Seagate Exos vs WD Ultrastar: enterprise hard drives compared
Capacity, interface, cache, workload, power and warranty of the two most popular data-centre hard drive families sold in the UAE - plus Toshiba MG as the third option.
Head to head
| Seagate Exos X (X18 - X24) | WD Ultrastar DC HC (HC550 - HC580) | Toshiba MG (MG09 - MG11) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capacities | 8 - 30 TB (X24: 24 TB CMR, Mozaic 30 TB) | 8 - 26 TB (HC580 24 TB CMR, HC590 26 TB) | 8 - 24 TB |
| Interface | SATA 6Gb/s or SAS 12Gb/s | SATA 6Gb/s or SAS 12Gb/s | SATA 6Gb/s or SAS 12Gb/s |
| Recording | CMR, helium-sealed | CMR, HelioSeal | CMR, helium (MG10+) |
| Cache | 256 - 512 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Sustained transfer | up to 285 MB/s | up to 298 MB/s | up to 268 MB/s |
| Workload / MTBF | 550 TB/yr / 2.5 M hours | 550 TB/yr / 2.5 M hours | 550 TB/yr / 2.5 M hours |
| Warranty | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years |
| Security options | SED, SED-FIPS, Instant Secure Erase | SE, SED, TCG-FIPS | SIE / SED models |
Which one?
Performance and reliability are within a few percent of each other; in practice buyers choose on price per TB on the day, availability of the exact part number (for example ST24000NM002H vs WUH722424ALE6L4) and consistency - populate a RAID array with one family and firmware. Exos is the most widely stocked in Dubai; Ultrastar is the usual pick for HPE/Dell JBODs because many OEM drives are Ultrastar-based; Toshiba MG is often the price leader at 16-20 TB.
For SAS arrays, order the SAS version (ST…NM004H / WUH…AL5204) - it adds dual-port and better error reporting for SAN controllers. For NAS and single-controller servers, SATA is fine.
Tip: always buy one spare drive per 12 drives in service. Rebuilds on 20+ TB drives take 1-2 days; a hot spare keeps you protected during that window.
Частые вопросы
Is Seagate Exos better than WD Ultrastar?
They are equivalent enterprise-class drives with the same workload rating, MTBF and 5-year warranty. Choose by price per TB, stock of the exact part number and matching the drives already in your array.
Do Exos drives work in a Dell or HPE server?
Yes, as third-party drives in HBA/RAID configurations. Some HPE Gen10/Gen11 servers show a warning for non-HPE drives but function normally; for full OEM support use HPE/Dell branded drives, which we also supply.
