from $498
The 18TB UltraStar DC HC550 7200 rpm SAS-3 3.5" Internal HDD from WD is a high-performance, large-capacity drive designed for enterprise environments that have intensive data and storage needs. This drive has a storage capacity of 18TB and a 3.5" form factor with a SAS-3 12 Gb/s interface, rotational speed of 7200 rpm, and 512MB cache that help to ensure uninterrupted data transfers at speeds of up to 269 MB/s. As a professional-grade drive, it has an MTBF rating of 2.5 million hours, an Annualized Failure Rate (AFR) of 0.35%, 600,000 load/unload cycles, an error rate of 1 in 10 15 non-recoverable bits read, and a workload of up to 550TB per year, plus WD's HelioSeal technology, which replaces the air inside the drive with helium. This allows for increased efficiency, reliability, and capacity, thanks to reduced vibration, improved areal density, cooler operating temperatures, and reduced power requirements.
Only buy HDDs for bulk media storage and backups; never use an HDD as your primary boot drive for Windows. Look for CMR (Conventional Magnetic Recording) drives over SMR (Shingled) for better write performance. Available from $498.
Mechanical hard disk drives (HDDs) are cheap to own, using a few watts of power while spinning. The main hidden cost is cloud backup subscriptions, as HDDs will eventually fail and data recovery is exorbitant.
Common Failure Modes
HDDs consist of spinning platters and delicate read/write heads, making them highly susceptible to physical shock and mechanical wear. When an HDD fails, it is replaced, not repaired, unless expensive data recovery is required.
Only buy HDDs for bulk media storage and backups; never use an HDD as your primary boot drive for Windows. Look for CMR (Conventional Magnetic Recording) drives over SMR (Shingled) for better write performance.
Mechanical hard drives have moving parts that wear out over time. They typically function reliably for several years before mechanical fatigue sets in.
The WD 18TB UltraStar DC HC550 7200 rpm SAS-3 3.5" Internal HDD (OEM) is available at bhphoto, starting at $498.
Mechanical hard disk drives (HDDs) are cheap to own, using a few watts of power while spinning. The main hidden cost is cloud backup subscriptions, as HDDs will eventually fail and data recovery is exorbitant.
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