on Conversion)

Check Amazon HERE

£539.99 /  $649 (Est on Conversion)

Check Amazon HERE

 

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle

Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

 
]]>
https://nascompares.com/2022/07/19/22tb-wd-red-pro-wd-gold-and-wd-purple-hard-drive-released/feed/ 28 59335
WD Red Pro 20TB NAS Hard Drive Released https://nascompares.com/2022/03/01/wd-red-pro-20tb-nas-hard-drive-released/ https://nascompares.com/2022/03/01/wd-red-pro-20tb-nas-hard-drive-released/#comments Tue, 01 Mar 2022 00:00:34 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?p=56148 WD Red 20TB NAS Hard Drives Now Available

Good news for anyone looking at buying a new NAS system and wanting to max out their storage on day one, or users looking up increasing their existing storage, with the release of the new WD Red Pro 20TB NAS Hard Drive. Arriving with the same level of robust and high workloads of the previous Red Pro HDDs, this new 20 Terabyte model arrives with NAS specific engineering and larger scale rackmount servers in mind. As this is a new, professional series hard drive at the 20TB capacity level, you can fully expect the WD Red Pro WD201KFGX to cost a pretty penny! So, let’s discuss the hardware of the new hard drive and see if it should be your next storage purchase in 2022?

WD Red 20TB WD201KFGX Full Hardware Specifications

The hardware inside the WD Red Pro 20TB WD201KFGX is centred around heavy-duty storage use, in a 24×7 server environment. Although arriving at a slight pinch lower in workload and durability than WD Gold or Ultrastar drives, this 20TB is still going to result in some solid performance that only data-center/hyper scale users are ever really going to exceed. Let’s go through the hardware specifications

  • Model ID – WD201KFGX
  • Storage Capacity – 20TB
  • Interface – SATA
  • Recording Technology – Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR)
  • Form Factor – 3.5″
  • RPM – 7200
  • On-board Cache – 512MB
  • Transfer Speed – 268MB/s Reported Maximum
  • Load/Unload Cycles – 600K
  • Annual Workload Rating – 300TB
  • Active Power Use – 6.9W
  • Idle Power Use – 3.8W
  • Standby/Sleep Power Use –  1.6W
  • Warranty – 5 Years
Although the performance of the new WD Red Pro 20TB is a pinch lower than the 18TB (272MB/s vs 268MB/s), this is still a very small differences and the 20TB WD201KFGX is still higher in sequential Read/Write than the rest of the WD Red and WD Red Pro series.

What WD Say the New Red Pro 20TB WD201KFGX Features

Western Digital have always been remarkably proud of their WD Red NAS series of hard drive (and SSD in recent years) Media.   The WD Red Pro 20TB is no exception and they detail exactly what sets it apart from other Pro and Non-Pro class media.

Control Rapid Data Growth – Engineered specifically for NAS systems with up to 24 bays, WD Red™ Pro hard drives are optimized for multi-user NAS environments and are designed to handle high-intensity workloads in 24×7 environments. WD Red™ Pro is ideal for protecting, archiving, and sharing rapidly growing data with many users or multiple data-hungry applications.

Exclusive NASware™ 3.0 Technology – Our exclusive advanced firmware technology, NASware™ 3.0, enables seamless integration, robust data protection, and optimal performance for NAS systems operating under heavy demand. Built into every WD Red™ Pro hard drive, NASware™ 3.0’s advanced technology improves storage performance by increasing compatibility, integration, upgradeability, and reliability.

Built for Optimum NAS Compatibility – WD Red™ Pro drives with NASware™ technology take the guesswork out of selecting a drive. Optimized for NAS systems, our unique algorithm balances performance and reliability in NAS and RAID environments. Simply put, a WD Red™ Pro drive is one of the most compatible drives available for NAS enclosures. But don’t take our word for it. WD Red™ Pro drives are a reflection of extensive NAS partner technology engagement and compatibility-testing.

Larger NAS Bay Shock Protection – WD Red™ Pro drives are equipped with a multi-axis shock sensor that automatically detects subtle shock events and dynamic fly height technology which adjusts each read/write function to compensate and protect the data. This combination of technology further protects the drives in larger NAS systems with up to 24 bays and helps increase hard drive reliability.

3D Active Balance Plus – Our enhanced dual-plane balance control technology significantly improves the overall drive performance and reliability. Hard drives that are not properly balanced may cause excessive vibration and noise in a multi-drive system, reduce the hard drive life span, and degrade the performance over time.

Error Recovery Prevention – Built specifically for RAID and NAS environments, WD Red™ Pro drives come equipped with error recovery controls as part of NASware™ 3.0 technology to help reduce drive fallout in RAID applications.

Western Digital has been using OptiNAND technology to increase the capacity of new drives. To support OptiNAND, the WD Red Pro 20TB comes with an iNAND UFS flash drive (EFD). There has been no formal confirmation of the NAND memory capacity of the disk. According to Heise Medien, a German news site, a Western Digital management said that the disk contained 64GB of NAND.

WD Has always prioritized the use of their WD Red Pro series of Hard drives when deploying NAS systems with larger numbers of individual drives bays, as well as in recent years ensuring that larger capacity HDDs arrived either on the Pro tier first or exclusively in the long run (as these larger drives are considerably more industrious in design and architecture. But what is the Difference between a WD Red and WD Red Pro NAS hard drive?

When will the WD Red Pro 20TB NAS Hard Drive Be Released?

Although the pricing on the WD Red 20TB NAS Hard Drive is still going to be very much based on your region, the drive has already appeared available for sale in a number of online retailers (with several listing 1x unit of this drive at $760 (though you would need to factor tax, profit margin, etc), as well as the drive appearing on the brands’ official product pages HERE, so the release is pretty much immediate. That said, stock on these larger drives at initial launch is always a little thin on the ground and we can expect global availability on this drive to be quite low at the start.
📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle

Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

 
]]>
https://nascompares.com/2022/03/01/wd-red-pro-20tb-nas-hard-drive-released/feed/ 28 56148
WD Red SN700 NVMe SSD Review – Does it Deserve Your Cache? https://nascompares.com/2021/09/28/wd-red-sn700-nvme-ssd-review-does-it-deserve-your-cache/ https://nascompares.com/2021/09/28/wd-red-sn700-nvme-ssd-review-does-it-deserve-your-cache/#comments Tue, 28 Sep 2021 12:01:31 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?p=51511 Review of the WD Red SN700 M.2 NVMe SSD for NAS Drives

Why should you put the WD Red SN700 SSD in your NAS? It’s a fair question. Western Digital (WD) has been in the SSD market for quite a few years now, with a lot of in-house R&D at their disposal and their past consolidation with Sandisk resulting in some generally impressive Solid State drives from the brand available to home/business users. One big plus to the WD range of SSD media (and indeed hard drive media) is their rather easy to follow colour coding system on their portfolio, with SSD/HDDs for NAS/SMB server use being branded with the ‘WD Red’ title. Although the WD Red range of NAS hard drives has been around for a long time and is available in numerous forms (RED, Red Pro, Red Plus), their SSD series has been a little more gradual in its release strategy, with their WD Red SA500 NAS SSD (in SATA 2.5″ and SATA M.2) being the only real move from them. That is of course until now, with their new M.2 NVMe SSD for NAS/Server use, the WD Red SN700. With more and more NAS server systems (both desktop and rackmount) arriving on the scene with dedicated M.2 NVMe SSD slots (first real example as earlier as 2017/18 with the DS918+), WD has really taken their time of producing a dedicated NVMe SSD for NAS users. So, what is it that makes the WD Red SN700 SSD stand out? What makes it NAS/Server optimised and ultimately in our SN700 review we want to figure out if it deserves your cache*?

*I’ll get my coat….

WD Red SN700 SSD Review – Quick Conclusion

There is a lot to like about the WD Red SN700 SSD. For a start, this is clearly one of the highest endurance SSDs available in their current home/SMB lineup of drives at 0.7-1.0DWPD (capacity dependant) and if you are looking for an SSD for your Synology or QNAP system as an area of write-enabled cache (or Read/Write), then you are definitely going to feel better about that lifespan. Equally, I like that WD has gone into this with a broad range of capacities to complement the varying degrees of storage potential in the average user (even 2-Bay NAS like the DS720+ or TS-251D have PCIe/M.2 expandability available by default), from as little as 250GB and all the way up to 4TB on that petite little M.2! Even when we pushed the drive in both standalone benchmarks in our test machine and in both Synology/QNAP NAS usage for caching and storage pools, the drive maintained expected performance and higher in every test. In direct comparison with it’s most comparable PCIe3 drive from competitor Seagate, the Ironwolf 510 SSD for NAS, the WD Red SN700 is a clearly higher-performing drive in read, write, durability and 4K IOPS (though the Ironwolf does have an inclusive 3-year data recovery services – a bit questionable in utility for cache recovery though). I do question the somewhat delayed arrival of a PCIe Gen 3×4 SSD for NAS as the move towards PCIe Gen 4 in NAS is starting in development, as well as the price point of this drive for NAS seemingly ignoring this transition. But if you are looking to add cache to your NAS in 2021 (as well as scaling up random performance or your storage pools in an older system), then the WD Red SN700 SSD is a solid choice and does exactly the things they claim.

EFFECTIVENESS - 8/10
HARDWARE - 8/10
PERFORMANCE - 7/10
PRICE - 8/10
VALUE - 8/10


7.8
PROS
👍🏻Good range of capacities to scale
👍🏻High durability to withstand constant data recycling as cache data refreshes over time
👍🏻
👍🏻Not limited to Cache only use if the NAS/Server allows pools and volumes
👍🏻
👍🏻Good IOPS rating
👍🏻
👍🏻Come out the winner over the Seagate Ironwolf 510 PCIe3 NAS SSD in almost all specs
CONS
👎🏻A little Pricey for a Gen 3×4 drive in 2021/2022
👎🏻A pinch overshadowed by the Seagate Ironwolf 525 at PCIe Gen4 released days apart

WD Red SN700 SSD Review – Retail Packaging

The box the WD Red SN700 SSD arrives in is exactly what you would expect., with ‘RED’ appearing throughout. as well as performance benchmarks and ratings ion show. WD absolutely NAILED IT when they introduced the colour coding system on their SSDs (IMO). Storage media is by no means an exciting or sexy subject, no matter how hard I try to make it so, with inscrutable model IDs, differences often distinguished by as little as 1-2 characters in the product number and little clarity of what makes a drive more suitable than another for purpose. So when WD introduced the Colour system for their drives, with Blue for home/basic, Black for Gamer/Pro, Green for energy-efficient, Purple for surveillance, Gold for Data Center and finally Red for NAS server use, it went an enormous way to clarify what was the ideally SSD/HDD for your the device they were going in. Your cutlery drawer has ALOT of knives inside, but have you ever tried cutting a steak with a butter knife, or spreading butter with a machete (I hope not)? Having the RIGHT tool for the job is often the first big choice you will make and Therefore you can understand why WD want to shout loud and proud about the Red SN700 SSD being NAS optimized

Like most M2 NVMe SSDs, the contents are rather low key. Unlike 2.5″ SSDs, NVMe SSDs are a great deal more barebones (given the different client hardware deployment options from tower case with active cooling, to compact NAS enclosures with modest airflow and rackmounts with enormous fan assembly). Therefore, perhaps to avoid waster, the inside of the retail box, you find the WD SN700 SSD held in a plastic outer casing.

You also find a guide to your 5 year warranty and a small amount of information about general installation recommendations, but that is about it. Here is the complete contents:

Now, I do genuinely appreciate that they want to avoid waste by including screws that people already have, heat-dissipating accessories that may not fit/be needed and more, but I am surprised they did not even include a thermal heat pad in the retail kit. It’s an incredibly small detail, but if you are installing this for the first time or even replacing an existing SSD with an upgrade to the SN700 NVMe, you are 100% going to need a thermal heat pad and it shouldn’t be assumed that you can re-use your existing one or have one with your heatsink purchase.

Indeed, with several other WD SSDs (eg the WD Black SN850) arriving with a pre-applied heatsink, I am surprised that the SN700 does not also have a heatsink enabled version as an option. These are very small criticisms and aside from heatsinks only costing you around £10-20, some NAS systems have their own smaller heatsinks you can directly apply to the controller chip etc included (most QNAP’s that have M.2 slots supply these at no additional cost). But that in term just means that this small inclusion has been missed/overlooked and I am a little surprised by that. Let’s take a closer look at the design of the WD Red SN700 and see what you are getting for your cache** in this NAS targetted NVMe SSD.

**No seriously, that is the last one…

WD Red SN700 SSD Review – Design

A closer look at the WD Red SN700 SSD does not really give away too much. The label (no need to remove it when using in a NAS etc) is pretty clear and branded, but that’s what you would expect. The 1TB SSD model featured in this model is a single-sided SSD, but as you graduate into the 2TB and 4TB model, then the NAND quantity and size changes. All five capacities of the WD SN700 series are 2280 in length, which is compatible with at least 95% of NAS systems in 2021/2022 (rare exceptions like the Drobo 5N2 etc) which support 2280 and 22110 length. Though we do need to discuss the elephant in the room a little, which is the fact that this M.2 NVMe SSD is PCIe Gen 3 x4 in architecture.

Now the fact the WD Rd SN700 is PCIe Gen 3×4 is a decision that will meet with a mixed reaction. On the one hand, practically all currently available NAS/SAN server systems up to 2021 in both the home and business market that support NVMe M.2 SSD for caching/storage max out on PCIe 3×4 (with many supporting 2×2, 3×1 or 3×2 for reasons of CPU lane restraints and chipsets). Equally, WD has been a little slow on the release of this SSD and likely at early development, PCIe 4 on a NAS system seemed a long way away. However, it can’t be ignored that several high profile NAS releases on the market in mid-late 2021 feature PCIe Gen 4 slots (not m.2), as well as flash systems arriving with U.3 support. Alongside this, their biggest rival Seagate recently launched their Ironwolf 525 PCIe 4×4 NAS SSD, to accompany their existing Ironwolf 510 PCIe 3×4 drive, which may seem overkill, but given the backwards compatibility of PCIe means that these PCIe 4 drives will still work in PCIe 3 settings. Reasons for the WD SN700 being a Gen 3 SSD could be for many reasons, ranging from better pricing, higher durability factors and making sure that product R&D is directed at value right now. Still, this is one of the earlier queries many potential WD Red SN700 buyers will have.

As mentioned, the unit for this review that was supplied by WD is a 1TB single-sided unit (2 units were used in the NAS testing later) and the back is completely clear. Let’s remove that label and take a close look at what this SSD arrives with on-board.

WD Red SN700 SSD Review – Hardware Specifications

As WD generally utilizes only in-house components and manufacturing teams on their drive media, the WD Red SN700 SSD is architecturally similar in parts to several other SSDs in their past/present portfolio, including the WD Blue NVMe and WD Black SN700 before it.

The highlights of the SN700 Hardware Specifications are:

  • Available in 250GB-500GB-1TB-2TB-4TB
  • WD NVMe Controller
  • Onboard DRAM Scaling vs Storage Capacity
  • Sandisk 3D TLC NAND
  • M.2 2280-S3-M
  • PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe 1.3
  • 1,750,000 MTTF
  • 0.7-1.0 DWPD (Capacity Dependant)
  • 500-5100TBW (Capacity Dependant)
  • 5yr Warranty

All fairly top tier PCIe 3×4 stuff and the durability on the drive is particularly impressive

As mentioned, the WD NVMe Controller is of in-house design and has been updated numerous times with tweaks and improvements over the years, resulting in a pretty impressive controller to largely saturate the potential 4,000MB/s of PCIe Gen 3×4, peaking at 3,430MB/s sequential Read and 3,100 Sequential Write (will go into more detail on this in the testing phase of the review below).

The storage NAND featured on the WD Red SN700 is Sandisk 3D TLC (Sandisk are owned by WD of course) and in the case of this 1TB SSD, there are two 512GB modules, so perhaps a level of over-provisioning there to keep things ticking on smoothly. The DRAM of this SSD scales with the capacity and caps out at a 4GB module for the 4TB model. All fairly standard and mildly predictable stuff. However, as mentioned earlier, the WD Red SN700 is not the only M.2 PCIe 3 x4 SSD on the market and indeed.

We will have a FULL comparison of the WD Red SN700 SSD versus the Seagate Ironwolf 510 and 525 coming next week, however here is a casual glance at how these two SSDs compare in architecture and Sequential performance for now:

Specifications Seagate IronWolf 510

Released March 2020

WD Red SN700

Released September 2021

Warranty 5yr + 3yr Rescue 5yr
MTBF/MTTF 1800000 1750000
PCIe Generation PCIe Gen 3×4 PCIe Gen 3×4
NVMe Rev NVMe 1.3 NVMe 1.3
NAND Kioxia BiCS3 64L TLC Sandisk 3D TLC
Controller PS5012-E12DC WD NVMe Controller
240/250GB ZP240NM30011$69 WDS250G1R0C$64.99
Sequential Read (Max, MB/s), 128 KB 2,450MB 3,100MB
Sequential Write (Max, MB/s), 128 KB 290MB 1,600MB
480/500GB ZP480NM30011$119 WDS500G1R0C$79.99
Sequential Read (Max, MB/s), 128 KB 2,650MB 3,430MB
Sequential Write (Max, MB/s), 128 KB 600MB 2,600MB
960/1000GB ZP960NM30011$209 WDS100G1R0C$144.99
Sequential Read (Max, MB/s), 128 KB 3,150MB 3,430MB
Sequential Write (Max, MB/s), 128 KB 1,000MB 3,000MB
1920/2000GB ZP1920NM30011$409 WDS200G1R0C$289.99
Sequential Read (Max, MB/s), 128 KB 3,150MB 3,430MB
Sequential Write (Max, MB/s), 128 KB 850MB 2,900MB
1920/2000GB N/A WDS400G1R0C$649.99
Sequential Read (Max, MB/s), 128 KB N/A 3,430MB
Sequential Write (Max, MB/s), 128 KB N/A 3,100MB

So, the big difference here (aside from the capacity difference that is the result of over-provisioning) is the peak write performance. Read performance, which forms a large part of NAS caching, is similar in the higher tiers but the WD Red SN700 holds onto that 3,000MB/s+ benchmark even at 250GB. The Write performance, which is still a big part of caching in write caching where data is committed to the SSD first to increase upload speeds and then moved to the slower HDD RAID array in the NAS, is significantly higher on the WD Red SN700 over the Seagate Ironwolf 510 SSD, despite both drives have very high durability (TBW/DWPD) for server use. So, although WD have taken longer to bring this drive to the market, it is arguably a better drive for it. Though how it compares in deeper comparison of IOPS, 4K, Pools and more will be in our comparison next week. Lets get started benchmarking the WD Red SN700 SSD on our Test Machine, a Synology and a QNAP NAS.

Testing of the WD Red SN700 SSD will be broken down into 3 main parts. The first part is testing in a single unit PC benchmark arrangement. The second test is in caching test with a Synology NAS and finally, the 3rd test will be in a QNAP NAS system as an active Storage Pool and iSCSI LUN. In the PC test, the WD Red SN700 NAS NVMe SSD was tested using multiple benchmark tools, from a cold boot, in the 2nd storage slot (i.e not the OS drive). Each test was conducted three times (full details of this are shown in the YouTube Review of the SN700 Red SSD over on NASCompares):

Test Machine:

  • Windows 10 Pro Desktop System
  • Intel i5 11400 Rocket Lake – 6-Core 2.6/4.4Ghz
  • 16GB DDR4 2666MHz Memory
  • Intel B560M mATX Motherboard
  • OS Storage, Seagate Firecuda 120 SSD
  • Test SSD connected to Secondary PCIe Gen 4×4 M.2 Slot

Using CrystalDisk, we got a good measure of the drive and verified that this PCIe Gen 3 x4 SSD was indeed using the 4×4 lane. Additionally, the temp averaged out around 44 between each test being conducted.

The first tests were conducted using the ATTO disk benchmark software. The first was a 256MB test file size and below is a breakdown of the transfer rates and IOPS. The 2nd Test was a 1GB test file and finally, the last test was with a 4GB test file. The system was given 1-minute cool downtime between tests, no screen recording software was used (remove overhead) and a heatsink was used throughout (no reboots)

ATTO Disk Benchmark Test #1

256MB File PEAK Read Throughput  = 3.19GB/s

256MB File PEAK Write Throughput = 2.90GB/s

 


 

ATTO Disk Benchmark Test #2

1GB File PEAK Read Throughput  = 3.20GB/s

1GB File PEAK Write Throughput = 2.90GB/s

 


 

ATTO Disk Benchmark Test #3

4GB File PEAK Read Throughput  = 3.20GB/s

4GB File PEAK Write Throughput = 2.90GB/s

 


 

Next, although the ATTO tests were quite good, but not what I would have hoped from this SSD, so I moved on to the Crystal Disk Mark testing to see how well it would handle our lasts barrage of tests. The first test was the 1GB file testing, which measured both sequential and random, as well as the read and write IOPS. Test were conducted on a 1GB, 4GB and 16GB Test File. I also included a mixed 70/30 read and write task to give a little bit more of a realistic balanced workload. These tests were conducted with 1-minute cooling break in between

CRYSTALDISK MARK 1GB TEST


CRYSTALDISK MARK 4GB TEST


CRYSTALDISK MARK 16GB TEST

 

Next, I switched to AS SSD benchmark. A much more thorough test through, I used 1GB, 3GB and 5GB test files. Each test includes throughput benchmarks and IOPS that are respective to the larger file sizes (important, if you are reading this and trying to compare against the reported 4K IOPS from the manufacturer).

AS SSD Benchmark Test #1

 


AS SSD Benchmark Test #2

 


AS SSD Benchmark Test #3

Ordinarily, I would introduce tests like BlackMagic and AJA into the mix here, but even a short burst of testing on an NVMe like this would over saturate the cache memory on board. Nevertheless, in the short term we still could ascertain the reported performance on 1GB, 4GB and 16GB file testing was:

1GB AJA File Test Results (Peak) = 3123MB/s Read & 2904MB/s Write

4GB AJA File Test Results (Peak) = 3121MB/s Read & 2911MB/s Write

16GB AJA File Test Results (Peak) = 3119MB/s Read & 2900MB/s Write

 

Synology NAS Drive and WD Red SN700 SSD Caching Tests

This test was conducted over a 1Gbe connection, on the DS1621+ NAS, in conjunction with two Synology HAT5400 NAS hard drives (for clarity from a full WD Red Environment). a 1TB iSCSI LUN was created on the HDD RAID array and multiple tests with a large Windows File transfer, ATTO DiskBenchmark and AS SSD was conducted in a NON-CACHE and CACHE environment, with the latter featuring the WD Red SN700 SSDs (2x 1TB in a Read and Write Cache environment). Throughput and IOPS were measured for both and compared below:

(Click to Enlarge)

 

(Click to Enlarge)

There were very clear improvements in almost all cases of using the WD Red SN700 for caching in the Synology system. Especially in write-cache areas (expected).

QNAP NAS Drive and WD Red SN700 SSD Caching Tests

In The QNAP NAS test, a TVS-872X was used and a 10Gbe shared network was used on a 10Gbe equipped machine. The WD Red SN700 SSD (2x 1TB) were placed in a RAID 1 environment as a storage pool/volume, then a 700GB iSCSI LUN was created and data was directly tested on ATTO DiskBenchmark and AJA Speed Test. NOTE – Test speeds could not full saturate the 10Gbe connection due to the PCIe 3×1 slots of the TVS-872X, a well as the iSCSI LUN being proportional to the capacity of the drive (done intentionally). Measurements for Throughput and IOPS were made. See below:

(Click to Enlarge)

 

(Click to Enlarge)

Performance differences were suitably restrained for this setup (a larger test of this SSD on a ZFS QNAP System is coming shortly featuring the WD Red SN700 and Seagate Ironwolf 510 (as well as the Ironwolf 525 if I can get that added in time!), hence why QNAP testing in this review is much shorter and in an unusual fashion. Nevertheless, the results were clear well within expected parameters and positive. Overall, the WD Red SN700 NAS SSD was certainly able to provide some solid performance, as well as potentially exceed the test figures here on a more powerful machine. Given the reported Read and Write statistics that the brand has stated publically, I think there is enough evidence here to back up those claims. IOPs were a little lower than I expected, but again, we were testing very large file types, so this would have to be taken in context and these drives are made with NAS/cache use in mind.

WD Red SN700 SSD Review – Conclusion & Verdict

There is a lot to like about the WD Red SN700 SSD. For a start, this is clearly one of the highest endurance SSDs available in their current home/SMB lineup of drives at 0.7-1.0DWPD (capacity dependant) and if you are looking for an SSD for your Synology or QNAP system as an area of write-enabled cache (or Read/Write), then you are definitely going to feel better about that lifespan. Equally, I like that WD has gone into this with a broad range of capacities to complement the varying degrees of storage potential in the average user (even 2-Bay NAS like the DS720+ or TS-251D have PCIe/M.2 expandability available by default), from as little as 250GB and all the way up to 4TB on that petite little M.2! Even when we pushed the drive in both standalone benchmarks in our test machine and in both Synology/QNAP NAS usage for caching and storage pools, the drive maintained expected performance and higher in every test. In direct comparison with it’s most comparable PCIe3 drive from competitor Seagate, the Ironwolf 510 SSD for NAS, the WD Red SN700 is a clearly higher-performing drive in read, write, durability and 4K IOPS (though the Ironwolf does have an inclusive 3-year data recovery services – a bit questionable in utility for cache recovery though). I do question the somewhat delayed arrival of a PCIe Gen 3×4 SSD for NAS as the move towards PCIe Gen 4 in NAS is starting in development, as well as the price point of this drive for NAS seemingly ignoring this transition. But if you are looking to add cache to your NAS in 2021 (as well as scaling up random performance or your storage pools in an older system), then the WD Red SN700 SSD is a solid choice and does exactly the things they claim.

PROs of the WD Red SN700 SSDs CONs of the WD Red SN700 SSDs
Good range of capacities to scale

High durability to withstand constant data recycling as cache data refreshes over time

Not limited to Cache only use if the NAS/Server allows pools and volumes

Good IOPS rating

Come out the winner over the Seagate Ironwolf 510 PCIe3 NAS SSD in almost all specs

A little Pricey for a Gen 3×4 drive in 2021/2022

A pinch overshadowed by the Seagate Ironwolf 525 at PCIe Gen4 released days apart

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle

Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

 

]]>
https://nascompares.com/2021/09/28/wd-red-sn700-nvme-ssd-review-does-it-deserve-your-cache/feed/ 39 51511
Best Hard Drives for NAS – 2021 https://nascompares.com/2021/02/16/best-hard-drives-for-nas-get-it-right-first-time-2021-edition/ https://nascompares.com/2021/02/16/best-hard-drives-for-nas-get-it-right-first-time-2021-edition/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2021 19:50:57 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?p=45726 Choosing the Best Hard Drives for your NAS

For those of you that have decided to buy a NAS server for Home or business, choosing the right hard drive media to put inside can be incredibly difficult. NAS drives, much like the knives, spoons and forks in your cutlery drawer are all designed to be used for a specific situation (Have you ever used a ladle to stir a cup of tea?) and if you install unsuitable drive media in your NAS, then chances are it will impact both the performance and the efficiency of your system long term. In recent years, several HDD manufacturers have introduced dedicated server tailored hard drives (and SSD of course) that are better suited to the more sporadic access nature of NAS system storage, the 24×7 power on schedule, faster read/write switching internally and improved long term durability that is needed in these environments. However, with more than fifteen popular NAS and Data Center class drives currently on the market (and that is just the top tier), it can be remarkably confusing to narrow the choices down to your particular needs. So, today I want to help you choose the right NAS hard drives, the first time! Below I have detailed eight different kinds of NAS/Server architecture and which NAS hard drive is best suited for each.

Important Considerations in Buying Hard Drives for your NAS

Before going any further, it is important to understand that choosing the right NAS hard drive requires you to understand certain terms that are thrown around in the data storage industry – that way you KNOW that the drive you choose will perform the tasks you need to the best possible standard. Below are a few of the most important terms that you need to know in order to understand the marketing jargon that the HDD brands put out and understand the pros and cons of each:

RAID – Redundant Array of Independent Disks (also known as Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks in the old days), RAID is the ability to use multiple NAS HDDs at once, the spread your data across them to improve capacity, speed and/or (most importantly) data safety. Unlike a backup (where a duplicate of data is kept in another location/system), RAID 0 combined the total storage available into 1 giant storage area for great performance, but no safety net if a drive breaks. RAID 1 effectively halves your total storage as a single visible drive, but allows you 1 drive of safety net. RAID 5 and RAID 6 allow 1 or 2 disk safety net respectively but also allow much, MUCH larger storage arrays. There are other RAID levels, but these are the most popular in the data storage industry.

SATA – The most common HDD connection in 2021 and allows up to a potential 6Gigabits per second throughput between the connected drive and the NAS system. However mechanical HDDs rarely exceed 280MB/s at the very, very top end. There are also connections such as SAS, NVMe and U.2. But there is far more enterprise and more recently apply to SSDs for the most part.

Saturation – This is the term (in data storage at least) used to describe how much data and flowing through an available interface/bandwidth. ie a SATA HDD can potentially allow 600MB/s of data performance, however, most NAS HDDs only give around 180-280MB/s because of their mechanical/moving-part design. So the saturation of SATA of a single drive would be much less at 180/280MB/s.

Platters – These are the spinning disks inside the HDD casing that hold all of the data. Larger capacity drives will feature more patters. Compression techniques used internally will generally allow more space, but only up to a point.

Rotation Speed – This is the reported speed that the platters spin at to allow the arm/actuator to search them and locate/write data magnetically.

Cache – This is an area of memory on the NAS Hard drive that compiles/distributes the data that is being gathered by the disk on the fly and sends it in all directions. The cache will generally be larger on bigger capacity NAS hard drives, as well as be larger on drives that feature Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) as the drive needs more handling space to apply data in this unique writing fashion.

Terabytes Written (TBW) – Generally applied as an annual figure, TBW is a rating given to a NAS Hard Drive to denote that this drive can receive X TBW a year and maintain performance. This figure factors in that you might fill and empty the drive repeatedly in the lifespan of the drive over and over (at Data centers or tiered backups for example). The higher the number, the better. Generally, you will fin standard NAS hard drives are 180TBW, Pro series are 300TBW and Enterprise-class HDDs are 550TBW or higher.

Magnetic Recording – This is the process of how data is applied to the platters on the disk. In recent years we have seen 5 types of recording rise to the top of NAS hard drive usage. SMR (Shingled Magnetic recording – the least popular). PMR/CMR (Perpendicular/conventional Magnetic Recording – by far the most popular and well known), EAMR (Energy Assisted Magnetic Recording – WD are using this in their much MUCH larger drives) and HAMR (Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording – Seagate are using this is THERE larger capacities). Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, but if in doubt, always go for PMR/CMR NAS hard drives.

Warranty Length – This is the length of time the manufacturer will provide a replacement/repair on your NAS hard drive in the event of it failing through no fault of your own. Generally ranging from 3-5years.

And there you have it. Those are the terms you should probably know in order to choose the best NAS hard drive for your system. So, let’s take a closer look at different NAS hardware Environments and recommend the best NAS hard drive for each.

Best Hard Drives for a Small NAS Drive – WD Red & WD Red Plus

1-14TB, 5400/7200RPM, 64-512MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, WD Red 1-6TB (SMR), WD Red Plus 1-14TB (CMR) $50-400  

If you are looking to populate a compact, modest powered, desktop NAS system (so a 1-Bay or 2-Bay NAS drive), then you have quite a large range of Hard Drives on offer. It is worth highlighting though that larger and more enterprise drives (i.e faster and longer warranty) will be noticeably noisier. Additionally, you will need to factor in that your maximum storage is going to be capped at either a single drive OR (in a 2-Bay NAS with RAID 1)  your storage halved to maintain redundancy. Fianlly, you will need to factor in that most 2-Bay NAS devices will either have a smaller external network connection (1/2.5Gbe) or are not really capable of saturating a full connection externally. So, baring these factors in mind, I would recommend the WD Red series of NAS hard drives for small NAS systems. They do not typically have more aggressive hardware internally, so the ambient noise when these drives are running will be remarkably low.

Sound Test Video Live Soon (Below)

The performance, due to the lower rotations per minute (RPM) and cache might not seem spectacularly high, but in a 1-Bay or 2-Bay NAS, you likely could not push much performance externally anyway, so why spend much more on something that in most cases you will not be able to take advantage of. Be warned though, as you reach the much higher capacities above 8TB, the general background noise of the drives will increase incrementally.

+ Affordable Price Tag

+ Low Noise and Power Consumption in 24×7 Use

+ Good base level of Capacities Available

– Some Drive feature Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR)

– Performance is fairly average in the smaller capacities

 

 

Best Hard Drives for a RAID 5 Desktop 4-Bay NAS – Toshiba N300

4-16TB, 7200RPM, 128-512MB Cache, 180 TBW, 3yr Warranty, 1-1.2M MTBF Rating $250-450  

A 4-Bay NAS drive is generally when home and small/medium business users start to take their storage seriously. There are such a wide variety of hardware options that arrive at this storage tier, ranging from powerful Intel/AMD processors and DDR4 memory, to 10Gbe and PCIe upgrades. This arrives with the utility if RAID 5, that allows users to have a much larger potential capacity and performance, but still have a single drive of redundancy to fall back on in the event of drive failure. At this degree of NAS storage, you have a much greater potential to not only largely saturate a 10Gbe connection, but alternatively, you can also look into installing 2.5Gbe and 5Gbe upgrades and fill multiple plus gigabit connections directly or via a switch.  In order to maximize this connection, but to also not max out your budget, I recommend the Toshiba N300 range of Hard Drives. Although they are a brand that is generally held commercially in the 3rd place when it comes to NAS media drives, their N300 range arrives at a similar/lower price point than Seagate Ironwolf and WD Red, but also arrives with 7200RPM on all capacities, with the lowest capacity arriving with 128MB caching and scaling up to 256MB quickly in the series. The increase in RPM will increase the background clicks, hums and whirs of the drive, but at 4-Bays, this is something that the NAS enclosure itself will begin to generate too. A high performing and often overlooked drive that, at the top capacity, can hit performance of up to 274MB/s.

+ Well Priced for a 7200RPM and 128/256/512 Cache Drive

+ Available in up to 16TB

+ Error Recovery Control

– Will Generate More Noise at 7200RPM

– Not As Widely Available

 

 

Best Hard Drives for a RAID 6 Desktop 6/8-Bay NAS – Seagate Ironwolf

1-12TB, 5900-7200RPM, 64-256MB Cache, 180TBW, 3yr Warranty, Rescue Data Recovery Services Included $50-480  

For those that are looking at a NAS server for business, or are home users that have made the enterprising move into the Prosumer bracket, then a 6-Bay or 8-Bay desktop NAS solution will become incredibly attractive. At this storage tier, we find a number of very cool and incredibly useful features become more widely available. For a start, we find the utility of RAID 6 (the 2 disk safety net configuration) much more palatable, as it makes less of a dent on our total available storage. Additionally, at this storage size, we start to see much more powerful processors, such as the Intel Core (i3, i5, etc) series arrive, AMD Ryzen and even Xeons. This combined with huge expandability of both memory internally and storage externally and generally with 10Gbe included as standard or available as an upgrade. So, at this scale of NAS storage, the hard drive choice becomes more important, as you do not want to create an internal bottleneck. For this tier of storage, I recommend the Seagate Ironwolf range of NAS drives. They arrive with a large number of 7200RM drives (with 5400RPM in the smaller capacities), a 180 terabytes per year guaranteed workload and the Seagate Rescue service. For those that are not aware, the Seagate Rescue+ package is a data recovery service that is included with your Ironwolf and Ironwolf Pro drives that, alongside your 3 year warranty, includes an additional 3 years of data recovery services.

What that means is that if your drive fails through no fault of your own within reason (so, no, not smashing it with a hammer), you can send the drive off to the Seagate recovery labs and they will try to get that data back. From accidental deletion, all the way through to mechanical and forensic level recovery, this is an impressive inclusion! You should still factor other safety nets in your architecture (backups, UPS, RAID, etc) but given the cost of data recovery services (costing anything from hundreds to thousands of pounds), this is a very, VERY useful inclusion when you need it. Additionally, Seagate Ironwolf hard drives sill manage to be the most affordable NAS drives on the market compared with their competitors, even when including the Rescue recovery included. They are also the only 3rd party NAS hard drive brand that has a tool to monitor drive health available on practically ALL the NAS software GUIs in the market, in Seagate Ironwolf Health Management.

+ Excellent Price Point

+ Rescue Data Recovery Services

+ Seagate Ironwolf Health Management

+ ONLY CMR/PMR Drives in their NAS Range

– Max Drive Capacity is 12TB

 

 

Best Hard Drives for a Small Rackmount NAS – WD Red Pro

2-18TB, 7200RPM, 128-512MB Cache, 300TBW, 5yr Warranty $99-600  

Now we move onto the Rackmount NAS compatible hard drives, we have to start looking squarely at two main factors – Performance and Durability. If you are a business or established Prosumer user, then chances are that your NAS system is going to be used for a much larger % per day than most average users. Whether it is for surveillance, virtual machines, business file-sharing or just a combination of all of them every day, you want drives that are going to give you a good level of performance internally AND externally. Likewise, as the hard drives in even a modest rackmount NAS will be on for extended periods, you need to know that the drive can maintain the promising performance indefinitely AND without braking. This is where we start to look at specifications such as TBW (Terabytes Written), Mean time between failure, workload cycles and the warranty in more detail. For those looking at 10Gbe equipped or at least ’10Gbe Ready’ modest rackmount systems, I would recommend the WD Red Pro series of compatible NAS hard drives. Generally, one of the first Pro series NAS hard drives to arrive on the market, the WD Red Pro series is designed for NAS systems up to 24Bays and is available up to 18TB currently.

Sound Test Video Live Soon (Below)

Although certainly a noticeable degree louder in general noise level, you won’t hear it over the rackmount NAS anyway! Additionally, the WD Red Pro series using a similar degree of construction to the Ultrastar series, so you have fantastically enterprise drive that using helium seal technology to maintain optimal efficiency and all capacities feature a 300TB a year workload, over 5 years.

Certainly one of the most expensive NAS HDDs out there, but provides a very good level of storage, performance, durability and overall is a very dependable drive for SMB users (Small/Medium Business) that want a drive they can rely on.

+ Top Tier NAS Drive Performance

+ 300TB/Y Workload

+ Build for up to 24-Bay Servers

– Certainly Noiser than non-Pro equivalents

– More Expensive than the Seagate Pro Option

 

 

Best Hard Drives for an SMB Rackmount NAS 12-Bay – Seagate Ironwolf Pro

4-18TB, 7200RPM, 256MB Cache, 300 TBW, 5yr Warranty, Rescue Data Recovery Services Included $80-560  

When it comes to the move into Rackmount storage for businesses (novices stop here) then not only do you have to only consider Pro/Enterprise-class drives only, but you can also start to look at drives that include certain business level advantages in terms of coverage and service. Much like the non-PRO series of hard drives mentioned earlier, the Seagate Ironwolf Pro series of HDDs include the Rescue+ data recovery services but also includes an impressive 5 years of the manufacturers warranty. However, it is in terms of performance, capacity and durability that the difference between these two ranges become apparent. For a start, the Ironwolf Pro HDD range arrives in capacities of up to 18TB (20TB promised for later in 2021 thanks to Energy Assisted Magnetic Recording), with ALL drives in the PRO range arriving with 7200RPM and 256/512MB of cache. The result is that these drives will hit up to an impressive 260MB/s, which even in smaller RAID 5 groups will easily saturate a 10Gb connection with just 4-5 drives.

In recent years we have seen Seagate reshuffle their range of available capacities to align the capacities from 1-12TB to arrive in the standard Ironwolf range and Capacities of up to 18TB and 20TB to arrive on the PRO series (likely due to those larger capacity options requiring the more enterprise hardware as standard and making a non-PRO version impossible without purposely nerf’ing the lesser drives intentionally. There is crossover in 4-12TB models in between, however, the distinction in RPM, cache, build design and TBW rating is wide enough to justify this. The noise level of the Ironwolf HDD series in PRO is noticeable higher, but given these are designed for larger arrays, this noise increase will be less noticeable over the ambient noise of the whole system generally.

+ Excellent Price Point vs Ironwolf NON-Pro in the Portfolio

+ Rescue Data Recovery Services

+ Seagate Ironwolf Health Management

+ ONLY CMR/PMR Drives in their NAS Range

– Smallest Drive Capacity is 4TB

– Noticable Boot Up Noise

 

 

Best Hard Drives for an Enterprise Rackmount NAS Server – Seagate EXOS

1-18TB, 72000RPM, 256-512MB Cache, SAS & SATA Options, 550 TBW, 5yr Warranty, $80-460   

Now we finally move into the class of hard drive that is more classically defined at ‘Data Center’ and/or Hyperscale environments. Often choosing between a PRO class and Enterprise-class drive can be ticky at a glance. However, Pro class drives generally arrive with a much longer terabytes written rating per year (ie the amount of data that can be written to the drive throughout its lifespan per annum), arrive in numerous interfaces (so both SAS and SATA generally) and typically arrive with numerous format and encryption standard versions available. These are available because some industries and organizations insist on drive media that features in-built protection and secure erase on the drive itself. Of all the enterprise and data centre-class media in the market, I generally recommend the Seagate EXOS series for any hyper scale system environment. They are very, VERY closely followed by the Western Digital UltraStar class of drives, but the Seagate EXOS series is a little clearer to understand, has larger capacity options available earlier, will hopefully release Mach2 version drives in 2021 (dual actuator/arm SATA drives at 400MB/s+) and generally arrive a pinch lower in price too in like-for-like comparisons against the Ultrastar.

Sound Test Video Live Soon (Below)

Recent changes by Synology in their newest 2021 series of rackmounts systems to ONLY support their own range of HDD media has led to their own drives featuring on their own respective hardware, so make sure to check that your intended NAS rackmount system supports Seagate EXOS drives before you head to checkout!

+ Huge Range of Architecture Options (FIPS, Military Encryp, 4KN, SED, SAS and more)

+ Constantly Evolving (Mach 2 versions, x14, x16 & x18 etc)

+ Comparatively Lower in Price vs Ultrastar

– Range Can Be Confusing

– Noisy!

 

 

Best Hard Drives for a Business Synology NAS – Synology HAT5300

8-16TB, 7200RPM, 256/512MB Cache, 550TBW, 5yr Warranty, Synology System ONLY, Firmware Control on Synology DSM $250-450  

Arriving on the scene in Jan 2021, the Synology branded range of Hard drives for enterprise server use took ALOT of people by surprise! Synology has always had a long-standing reputation with the production of network-attached storage, so in efforts to produce a complete first-party storage system that includes the software, the network hardware AND the media inside is very what their brand has been all about. In their defence too, these are not just cash-grab drives and are in-fact enterprise-class drives that are being priced at PRO series drives (so an Ultrastar/EXOS drive that is at the price tag of a WD Red or Ironwolf Pro). The drives themselves arrive (at launch anyway) with just three capacities available (8TB, 12TB and 16TB) and the architecture of them is quite eye-catching. A 550TBW per year rating, a 2.5Million MTTF, 256/512MB cache and performance ranging across the capacities from 230MB/s to a reported 270MB/s+. The drives are originally Toshiba M06/07/08 Enterprise drives that have a tweaked Synology NAS firmware onboard, so they are geared specifically towards utilization inside the Synology ecosystem. You can even check and upgrade the individual drive firmware directly from with the Synology DSM graphical user interface too, which is quite a unique and convenient feature for those larger arrays with differing drive versions being installed throughout your server’s lifespan.

 

It is worth remembering however that the Synology HAT5300 range of NAS hard drives can ONLY be used in the Synology NAS hardware portfolio. Using them in other systems will likely result in your warranty coverage being invalid as you are using them in a configuration unsupported by Synology.

 

The move towards hard drive locking by Synology is something that has impressed some and disappointed others – but if you were going to be installing drive media inside a NAS system for business anyway, then ultimately these are still a very solid and well-performing product for you.

+ Enterprise Drives at a PRO class Price

+ 550TBW on ALL Capacities

+ Drive Firmware can be Updated from within the Synology DSM GUI

– Using them in not Synology NAS Hardware is not Supported

– Performance is a pinch lower than WD Red Pro (5-15MB/s)

 

 

Best Hard Drives for a Business QNAP NAS – WD Ultrastar

1-18TB, 7200RPM, 256-512MB Cache, 550TBW, 5yr Warranty, FIPS and SED Options, SATA, SAS and U.2 NVMe SSD Options $70-550  

Finally, we move onto possibly the most well known of the enterprise-class of Hard Drives on the market. When it comes to data center and hyper-scale storage environments, Western Digital’s UltraStar range has the same reputation and long-running recognition as IBM has in the computer industry. They have been the go-to drive media of choice in the huge storage environment’s for years, thanks in large part to the fact they have been designed, developed and improved at the same time as the systems they were going into. In recent years, competitors have taken chunks of the market from them (as they are a larger and slightly slower behemoth to suddenly change tactic) and feature larger product runs that have to last extensive lengths of time to facilitate data center replacement media as needed. Nevertheless, in recent years the Ultrastar brand under WD has diversified hugely and alongside the popular WD Gold label has branched into a vast array of interface types, form factors, media variants and scales. Typically the first drive series to crack into a new capacity tier (the first to crack 20TB too).

Sound Test Video Live Soon (Below)

The Ultrastar series of hard drives will often be compared against the WD Red Pro range of NAS hard drives when considering populating a server. It is worth remembering that the Ultrastar series is designed for both a higher performance AND a much more enduring performance – i.e it can maintain that level, as well as switch between processes, for much longer. Indeed in testing, the Ultrastar even features a much higher Read and Write performance than pretty much any other drive that peaks as high as 280MB/s in our ATTO DiskBenchmark testing below with just a single HDD. Even the IOs (IOPS_ went as high as 19,000, which although low when compared with modern high-end SSDs, for a single HDD is really impressive).

The drives themselves are fantastically dull in appearance of course, as one might expect from the enterprise tier and also feature quite an aggressive spin up noise. However, in much larger scale environments, you will almost certainly not hear the drive media over the ambient system fan noise. Overall still an oldie but a goodie!

+ Consistently High Performance

+ Well Establish HDD Drive and Brand

+ Numerous Interfaces, in-Drive Encryption Systems and Choices

– DEFINITELY one of the most confusing product ranges

– Noticeably Noisy at boot

 

 

 

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle

Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

 

 

 

 

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today’s video. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

 

]]>
https://nascompares.com/2021/02/16/best-hard-drives-for-nas-get-it-right-first-time-2021-edition/feed/ 241 45726
The Synology DS216+II vs NVR216 for Surveillance – Is it worth paying more for the Best IP Camera setup? https://nascompares.com/2017/07/19/the-synology-ds216ii-vs-nvr216-for-surveillance-is-it-worth-paying-more-for-the-best-ip-camera-setup/ Wed, 19 Jul 2017 19:50:26 +0000 http://nascompares.com/?p=8896 The DS216+II vs NVR216 – Dedicated Surveillance NAS versus Versatile Multi-Purpose NAS, which should you Buy for your CCTV IP Camera Setup?

 Whether you are buying your first, second or 10th NAS, chances are that you have considered buying a Synology NAS server. Most people use smaller 2-Bay NAS boxes for everything from Backups, Apple Time Machine and Plex, all the way through to more technical jobs like Web Servers, Virtualisation and an Office CMS and operating platform. But whether you buy the smallest Synology NAS or the biggest most powerful Synology NAS, one common feature that all their network attached storage servers have is the ability to tun as a Surveillance solution. Simply by installing relatively inexpensive IP Cameras in your home or office, your NAS can find these on your internal network and they give you full, 24×7, worldwide access to them.

7. Synology NVR Server NVR216 Synology Surveillance NAS HDMI Deck

Also your NAS will arrive with Synology Surveillance Station software – a FREE yet fully featured and advanced Surveillance CCTV platform to record, monitor and action an entire CCTV camera operation – multi-camera feed, e-mail and SMS alerts, motion and heat capture, time logs, zoom, camera motion control and more. It is not hard to see the appeal of a NAS for a Surveillance platform. However knowing that almost ALL synology NAS have a CCTV network platform hardly narrows down your search, does it!

Should I buy a NAS for just surveillance or a mixture of network storage tasks?

More often than not, home users, small shop owners and SMB users will end up choosing a 2-Bay or 4-Bay Synology NAS in 2017, due to the good balance of storage options and price. If we focus on the 2-Bay Synology NAS today, as it is the constant between each user group, then most home and business users will find that they are trying to make the choice between two particular NAS devices from the middle of the 2017 NAS available. the Surveillance dedicated Synology NVR216 and the all-rounder Synology DS216+II. Both are excellent NAS devices and more over can both be purchased from the NAS experts at  Amazon. Both NAS servers fall into that sweet spot for price, of around £250-300 pounds, and below are their specs (in brief):

Synology NVR216 NAS

The Synology NVR216 NAS 10th Generation Network Attached Storage Server

Synology DS216+II NAS

The Synology DS216+II NAS 10th Generation Network Attached Storage Server

32Bit Embedded NVR SoC, Dual Core 1.0GHz

1GB DDR3 Memory

2x HDD / SSD Bays

2x USB 2.0

1x RJ45 LAN

1x eSATA

1x HDMI

64Bit Intel Celeron N3060, Dual Core 1.6 burst up to 2.48 GHz

1GB DDR3 Memory

2x HDD / SSD Bays

1x USB 3.0

2x USB 2.0

1x RJ45 LAN

1x eSATA

3 Years of Warranty 2 Years of Warranty

What are the differences between the DS216+II and the NVR216? How do they compare?

In order to work out which device is better suited to your needs, I have broken down the key differences between the two. On the face of it, it may appear that the NVR216 is the weaker choice, but that is because of it focusing on one key job rather than many.

What is the price difference between the DS216+II and the NVR216?

What is the cost of a good nas das san. jpg Straight away, this is a key point for many on a shoe string budget, once you purchase the Synology NAS, you still need to buy NAS Hard Drives and IP Cameras. SO for many, they£50 price difference between them will be a big, big decision maker. But you need to look a little closer at the camera licences. Every Synology NAS arrives with Camera licences in different numbers. So, the number of cameras you can use for free with the Synology Surveillance station will be different depending on the unit. if you want more cameras on your Synology NAS, then you will need to buy additional camera licences. Likewise the maximum number of cameras that each NAS can support at a single time can also differ greatly.

Synology NVR216 £290+ ex.VAT 4 Camera licences (or 9 Max)

Synology DS216+II £240 ex.VAT2 Licences (but upto 25x)

This is down to the CPU and the Memory (much less so) inside the NAS. That is why we see that the dedicated surveillance NAS, though arriving with more licences, can only support upto a maximum 9 Cameras (due to it having a rather light ARM Dual Core 1.0GHz CPU). Whereas the synology only arrives with a couple of camera licences, as it is an all round NAS box), but the Intel x86 CPU is a Dual-Core 1.6-2.3GHz CPU and can therefore handle many more visual inputs and handle the reading and write of data to a larger degree. However it should also be added that if you wanted to operate more than 8-12 Cameras, that you should buy at least a 4-Bay NAS as you will use up your storage space 8 to 10 times quicker.

Why do I have to pay for Synology Camera licences, can I not get more free camera licenses?

There is a lot of debate about NAS vendors like Synology and QNAP and camera licences and whether it is a bit of a con. I tend to think it is pretty fair. The argument is as follows. The surveillance station software is pretty adept and featured (rivaling the likes of Milestone certainly) and Synology offer this software to all NAS users for FREE. However it has to be accepted that the software is going to be used by some people ALOT more than others. Someone buying a NAS for a Plex Media Server and a bit of Apple Time Machine backing up is probably not gonna use the Surveillance aspect much, at least not at first. So they have a couple of camera licences for free.

how_to_set_up_cameras_surveillance_Station

A dedicated surveillance NAS user will buy a Surveillance NAS and those arrive with from 4 to 9 Camera licences included for free. However the software still have to be stable, it has lots of firmware updates to make it better and more current, it needs to be constantly network and internet accessible, needs to be able to SMS, email or push alerts to users as quickly as possible and a number of users will use surveillance software like this to bolster internal security or keep insurance costs down. Therefore for those users who intend to use the Synology Surveillance station software to a much fuller extend, with many, many more cameras are asked to contribute – in the form of Camera Licences. I accept it can annoy some people, but I really do see the logic. Below are links to where to buy the Synology Surveillance IP Camera Licences at the best possible price (and in bulk if needed)

Synology Camera Licence Surveillance NAS

Should I buy the Synology NVR1218 or the Synology NVR216

nvr1218Of course the Synology NVR216 is not the only Surveillance NAS available from Synology. Alongside the NVR216 (available in both 4-CH for 4 Camera Licenses and 9CH for 9 Camera Licences) is the newer 2017 and 2018 Surveillance series 2-Bay, the Synology NVR1218. Should you buy the NVR216 or go for the newer NVR1218? Well it all comes down once again to prices. The hardware inside is not a whole lot different and both units arrive with the same Surveillance Station software (updated regularly and on both) and the newer unit is a little more expensive. THis is due to that slightly improved CPU and the fact it arrives with support for upto 12 Cameras with 12 Camera licences included. Of course, this does come at a price and therefore unless you intend to utilise 12 cameras within 6-12 months of it’s first deployment, it might be best to buy the NVR216.

Synology NVR216 VS DS216+II – Which has the better hardware and how does that effect power?

amd versus intel CPU NAS NVR216 uses significantly less power, thanks to a low power Dual Core 1.0GHz CPU and just 14.14W whilst being accessed, with well over 18W from the DS216+II. This is also factored into operation temperature and noise – lower on the NVR216. So from a cursory look, it does seem to be the better choice for surveillance and making as smaller footprint on your life as possible. However, I cannot stress this enough – If you need a NAS for more than surveillance – skip the NVR216 and go for the DS216+II, it is for network and standalone surveillance ONLY. If you have even a 20% interest in other network Storage applications, go for the DS216+II. They may have a very familiar chassis on both, but have taken a very different path in terms of their versatility. What the Synology NVR216 provides in network CCTV and Surveillance station is unquestionably awesome, which the NVR216 featuring an HDMI port, plus Keyboard and mouse Support (something only about 1 in 50 Synology NAS devices actually have), so it can be operated completely standalone. Attach a HDMI Monitor/TV, along with any USB Keyboard and Mouse and you have a surveillance solution that can be accessed over the internet and network, BUT ALSO directly from under a counter in a shop, on your desk, or in your entertainment centre to be flicked to between episodes of Game of Thrones and House of Cards.

Why do most Synology NAS servers never have HDMI input?

HDMI is a feature that rarely arrives on a synology and unsurprisingly the Synology DS216+II does NOT include it, so it is pretty much NETWORK ONLY with nod to USB storage connectivity for external HDD storage. However after that, everything else seems to swing towards the DS216+II NAS. It just does so much more for your money. The Synology NVR216 is the NAS you choose if security is paramount (small shops, SMB, Easy to deploy CCTV NAS solution to deploy on site, at gigs or events to access IP Cameras throughout your area of coverage). But the Synology DS216+II is the NAS you buy if you are interested in things other than Surveillance for your NAS or want a NAS for Media/backups etc but also want to run a couple of cameras on the side to justify buying it.

What are the best Hard Drives for Surveillance NAS Servers?

NAS HDD are 24×7, RAID suited, variable Read and Write HDD, built for sporadic ease of access. Surveillance HDD are also 24×7 and RAID Suited, however are geared towards much heavier write than read (cameras spend 95% time recording and footage accessed 5%). Go for Surveillance Drives in your NVR216 and Red in your DS216+II. If you are buying the DS216+II For Surveillance But Plan On Doing Other Stuff Later, Go Purple/Skyhawk as you should chiefly consider your primary goal

WD Purple 4TB Surveillance HDD

WD Purple 3.5 Inch Surveillance

Seagate SkyHawk Surveillance 4TB HDD

The Seagate 10tb Skyhawk Surveillance for CCTV and NVR and NVR g

WD Purple 10TB Surveillance HDD

WD Purple 8TB Surveillance Hard Drives for CCTV

Seagate SkyHawk Surveillance 10TB HDD

The Seagate 10tb Skyhawk Surveillance for CCTV and NVR and NVR g

How much are IP Cameras, which is best for Synology NAS for Surveillance?

I have tested a lot of IP Cameras over the last few years and often the issue is one of firmware. As mentioned, the Surveillance Station software from synology is updated very often and about once a year, a whole new 2.0, 3.0, etc version gets released. WHereas a number of IP Camera makers only provide rudimentary firmware updates for their range. Therefore it can often happen that the camera is compatible with synology NAS for a while, then one day you lose the ability to pan/tilt, record at the same FPS or even lose access completely. Therefore in the interests of long-term investment, it makes sense to buy from a IP Camera company that produces lots of updates (and has a customer care / support line). I have found that Reolink IP Cameras for wired and POE IP Cameras for your Surveillance NAS setup has the best success rate from home and SMB use all the way upto Enterprise use. Below are the cameras i recommend for each kind of Surveillance use (indoors, outdoors, WiFi, POE, Battery, Nightvision, etc).

The-Reolink-Argus-Wireless-NAS-IP-Camera-for-Synology-and-QNAP

Best Budget IP Camera

£60 The Reolink Argus

The-Reolink-C2-NAS-IP-Camera-for-Synology-and-QNAP

Recommended best IP Camera for my Home

£70 The Reolink C2

The-Reolink-C1-NAS-IP-Camera-for-Synology-and-QNAP

Recommended Best Budget IP Camera for Indoors

£65 The Reolink C1

The-Reolink-RLC-423-NAS-IP-Camera

Recommended best IP Camera for my Business and Enterprise NAS Server

£199 The Reolink RLC-423

The-Reolink-RLC-411WS-NAS-IP-Camera-for-Synology-and-QNAP

Best Mains/Plug powered IP Camera for Synology Surveillance Station

£100 The Reolink RLC-411WS

The-Reolink-RLC-410WS-NAS-IP-Camera-for-Synology-and-QNAP

Recommended best Wifi /Wireless IP Camera for Synology NAS and Surveillance Station

£79 The Reolink RLC-410WS

The-Reolink-RLC-410-NAS-IP-Camera-for-Synology-and-QNAP

Recommended best Ethernet/LAN based IP Camera to use with your Synology NAS server

£59 The Reolink RLC-410

The-Reolink-RLC-422-NAS-IP-Camera-for-Synology-and-QNAP

Recommended best POE IP Camera for my Synology NAS Surveillance

£80 The Reolink RLC-422

Does it make a difference which Keyboard and Mouse I buy for my Synology Surveillance NAS?

Any windows or Mac compatible USB Keyboard or Mouse be used by the NVR216. With the DS216+II you can use the input devices of the machine you are accessing the Synology with over the internet or network, but keyboard and mice are pretty useless with the device locally. Below are two incredible basic keyboard and mouse combos that I have used with the NVR216 that work 100% perfectly.

NAS Keyboard and mouse Surveillance Synology

$10 Verbatim Slimline Corded USB Keyboard and Mouse

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle

Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

  ]]>
8896
What is the Difference between NAS Hard-Drives and Standard Hard-Drives? Is it all a Big Con? https://nascompares.com/2017/09/08/what-is-the-difference-between-nas-hard-drives-and-standard-hard-drives-is-it-all-a-big-con/ Fri, 08 Sep 2017 00:10:48 +0000 http://nascompares.com/?p=9214 Why do we need different kinds of hard drives – why not make just one kind for all?

Choosing between SHR and RAID on my Synology NAS with Hard Drive Media Hard drives are not exactly new technology. They have existed in one form or another for over 20 years in the consumer market, all the time getting bigger in capacity and smaller in physical design. That should not come as a surprise to any of you. Such is the way of technology that no sooner have we got used to the way things are, then a brand of manufacturer will turn around and bung on a new connector, introduce a faster and more expensive version, or worse, the entire industry changes it’s mind overnight and all our old technology becomes useless. Most tech buyers feel like ships in the sea, at the whim of the sea and it’s currents.

seagate hdd and wd hdd in nas or desktop pc logo

However in data storage, one of the biggest upsets came a few years ago in the rise of Network Attached Storage (NAS) when two of the biggest HDD brands, Seagate and Western Digital, announced they were releasing a series of NAS server tailored Hard Drives. Moreover, they were telling people who it was bad to populate your Synology NAS or QNAP NAS with ordinary desktop hard drives – which was odd, because the week before it was fine! Now in 2017, the market as a whole seems to have accepted this as a fact – however there are a still a few of you out there that are still unconvinced. Is the ‘NAS HDD’ badge just a big con to make you pay more for drives? Are they just the same hard disk drives with a different sticker on them? More importantly, will it actually damage your NAS or your data to use bog standard hard drives in your 2 or 4 Bay NAS server device? And why hasn’t the data storage industry just made 1 kind of hard drive that is perfect for EVERYTHING?!?!?! Let’s discuss.

Why should I have to choose between Standard Hard Drives and NAS Designed Hard Drives?

How many files can I put on a hard drive Before we get down to the nitty-gritty of what makes certain hard drives different, it is worth highlighting that we are going to focus on WD Red NAS hard drives, WD Blue Desktop Hard drives, Seagate Ironwolf NAS Hard drives and finally, Seagate Barracuda Desktop Hard drives. There are of course others available (Toshiba NAS HDD, HGST Deskstar NAS, etc) but it will be better to make like-for-like comparisons. I should probably lay my cards on the table early on, I DO NOT believe NAS hard drives are a con. Aftering using, testing and on a few occasions, repairing hard drives of both NAS and Standard drives, I am confident that they are very different drives. Moreover I can see the reasoning for different drives being specialised to different tasks rather than 1 drive for everything. For a start the drive would be insanely expensive to be able to fluctuate between tasks. Take a look below at some typical examples of Hard Drive use:

  • Surveillance – HEAVY writing of data, but less than 1% reading of data. Kept in a RAID array.
  • NAS – Mixed Read and Write, but left of for days, weeks and months at a time. Normally in a RAID
  • Desktop PC – Mixed Read and Write, but only on for hours at a time. Single Drive use.
  • Cold storage – Idle for most of the time, but when accessed, requiring enormously fast response and speed. As well as in some cases requiring temperature protection. NOrmally in drive numbers of 12, 24 or higher RAID arrays
  • Data Centers – CONSTANT read and Write, as well as a SAS 12GB/s connection and in multiple drive arrays

Is there one kind of Hard Drive that is good for EVERYTHING?

Just those 5 Hard Drive uses alone (and there are hundreds more HDD applications) would result in a drive that would need to be insanely rugged, an on-board controller equivalent to a dual-core x86 CPU, a fan to keep it and the CPU cool, a warranty of at least 5 years, a connection that suited SATA, SAS and PCIe, and a whole extra small chassis to put it in! In case you are wondering, this Super-hero Hard Drive exists. It is called the OCZ RevoDrive. However it costs over £1 a gigabyte (current drives are less than 2-3 pence/cents a GB) so £1000+ for a terabyte. Result, no one wanted it because it was expensive, power exhausting and awkward as hell.

Thunderbolt 2 NAS different kinds of storage HDD SSD M.2 and PCIe

So, I hope you see why the need for individually tailored hard-drives is important and required. Still not convinced? Ok. Here is an easier way. Go into your kitchen and open the cutlery drawer. Look at all that cutlery! Big spoons, small spoons, bread knifes, Steak knives (if you are posh), dinner knives… you already have different tools for different jobs! You could have 1 tool for ALL of those tasks (a swiss army knife perhaps), but you would need at least 1 or 2 per person – wouldn’t that be more expensive? Wouldn’t it seem clumsy to use for ice cream AND steak?! Sure you can get by on the rare occasion using the wrong tool for the job (we have ALL attempted to open a pack of plasters with a bread knife) but it is hardly safe, stable or sensible. I am gonna move away form the subject of cutlery before I get too bogged down – but you get the point.

hard drive failure rates with backblaze

NAS Hard Drives Vs Regular Hard Drives Which is safer for my data?

 Choosing which drive is safer for your data is purely based on the environment that you are going to use it in. Using a regular hard drive in NAS RAID array is not advised. Notwithstanding that a NAS can be on for days at a time (whereas a the desktop PC that a regular hard drive is designed for is only on for hours in a single day and not designed to withstand the heat, vibration and sporadic read write, instant spin up via LAN/internet), there is the question of RAID.

knowing the difference between raid and raid

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) means that several drives are installed in a NAS or DAS device and seen as 1 giant drive to your connecting host device. Data is spread across the multiple drives and choosing the right RAID can save your bacon if a drive breaks/fails. However the RAID configuration only works if the drives in use are stable and desktop drives are NOT designed for RAID 5 and more, so you could risk data loss very early on or have a RAID that runs incredibly slowly/inefficiently because the drives are not designed to be working in a group. So, just remember:

  • In a NAS, use NAS Hard Drives (duh!)
  • In a Desktop PC, use ordinary drives
  • In any situation where there is RAID, use a NAS Hard Drive#
  • In any situation that requires CONSTANT read/write access, use an enterprise HDD or Enterprise NAS HDD

Which is more expensive? Normal Hard Drives or NAS Hard Drives?

Hard Drive Cost Per Gigabyte

An interesting myth about NAS hard drives and Ordinary Hard drives is about the price. Namely that NAS hard drives are a con to make us spend more money. Well good news. That is NONSCENCE! The price different between NAS and ordinary Hard drives is less than 1-2% in most cases and (rather surprisingly) not always in the favour of NAS drives. Only in the case of the very latest releases (where early adopters may pay a little more towards research and development) will you find the price difference being any wider. Even then it is never higher than 8-9%. The myth that NAS drives are more expensive is based on the reaction at the time of release when the development of NAS hard drives was still comparatively experimental.

Hard Drive Cost Per Gigabyte 2017 2018

Therefore, as highlighted earlier, their price factored in the research and development of this new kind of NAS hard drive. Of course this was relatively short-lived and now the drive prices have leveled substantially. So, yes, on the whole NAS Hard Drives are more expensive, but by no means at a threshold that should prohibit buying them. The Additional handful of pounds, dollars or euro that they cost is more than recouped in the extra year warranty, larger cache, greater meantime between failure (MTBF) and NAS tailored firmware onboard (controlling vibration, heat, power use and more) meaning that to populate your NAS with a NAS designed drive is actually BETTER value than using ordinary drives.

Which uses more Power? Ordinary Hard Drives or NAS Hard Drives?

There are actually two ways to look at power consumption with a hard drive. Much like any household item’s electricity consumption or a road vehicle fuel consumption, power is consumed at different rates at start-up and at sustained use. So in a like for like PC start-up and use situation, ordinary hard drives will use less power, by around 30%. However (and most Hard Drive manufacturers will highlight this fact, but leave out the 2nd bit), in a NAS Server 24×7 situation, NAS hard drives will use less power BECAUSE they have better control of idle time. A NAS may be on for 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, but it is not always accessed.

nas power consumption wd blue power

The result is that in these quiet time between access, the NAS and NAS Hard drives will reduce spin and power access to idle mode. In this mode, power consumption drops drastically to below a watt. IN ordinary hard drives, the idle switch is much different and though they have a similar automatic switch, it does not dip as low. Nor does it spin back up as fast as a NAS Hard drive. The result is more power being used on the whole over a day or weekly environment – exactly how a NAS behaves. So, in a NAS environment, a NAS Hard disk will consume less power. But in traditional 1 disc PC desktop use – a normal Hard disk is fine for the best power consumed.

Which is better for sustained, on-going use? Regular Desktop Hard Drives or NAS Hard Drives?

hard drive in a NAS array Possibly the most important factor in choosing between a traditional all round standard hard drive and a NAS drive is sustainability, durability and longevity. This is another point that is based around the usage of the drive. In a like for like comparison, the NAS Hard Drives will certainly last longer if both are left on indefinitely – once again that’s to the 24×7 nature and sporadic access resistance of their firmware and physical build. However, further from that there is the fact that traditional basic desktop hard drives generally arrive with 2 years of manufacturers warranty (e.g. WD Blue and Seagate Barracuda), where as NAS hard drives for the most part arrive with minimum 3 years of manufacturers warranty (WD Red and Seagate Ironwolf) and even arrive in professional enterprise versions too with an even more rugged and durable design. These drives arrive with 5 years of manufacturers warranty. Last point to factor in is regarding RAID again. If you end up with drives running in a RAID environment, you should not think that adding more drives equals more safety. In terms of the % of the drive failing, you are actually increasing the likelihood – as RAID results in drives working a little harder and being on for longer.

nas hdd v normal hdd

The hard drive uses a marker known as MTBF – Mean Time between Failure. MTBF (mean time between failures) is a measure of how reliable a hardware product or component is. For most components, the measure is typically in thousands or even tens of thousands of hours between failures. For example, a hard disk drive may have a mean time between failures of 300,000 hours. A desired MTBF can be used as a quantifiable objective when designing a new product. The MTBF figure can be developed as the result of intensive testing, based on actual product experience, or predicted by analyzing known factors. The manufacturer may provide it as an index of a product’s or component’s reliability and, in some cases, to give customers an idea of how much service to plan for. The MTBF on a WD Red is considerably higher/longer at 1,000,000 hours.

What is the recommended standard Hard Drives?

So now you know the key differences between regular hard drives and the NAS hard drives, as well as their best intended usages. What about which drives to go for? Well although there are a large number of Hard Disk manufacturers out there, we at NASCompares recommend sticking with the Western Digital and Seagate hard drives, as they are a good balance of reliability, cost and availability. Click the links below to find out more about best desktop hard drives available for your data storage needs. Remember, these are NOT suitable for a RAID array and we wouldn’t recommend them in a nAS environment.

wd blue hard drives for desktop pc mac hard drive disk use seagate barracuda desktop pc mac hard drive disk
WD Blue HDD

For Desktop PC Use

See the rest of the rest of the ahrd drive range series to buy

Seagate Barracuda HDD

For Desktop PC Use

See the rest of the rest of the ahrd drive range series to buy

What is the Recommended NAS Hard Drives?

wd red range for NAS hard drives disks seagate ironwold nas hard drive disk
WD Red HDD

For NAS Use

See the rest of the rest of the ahrd drive range series to buy

Seagate Ironwolf HDD

For NAS Use

See the rest of the rest of the ahrd drive range series to buy

 

 

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle


Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

  ]]>
9214
WD Red 14TB WD140EFFX NAS HDD – Early Performance Build and Test https://nascompares.com/2019/11/15/wd-red-14tb-wd140effx-nas-hdd-early-performance-build-and-test/ https://nascompares.com/2019/11/15/wd-red-14tb-wd140effx-nas-hdd-early-performance-build-and-test/#comments Fri, 15 Nov 2019 20:30:32 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?p=33265 Testing the 14TB WD140EFFX NAS HDD

Now that WD Red has entered the realms of 14TB, with the release of the WD140EFFX NAS hard drive, the competition between drive manufacturers is really beginning to ramp up. We are long since past questioning the necessity of NAS optimized hard drives (i.e. RAID suitable, random read/write, 24×7 use, teaspoon vs fork, etc), but just how good is the WD Red 14TB NAS drive? We have long been using the smaller capacity WD Red drives in our Synology and QNAP NAS over the last few years, but after the 10TB, we saw a pause in their release schedule. Now, hot on the heels of the 10TB, we have this 14TB NAS build that, arrives at a price point that is very similar to it’s nearest competitor, yet the internal specifications are distinctly different in two key areas (that we will go into later on) and it is no longer just a case of these drives being the ‘same but different’. But before I get ahead of myself, let’s do things properly. This is part one of my 3 part series of tests of the WD Red 14TB NAS HDD, that I hope will give you a tonne of information on whether this drive is best for you and your data. In part one, we are going to take this new hard drive and test it in a single drive pc build, using popular and recognized benchmark tools to see how it does and in what areas it excels. So, let’s start our tests.

WD 14TB WD140EFFX NAS HDD Drive Build

Even before getting this test drive into the machine, I thought it worth taking a look at the build of the WD Red 14TB HDD. Arriving in anti-static packaging, this new drive is quite a beast in terms of depth, weight and construction – whilst still managing to be a standard 3.5″ SATA.

The first thing that struck me was the SATA port. I have handled ALOT of NAS hard drives in the past and am well aware that once HDDs reached 8/10TB, the way in which the data is stored physically needed to change. The earliest drives used a non-RAID friendly method of storage involving a system known as shingled magnetic recording (SMR) in which data layers overlapped. However, this has largely been overlooked in favour of helium-based storage methods, where the platters and HDD mechanical internals are housed in helium sealed compartments. Theses produce better results in performance and allow even better platter distribution.

However, despite my knowledge of the helium storage system of the WD Red 14TB, I was still surprised by the impressive construction of the drive. Featuring a far more crafted casing, the newer 14TB device is a much better and clearly definded construction of the much older 4TB WD Red HDD. See how the two compare below:

WD Red 4TB NAS Hard Drive SATA

WD Red 14TB NAS Hard Drive SATA

The enterprise construction of the WD Red 14TB NAS Hard Drive really stands out here and from what I have seen, the PRO series 14TB Hard drive (WD141KFGX) is even more impressive in terms of physical build. This is something that I really do need to draw attention to, the fact that the WD Red and WD Red Pro 14TB NAS Hard drive DO seem to be very different in physical build, but yet they are BOTH 147mm x 101.6mm x 26.1mm in size.

The WD Red 14TB HDD for NAS arrives with a 5400RPM internal platter speed and a whopping 512MB cache. This is very, very important, as many users (including myself) will think that the 5400RPM is an intentional limitation imposed by WD in order to push users to the PRO series drive and it’s 7200RPM. However, in reality, this big area of cache on the controller AND the lower 5400RPM speed results in higher speeds than other 5400RPM disks in practice. I will go into more detail with this later, but the speeds I achieved in this drive via the ATTO benchmark tool very surprising for a standard series disk.

Another area of focus is noise. The noise from WD’s own spec sheets declared the WD Red 14TB to feature 2.0 db(A) in idle and 2.9 db(A) in access. This is noticeably lower than the 3.0 db(A) idle and 3.4db(A) reported from the rival 14TB from Seagate Ironwolf official specs sheet. So, during the tests featured below, I made an extra effort to check the noise levels and, though I do not have high-grade audio equipment to measure decibels that low, it was HUGELY clear even using just my own ears that the WD Red 14TB NAS Drive was remarkably quiet for a drive being accessed constantly for read/write tests in ATTO Benchmark and BlackMagic. It may a little noise, but way, WAY less than I would have assumed from a 14TB hard drive in 2019.

And this is an important point – Pro vs Standard. Anyone that has been following hard drie development (in or out of NAS) in 2019 will have seen that the majority of hard drives will arrive in 2 versions for each capacity, in PRO and REGULAR. However, with the building technology getting closer and closer, the hardware difference between these standards is getting smaller and smaller. Sure, on a software level we can see differences in the controller parameters (monitoring vibration, head, access as PRO drives are in bigger RAID environments or have to work harder), as well as a longer warranty in 5 years up from 3 years (as a means for the manufacturer to say this drive will work constantly for that period) and have higher mean time between failure and Data writes per year/day allowable. But in actual physical build, you find little difference.

WD Red WD140EFFX WD Red Pro WD141KFGX
14TB Capacity 14TB Capacity
512MB Disk Cache 512MB Disk Cache
SATA – 6Gb/s SATA – 6Gb/s
180TB/year Workload 300TB/year Workload
196MB/s Transfer 240MB/s Transfer
5400RPM 7200RPM
1Million MTBF 1Million MTBF
1-8 Bay NAS Recommended 1-24 Bay NAS Recommended
3 Year Warranty 5 Year Warranty

In Brief, the  WD Red NAS Hard Drive range has always featured:

  • Built for NAS compatibility
  • Featuring NASware™ 3.0 technology
  • Engineered to run cool and quiet
  • Designed for RAID environments
  • Noise and Vibration Protection
  • Supporting Synology and QNAP upto 8-bay NAS Systems (WD Red)
  • Medium to Large NAS environments up to 24 bay (WD Red Pro)
  • RAID Configurations from RAID 0 and 1, upto RAID 5, 6, 10 and SHR
  • 3 Year Warranty with WD Rd and 5yr with WDR= Red Pro

What we find when looking at these drives is that the quieter WD Red Standard drive actually has a great deal of difference on an output and performance figures. This certainly makes the difference in price between them more palatable.

Why are you testing the WD 14TB WD140EFFX NAS HDD with PC Tools?

As previously mentioned, the first round of tests on the WD Red 14TB WD140EFFX NAS Hard Drive will be conducted with PC performance test tools. Although this drive is designed for use in a NAS server, we are leaving the testing for this in part two and three of our tests. However, to get a baseline performance benchmark of the drive, it is considerably easier to test it using popular windows desktop test tools. Because of this, we are reserving full judgement on this drive until all three rounds of testing are complete.

PC was used for testing the WD 14TB WD140EFFX NAS HDD?

In order to test the WD Red 14TB WD140EFFX NAS HDD in a regular PC scenario, I am using a fairly mid-range PC and connecting the Hard Drive over eSATA. The specifications of the test PC are:

Windows 10 Pro

AMD A8-6500 APU 3.50Ghz Quad Core

Radeon HD Graphics

8GB Memory

120GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD

Testing tools that were used in this preliminary testing were ATTO Benchmark, BlackMagic Test Disk (for larger 4K file testing) and HD Tune.

WD 14TB WD140EFFX NAS HDD Test Results

The first test I wanted to perform was the ATTO Benchmark. Using a 256MB file size, the WD Red 14TB NAS Hard Drive hit the 200MB/s write threshold very quickly, peaking between 203-205MB/s frequently. Meanwhile Read speeds stayed high and in the 200MB/s area pretty consistently and for a 5400RPM drive, these were some impressive speeds – which was no doubt assisted positively by that large 512MB cache.

The next test was using an older program, but still simple and reliable – HDTune. Never dipping below 187MB/s, it reached a performance height of 219MB/s and averaged at a decent 203.6MB/s overall. Even outside of a RAID volume, that is a nice benchmark indeed for a standard series hard drive.

Finally, we tested a 1Gbe file on the popular video benchmark tool BlackMagic Desk speed test. Testing a variety of formats and video depths, the tests remained largely in the 200MB/s and above area. It didn’t come as a huge surprise at the very top end that a struggle began to appear, at 2K and above, you would need to think about SSD media or SSD caching.

A full video of these tests can be found here and they provide at least 30-120 seconds of test cycle per attempt.

WD 14TB WD140EFFX NAS HDD Early Thoughts

As discussed, this test should not serve as the final judgement of the WD Red 14TB NAS hard drive, as although it benchmarked very well for use in a domestic PC test environment, it’s primary use should be in a NAS server. In test two, we will be running multiple file operations and formats on a NAS drive using two of the WD 14TB WD140EFFX hard disk in a RAID 1 environment. These tests will involve multiple simultaneous copy operations, compression tests, deletion and RAID rebuilt times. However, just looking at the performance figures so far indicate that this certainly a robust hard drive and one that promises to perform equally as well in RAID environment. Stay tunes for test 3, when we will be comparing and testing performed on the WD Red NAS Hard with the Seagate Ironwolf disk. Stay tuned for that.

WD Red 14TB WD140EFFX

WD Red 14TB Pro WD141KFGX

WD Red Whole Range for NAS HDD

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle

Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

  This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today’s video. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

]]>
https://nascompares.com/2019/11/15/wd-red-14tb-wd140effx-nas-hdd-early-performance-build-and-test/feed/ 1 33265
WD Red 14TB NAS Drives – WD140EFFX and WD141KFGX https://nascompares.com/2019/10/24/wd-red-14tb-nas-drives-wd140effx-and-wd141kfgx/ https://nascompares.com/2019/10/24/wd-red-14tb-nas-drives-wd140effx-and-wd141kfgx/#comments Thu, 24 Oct 2019 11:00:27 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?p=32003 The WD Red NAS Hard Drive Series hits 14TB

Good news for those that are looking for the biggest and best hard drives for their NAS Drive(Synology, QNAP, Asustor, etc) with the release of a new and larger addition to the WD Red HDD series, now in 14 Terabytes of size. The WD Red range of drives has been around for a number of years now and was one of the earliest NAS optimized hard drives available to both home and business users. Up until then, users were in the habit of using regular hard drives that, although workable, were not designed for the 24×7 activity, sporadic access and RAID durability that network Attached Storage (NAS) requires. Now available in both WD Red for home and small business, as well as WD Red Pro for larger and more enterprise RAID servers, the new 14TB generation of NAS drives will come as a fantastic new build or upgrade options who are brand loyal. In the last 12-18 months, we have witnessed a shift in the NAS media market between WD and Seagate, the latter traditionally arriving in larger capacities and lower prices per TB, but with the recent release of the 12TB range and 14TB now, things could change. So, why should you buy the WD Red WD140EFFX and WD141KFGX 14TB Drive for your NAS?

WD Red 14TB WD140EFFX

WD Red 14TB Pro WD141KFGX

WD Red Whole Range for NAS HDD

What are the specifications of the WD Red WD140EFFX and WD141KFGX 14TB HDD?

WD Red 14TB NAS hard drives are built for up to 8-bay NAS systems, with the WD Red Pro WD141KFGX designed for servers with upto 24-Bays, packing the power to store your precious data in one powerhouse unit, or a modest 2-Bay. Increase the efficiency and productivity of your business with WD Red Pro drives (though at 14TB, many home users will populate smaller 2-4 Bay devices and still have high capacity in RAID 1/5. Hardware specifications of the WD Red WD140EFFX and WD141KFGX 14TB Drive are:

WD Red WD140EFFX

WD Red Pro WD141KFGX

14TB Capacity 14TB Capacity
256MB Disk Cache 256MB Disk Cache
SATA – 6Gb/s SATA – 6Gb/s
180TB/year Workload 300TB/year Workload
196MB/s Transfer 240MB/s Transfer
5400RPM 7200RPM
1Million MTBF 1Million MTBF
1-8 Bay NAS Recommended 1-24 Bay NAS Recommended
3 Year Warranty 5 Year Warranty

In Brief, the  WD Red NAS Hard Drive range has always featured:

  • Built for NAS compatibility
  • Featuring NASware™ 3.0 technology
  • Engineered to run cool and quiet
  • Designed for RAID environments
  • Noise and Vibration Protection
  • Supporting Synology and QNAP upto 8-bay NAS Systems (WD Red)
  • Medium to Large NAS environments up to 24 bay (WD Red Pro)
  • RAID Configurations from RAID 0 and 1, upto RAID 5, 6, 10 and SHR
  • 3 Year Warranty with WD Rd and 5yr with WDR= Red Pro

What are the Differences Between the WD Red and WD Red Pro 14TB Drive?

Regardless of which WD Red 14TB hard drive you buy for your NAS server, it is worth highlighting that this designed to work in that environment, it is just a question of the extent to which you use your hardware and the scale of your data storage operation. Until recently, the simple difference between WD Red and WD Red Pro as far as the consumer was concerned was that the former is designed for NAS drives with upto 8 bays and the latter for upto 24 Bays. However, as the capacities available have grown in size, and the price between Pro and Non-Pro drive media has diminished, NAS buyers are now looking at the rest of the differences between them, considering the more rugged PRO drive in simple 2/4Bay NAS devices, such as the Synology TS-251B and Synology DS220+ (come on already and release it!). Here are the key reasons to buy the WD Red 14TB WD140EFFX NAS hard drive or WD Red Pro WD141KFGX.

WD Red is for:

  • Lower Price per Terabyte (Approx £25-30 per TB, compared with £35+ per TB on PRO)
  • Quieter Operation
  • Using a NAS with less than 8 Bay for Home use

WD Red Pro is for:

  • Longer warranty cover at 5yrs on Pro vs 3yrs on normal
  • Faster Data Access at 7200RPM on Pro vs 5400RPM on normal
  • Harder/high-end business access users
  • Better Construction quality, to hold up to rigours of harder work
  • Larger NAS devices with upto 24Bays (Rackmounts)

Here is a guide to understanding the difference between a WD Red NAS Drive and a WD Red Pro hard Drive:

WD Red or WD Red Pro – What is the Difference?

How Much will the WD Red and WD Red Pro 14TB Drive Cost?

We do not have a confirmed price on the newer and larger WD Red capacity drives, but we can see the costs of current generation WD Red and WD Red Pro hard drives for NAS and make an educated guess. With WD Red arriving at around £25-30 per Terabyte of storage (ex.VAT), we estimate that the WD140EFFX will retail around £370 per HDD. Whereas the WD Red Pro has a typical price per terabyte in 2019 of £35 ex.VAT, which would result in the WD Red Pro WD141KFGX arriving to buy at a price of £490-500 per drive.

When will the WD Red and WD Red Pro 14TB Drive Be Released?

We expect to see availability for sale of the WD Red 14TB WD140EFFX NAS hard drive or WD Red Pro WD141KFGX before the end of 2019 and more likely in November. Stock will almost certainly be a little thin on the ground, so we recommend that you use the link below to check both the price (when available) and further information on specifications.

WD Red 14TB WD140EFFX

WD Red 14TB Pro WD141KFGX

WD Red Whole Range for NAS HDD

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle

Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

  This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today’s video. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

]]>
https://nascompares.com/2019/10/24/wd-red-14tb-nas-drives-wd140effx-and-wd141kfgx/feed/ 1 32003
Best NAS Hard Drives of 2019 https://nascompares.com/best-nas-hard-drives-of-2019/ https://nascompares.com/best-nas-hard-drives-of-2019/#comments Sun, 16 Dec 2018 22:09:19 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?page_id=25562 What is the Best NAS hard drive of 2019
When choosing your first NAS device, as important as it seems to get the right network attached storage device, even more important is making sure you get the right hard drive or SSD Media to store your files on. Technically any hard drive (HDD) these days can be installed inside a network attached storage device. On the one hand, this is a good thing for those that like choice, but it is also a bloody awful thing for the indecisive or those that just want to know what the best hard drive to buy is right now. In order to use any hard drive in your NAS, you will need to make sure it is the following:
  • SATA connectivity (so some Enterprise drives will also support SAS)
  • At least 5400rpm or higher otherwise you there will be lag during access which only gets worse, the more drives you add.
  • at least 120GB and above in capacity, as often applications and NAS operating systems, plus updates, will be well over 50-80GB alone over the years
  • At least 64MB cache
  • Yep..that just above covers it!

Difference between NAS HDD and Normal HDD

That’s it, if you have a drive that features these (and around 90% of them do) then you can install it in almost any NAS released in 2019 and before. But that still leaves hundreds and thousands of hard drives to choose from. So in order to help you make the right choice for your hard drive NAS media, we have compiled a list of the top 5 NAS hard drives right now. Each has been selected based on a particularly outstanding feature. They are as follows:
  • Price
  • Value
  • Support
  • Warranty
  • Speed
  • Noise

The Best Price NAS Hard Drive of 2019

If you were looking for the best price for a NAS hard drive this year, then you will have to look at the Seagate Ironwolf series (not Ironwolf Pro). Price per terabyte and when compared with WD, HGST and Toshiba, we found that Seagate Ironwolf NAS HDD was consistently the lowest price per terabyte than any other media in the market and this trend continued all the way up to 12TB and 14TB. Arriving with a 5900RPM disk speed, 3 years of manufacturer warranty and dedicated Drive health software built in, the ironwolf NAS hard drive series definitely give you a lot of bang for a small amount of buck. Available all the way up to 12 terabytes of storage and featuring vibration and temperature sensors internally, Seagate Ironwolf NAS media is great for single hard drive use and multiple drive use in a RAID-enabled device, all the way up to up to 8 bays.
Seagate Ironwolf 4TB NAS HDD Seagate Ironwolf 6TB NAS HDD Seagate Ironwolf 10TB NAS HDD

The Best Value NAS Hard Drive of 2019

Not to be confused with ‘price’, the best value NAS hard drive is not based on the $ price, but overall what you get for your money. Looking at the entire range, easily the best value NAS hard drives are the WD Red range of HDDs. Western Digital Red drives are one of the most well-known NAS media drives in the market today, and arrive with the regularly updated Firmware, NasWare 3.0. These drives are often between 2-5% more expensive than their seagate counterparts, however with a lower failure rate (marginally, but real) and a much faster warranty replacement on them, in terms of value, you cannot beat the WD Red NAS hard drive. The drives arrive with 3 years manufacturer’s warranty, a varied RPM point between 5200-7200 RPM (intellipower, but its a fixed point) and are quieter whilst in operation than the seagate ironwolf series. Bottomline, they may cost a pinch more than seagate ironwolf NAS drives, but for what you are getting, the WD Red NAS hard drives are just the better value in the long term.
WD Red 4TB NAS HDD WD Red 6TB NAS HDD WD Red 10TB NAS HDD

The Best NAS Hard Drive for Support in 2019

In terms of support, the seagate ironwolf Pro series of drives is easily the best drive for those that need a little helping hand from time to time. This NAS drive arrives with 5 years of manufacturer’s warranty and a dedicated 7200rpm speed. This is further improved with a large area of cache between 128-256 megabytes and all seagate ironwolf pro drives arrived with the seagate rescue package included. In real terms, this means that in the event of your drive failing, not only do you have your regular warranty replacement, but the rescue package means that they will collect your drive and attempt to Data Recovery of all information for your drive and send it to you so you don’t lose data. In short, this is a huge deal – Most data recovery companies will charge tens of thousands of pounds for a service like this and the seagate ironwolf Pro Series includes it at just an additional $30-$50 when compared with a non-Pro Series.

Additionally, Seagate Ironwolf Pro drives can be used in NAS devices all the way up to 24 bays, such as large-scale rackmount NAS and SAN environments. Alongside all of this, Synology and QNAP both let you access the Seagate health management tool on each drive directly from the NAS user interface, adding another layer to the support this hard drive provides. Ultimately, I have yet to find a drive that provides this level of software support and recovery from any other brand, and for those that value every megabyte and gigabyte for their home or business, I cannot recommend this the Seagate Ironwolf Pro drive enough.
Seagate Ironwolf Pro 6TB NAS Seagate Ironwolf Pro 10TB NAS Seagate Ironwolf Pro 12TB NAS

The Best NAS Hard Drive for Warranty in 2019

Not to be confused with support, Warranty is a big concern for anyone who has ever had at least one hard drive fail on them. Replacement or Repair warranty does not guarantee the data on your drive will be recovered and it is always recommended that those that worry about the loss of data should have sufficient back-up and RAID protection at all times. However, for those that have backup systems in place and are more concerned with the replacement of items in order to maintain the integrity/uptime of their operation, then the warranty is a big big deal. For the warranty on NAS hard drives, I have yet to beat the WD Red Pro range in terms of warranty on a NAS hard drive. In my 10-year career in data storage devices, I have lost a total of 6 hard drives across around 35 devices (out of a total of around 650+ Drive, this isn’t so bad).
Of those drives, the fastest, easiest and best replacement turnaround was easily the WD Red Pro Series of drives. Failures are to be expected with hard drives, as like any hugely mass-produced technical item, the law of percentages will eventually find its victim. However what really made it stand out was the fact that I had a replacement drive in my hand in a little over 48 hours (at no extra cost). The fact that this Drive arrives with 5 years of warranty length and 7200rpm, alongside a large cache, increasingly optimised firmware and those heat/vibration sensors only made me more impressed. That swift turnaround made all the difference to that particular installation at the time and since then I have used WD Red Pro exclusively for larger NAS builds for enterprise. Since then I have not had a failed WD Red Pro, but those I have spoken with you have reported similar fast turnaround on the replacement. Yes it lacks the data recovery service that seagate ironwolf pro provide, but the seagate drive that failed for me back in 2016 took just over eight days to be replaced, so the WD Red Pro NAS hard drive definitely wins the Warranty award from NASCompares.
WD Red Pro 6TB NAS HDD WD Red Pro 8TB NAS HDD WD Red Pro 10TB NAS HDD

The Fastest NAS Hard Drive in 2019

The fastest NAS hard drive I have ever had experience of is the WD Gold hard drive. I know that technically it is not a NAS hard drive and more designed for data centres, however, the construction is even better than that of the WD Red Pro and features a much higher mean time between failure (MTBF) and is often found a pinched cheaper too. Much like the WD Red Pro Drive, the WD Gold has the 7200rpm and 5-year warranty of it NAS sibling. As it is a data centre drive, its vibration and temperature sensors, as well as external physical construction are better than ever other NAS drive.

These small tweaks and improvements have resulted in this drive (in a RAID 0 Environment across 3-4 drives) outperforming many consumer SSD and with a considerably lower price per terabyte to SSD as well. Currently, if someone asks me what is the fastest NAS hard drive is to buy right now, I will tell them WD Gold NAS media wins by a mile.
WD Gold 6TB NAS HDD WD Gold 8TB NAS HDD WD Gold 12TB NAS HDD

The Best Quiet NAS Hard Drive in 2019

The quietest NAS drive media, I am sorry to tell you, is not a hard drive but an SSD, in fact, it is all SSD. There are, of course, some NAS hard drives that are quieter than others and if you go for a regular WD Red or Seagate ironwolf, at around 1-2TB then that is as quiet as it gets for NAS hard drives. But if you are really sensitive to noise, and want to avoid the clicks, whirs and spins of a hard drive in your NAS chassis, then you are recommended to purchase SSD for your installation. Be warned though, that the low noise, low vibration and low temperature come at a price and SSD is still 3-5x times more expensive than traditional hard drives.
Samsung EVO SSD Samsung Pro SSD Samsung Enterprise SSD

NAS Hard Drive to Avoid in 2019

Even though the construction of a hard drive is very similar on every NAS drive, many of them are constructed to focus on a specific advantage (see the options above), but what about when an HDD media for NAS is designed to try to do everything? A classic example of a drive that tries to do too much is the HGST Deskstar NAS drive. All too often you will find the HGST NAS drive at quite a reasonable price, 3-year warranty and 7200rpm. However, failure rates on this NAS drive have proven to be a pinch higher than all other NAS hard drives. Given that it lacks the 5-year Warranty of a Pro Drive, the support and data recovery of the Seagate Ironwolf Pro, you could is gambling your data. Lastly, and I say this with true regret, the HGST NAS hard drives are the noisiest drives I have ever used. SERIOUSLY, once you get to the larger capacities you will often wonder if the drive is broken… it isn’t, it REALLY sounds like that. In all fairness, however, if you don’t mind a noisier NAS drive and or going to be using it in a 1-2 bay NAS for home or non-mission critical data, then I would still recommend the HGST NAS drive – just be aware of its failings.
]]>
https://nascompares.com/best-nas-hard-drives-of-2019/feed/ 43 25562
WD Red 12TB WD120EFAX NAS Hard Drives Released https://nascompares.com/2019/06/12/wd-red-12tb-wd120efax-nas-hard-drives-released/ https://nascompares.com/2019/06/12/wd-red-12tb-wd120efax-nas-hard-drives-released/#comments Tue, 11 Jun 2019 23:13:43 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?p=29482 WD Red 12TB WD120EFAX Hard Drive – Worth your Data?

Now with Hard Drives for NAS available in up to 12TB, the WD Red series offers a wide array of solutions for customers looking to build a high performing NAS storage solution. WD Red drives are built for up to 8-bay NAS systems and pack the power to store your precious data in one powerhouse unit. Increase the efficiency and productivity of your business with WD Red Pro drives, available for up to 24-bay NAS systems. PC drives aren’t typically tested or designed for the rigours of a NAS system. Do right by your NAS and choose the drive with an array of features to help preserve your data and maintain optimum performance.

In Brief, the  WD Red NAS Hard Drive range has always been:

  • Built for NAS compatibility
  • Featuring NASware™ 3.0 technology
  • Engineered to run cool and quiet
  • Designed for RAID environments
  • Noise and Vibration Protection
  • Supporting Synology and QNAP upto 8-bay NAS Systems (WD Red)
  • Medium to Large NAS environments up to 24 bay (WD Red Pro)
  • RAID Configurations from RAID 0 and 1, upto RAID 5, 6, 10 and SHR
  • Virtualization for Business and Container Based NAS use like Docker

NAS Hard Drives vs Regular Hard Drives – Comparison

WD Red 12TB WD120EFAX Hard Drive – What is NASWare 3.0?

The WD Red WD120EFAX 12TB drive is not just a gimmick, it is about the right tool for the right job. Not just any drive will do. In single-bay to 8-bay NAS systems, WD Red drives raise the bar. Get as much as 96TB capacity, and with WD’s exclusive NASware technology, you can optimize every single one of them. Built into every WD Red hard drive, NASware 3.0’s advanced technology improves your system’s storage performance by increasing compatibility, integration, upgradeability, and reliability. Desktop drives aren’t purpose-built for NAS. But WD Red drives with NASware technology are. Our exclusive technology takes the guesswork out of selecting a drive. WD Red drives are for small NAS systems, and our unique algorithm balances performance and reliability in NAS and RAID environments. Simply put, a WD Red drive is one of the most compatible drives available for NAS enclosures. But don’t take our word for it. WD Red drives are a reflection of extensive NAS partner technology engagement and compatibility-testing resulting in a leading compatibility list for NAS systems.

WD Red 12TB WD120EFAX Hard Drive – Compared with WD Red 10TB and 8TB?

Although WD has already produced 12TB and 14TB Enterprise hard drives under their WD HGST UltraStar series of drives for SAS and SATA Data Centers, till recently we have not seen any WD Red Hard drives above 10TB and therefore now the WD120EFAX has been released, we should compare it with the older but more affordable 10TB and 8TB WD Red Drives to see if this is more than just a change in capacity. With an £80-90 price difference between the 10TB WD100EFAX and 12TB WD120EFAX, it is definitely something a number of users will want to look at closely. Below are the hardware specifications of each drive compared, covering capacity, RPM, Cache, spin speed, read speeds, power use and more.

WD Red 12TB WD120EFAX Hard Drive – Where to Buy and Price?

The WD Red WD120EFAX 12TB NAS hard disk for NAS drives is available NOW and for around £350, €390, $445 (not including your local tax of course) and though stock is a little limited, you can click the link below to find out the best place to buy the new NAS hard drive in your region. It is worth highlighting of course that now this drive is released, it may well affect the prices of smaller WD Red drives in a good way, so don’t be afraid to look at the prices of those smaller capacities  whilst you are there – the right RAID level in your NAS can really make all the difference between Price VS Capacity.

WD Red 12TB WD120EFAX

WD Red 12TB WD100EFAX

WD Red 12TB WD80EFAX

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFs5Sy9rtq0

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle

Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

  This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today’s video. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

]]>
https://nascompares.com/2019/06/12/wd-red-12tb-wd120efax-nas-hard-drives-released/feed/ 2 29482
Seagate 16TB Ironwolf and Ironwolf Pro NAS Hard Drives Revealed https://nascompares.com/2019/05/21/seagate-16tb-ironwolf-and-ironwolf-pro-nas-hard-drives-revealed/ https://nascompares.com/2019/05/21/seagate-16tb-ironwolf-and-ironwolf-pro-nas-hard-drives-revealed/#respond Tue, 21 May 2019 21:18:15 +0000 https://nascompares.com/?p=28484 Seagate 16TB Ironwolf and Ironwolf Pro NAS Drives Revealed – ST16000NE000 and ST16000VN001
Good news for those looking maximum storage in both small and large NAS drive enclosures, with the announcement that the Seagate Ironwolf NAS hard drive series is going to be available in a staggering 16 Terabyte capacity hard disk. It has long been established that when it comes to the largest possible drives available for your NAS, Seagate appears to beat everyone to the punch, with the recent 14 Terabyte Ironwolf and Ironwolf Pro NAS drives dominating the market of late. Although enterprise in design, the release of an even bigger range of 16TB NAS hard drives is generally seen as a good sign for both home and business users alike.
Much like other Seagate Ironwolf drives, the Seagate Ironwolf 16TB series arrives with NAS optimised RV sensors, improved caching on-board and construction quality that is far superior to that of general smaller capacity hard drives in 2019. Alongside this, we fully expect the Seagate Ironwolf health management tool, that is available to Ironwolf drive users already, to be fully supported on NAS platforms such as Synology, QNAP, Asustor and Terramaster. Finally, the dedicated 7200rpm on both Standard and Pro series models is always a welcome bonus and ensures reliable speeds of Read and Write internally and externally, that is considerably higher than both domestic hard drives and lower capacity NAS hard drives.
Of course one of the main distinctions between the Ironwolf ST16000VN001 and Ironwolf ST16000NE000 Pro is the environmental stability and rigidity on supported RAID volumes. Whereby standard Ironwolf drives are recommended for upto 5/8 HDD (depending on the system) and Seagate Ironwolf Pro is recommended for larger desktop and rackmount NAS use, this recommendation is continued with the 16TB ironwolf drives.
However, if you can overlook the increased MTBF and Extended warranty and rescue services included with the pro drive, it is worth highlighting that the newer generation of 12TB, 14TB and 16TB Ironwolf standard NAS drives still provide frankly incredible speeds over 10Gbe for photo and video editors.

Seagate Ironwolf ST16000VN001 Versus Ironwolf ST16000NE000 Pro – What is the Difference?

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and overlook that Additional warranty and Seagate Rescue Recovery service. The 5-year warranty on the ST16000NE000 16TB Ironwolf Pro NAS hard drive is greater, of course, than that of the 3 years included with the standard ST16000VN001 ironwolf NAS drive. If you are someone that takes pride and care in your warranty peace of mind, then this may be reason enough to purchase a Seagate iIonwolf pro drive. However, one MAIN reason to buy a Pro series drive (whether it is the new 16TB ironwolf NAS drive or a smaller capacity) is the Seagate Rescue Data Recovery Services that are included with your purchase. Unlike almost every other hard drive brand in the world, Seagate have included with their Ironwolf Pro drives free (inclusive) data recovery services in the event of file deletion, file corruption, hard drive damage, internal issue, or a plethora of other third-party factors that can damage the contents of your drive resulting in data loss.
For anyone that has ever had to consider the services of forensic data recovery in order to retrieve top-end corporate files, client data, precious photos of friends and family or other truly irreplaceable data, you will know that data recovery services will cost you thousands of pounds without any real guarantee of data recovery success. It is more than a simple case of some freeware recovery software to scan your drive with. We are talking about genuine forensic level retrieval, with data recovery services based in numerous locations in the world. In the event that your Seagate NAS Drive requires deep and forensic level data recovery (up to and including stripping the drive down to its platters), then the Seagate rescue recovery service will more than likely be the answer to your prayers and given the price difference between Seagate Ironwolf standard 16TB and Ironwolf Pro is remarkably small at each capacity level (getting smaller at each increase of capacity in fact), from a business and even a home perspective, the inclusion of this with your 16TB drive purchase is tough to argue with.
Specifications Ironwolf Pro

Ironwolf

Model ID ST16000NE000 ST16000VN001
Interface SATA 6Gb/s SATA 6Gb/s
Drive Bays Recommended Up to 24-bay 1-8 Bays
Terabytes Per Year Written (TB/yr) 300 180TB/year
Rotational Vibration Sensors (RV) Yes Yes
Cache on-board (MB) 256MB 256MB
Rotation Speed (RPM) 7200 7200
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF in Hours) 1.2M 1,000,000hr
Max Sustained Transfer Rate OD (MB/s) 250 210MB/s
Warranty (years) 5 3
Rescue Services Included Yes No

When Will the Seagate Ironwolf ST16000NE000 and ST16000VN001 NAS Drives be Released?

It is still too early to confirm the official release of the Seagate Ironwolf ST16000NE000 and ST16000VN001 16TB NAS Drives, as alot of focus is on the Seagate Ironwolf 110 NAS SSDs right now.  Though given the strength of partner marketing with popular NAS brands right now and those very same respective brands announcing new hardware next week for release in September/October, I think we will see full availability of these drives by the end of August (maybe even a pinch sooner in bigger quantities). Let us be frank, none of us (me here on the blog and you there reading this) is surprised that a 16TB NAS Hard Drive was going to be released, or that it would be Seagate doing it.

But I think the fact the 16TB drive arrives so soon after the 12TB Ironwolf and with WD Red still seeming too invested in 10TB (talk of a 12TB imminent though), can only mean that we will see 16TB Seagate EXOs, Skyhawk and Barracuda very soon indeed.

📧 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER 🔔
[contact-form-7]
🔒 Join Inner Circle

Get an alert every time something gets added to this specific article!


Want to follow specific category? 📧 Subscribe

This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today's content. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Visit the NASCompares Deal Finder to find the best place to buy this device in your region, based on Service, Support and Reputation - Just Search for your NAS Drive in the Box Below

Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Finally, for free advice about your setup, just leave a message in the comments below here at NASCompares.com and we will get back to you. Need Help? Where possible (and where appropriate) please provide as much information about your requirements, as then I can arrange the best answer and solution to your needs. Do not worry about your e-mail address being required, it will NOT be used in a mailing list and will NOT be used in any way other than to respond to your enquiry. [contact-form-7] TRY CHAT Terms and Conditions
If you like this service, please consider supporting us. We use affiliate links on the blog allowing NAScompares information and advice service to be free of charge to you.Anything you purchase on the day you click on our links will generate a small commission which isused to run the website. Here is a link for Amazon and B&H.You can also get me a ☕ Ko-fi or old school Paypal. Thanks!To find out more about how to support this advice service check HEREIf you need to fix or configure a NAS, check Fiver Have you thought about helping others with your knowledge? Find Instructions Here  
 
Or support us by using our affiliate links on Amazon UK and Amazon US
    
 
Alternatively, why not ask me on the ASK NASCompares forum, by clicking the button below. This is a community hub that serves as a place that I can answer your question, chew the fat, share new release information and even get corrections posted. I will always get around to answering ALL queries, but as a one-man operation, I cannot promise speed! So by sharing your query in the ASK NASCompares section below, you can get a better range of solutions and suggestions, alongside my own.

☕ WE LOVE COFFEE ☕

  This description contains links to Amazon. These links will take you to some of the products mentioned in today’s video. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

]]>
https://nascompares.com/2019/05/21/seagate-16tb-ironwolf-and-ironwolf-pro-nas-hard-drives-revealed/feed/ 0 28484