Seagate IronWolf Pro 30TB HDD Review

1. Introduction2. Seagate IronWolf Pro 30TB3. Testing Methodology4. ATTO Disk Benchmark5. 4K Random Performance6. Throughput7. Workload Scenarios8. UL Solutions PCMark 10 Data Drive Benchmark9. Real Life File Testing10. Closing Thoughts11. View All Pages

The insatiable demand for data storage shows no signs of slowing down, with manufacturers having to come up with larger and larger capacity drives. This means denser and denser discs, which in turn leads to the possibility of data read /write errors as read/write heads try to deal with ever closer data tracks.

That's why drive manufacturers have been developing HAMR (heat-assisted magnetic recording) and MAMR (microwave-assisted magnetic recording) technologies. Seagate's IronWolf Pro 30TB (along with the Exos M 30TB) are the first HAMR hard drives to become fully available to the market using Seagate's Mozaic 3+ platform technology.

HAMR technology uses an extremely precisely aimed laser to heat up a section of the disc medium to write the data in. Using this technology means that discs will have very high areal densities and therefore more capacity per disk, e.g. the Iron Wolf Pro 30TB has 10 3TB discs inside it.

The IronWolf Pro range has been built from the ground up as heavy-duty NAS drives offering high workload rates (The 30TB IronWolf Pro is rated at 550TB/year) and 24×7 operation. To ensure that the drives can deliver this level of performance, they feature technologies to combat the effects of being housed in very large, multi-disk NAS environments. These technologies include firmware that is RAID optimised as well as Seagate's AgileArray and IHM (IronWolf Health Management).

Seagate’s AgileArray Technology combines hardware, firmware, and software to increase performance and, more importantly, reliability. It features Error Recovery Control that prevents RAID drop-offs and speeds up the data retry process. Dive vibration effects in large multi-drive NAS units have the potential to cause some real headaches, which is why Seagate’s AcuTrac Technology is part of the AgileArray package. This allows a drive to still function properly even if it’s being impacted by vibration from a neighbouring drive. The Rotational Vibration (RV) Sensors fitted to the drive also help to reduce vibration in the multi-bay enclosure, while Dual Plane Balance ensures the drive is vibration-free and quiet during operation.

IronWolf Health Management (IHM) technology adds another layer of protection by interacting with the NAS OS to display actionable prevention, intervention or recovery options for whatever is affecting the drive’s health. The technology is supported by most of the main NAS vendors, including Synology, QNAP and Asustor. A quick tour of their websites will show which models support IHM.

Seagate quote an official maximum transfer rate of 275MB/s for the 30TB IronWolf Pro. When tested with the ATTO benchmark, we couldn't quite get to that maximum with read/write results of 267MB/s and 264MB/s, respectively.

Added to all the NAS-targeted technology is the peace of mind from a 3-year subscription to Seagate’s Rescue Data Recovery Plan and a 5-year warranty.

We found the 30TB Seagate IronWolf Pro on ebuyer.com for £562.98 (inc VAT) HERE.

Pros

• Huge capacity.
• Overall performance.
• Drive Technology.
• Seagate’s Rescue Data Recovery Plan.

Cons

• Pricey.

KitGuru says: The largest IronWolf Pro drive to date, Seagate's latest 30TB flagship drive not only brings an increase in capacity but uses technology that points the way to much bigger drives in the near future.

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