Whereas a lot of the thrilling innovation within the storage trade is targeted on SSDs, mechanical onerous drives aren’t left behind — removed from it. Seagate particularly has constantly delivered HDDs with ever-increasing capacities, and the Exos X24 sits on the prime of the summit. The drive debuted on the finish of final 12 months, and is the flagship providing within the Exos X24 sequence, which fits from 12TB to 24TB.
All of the drives within the Exos X24 sequence are based mostly on typical magnetic recording (CMR) tech, and Seagate additionally has customized fashions that use shingled magnetic recording (SMR), with these going as much as 28TB. However Seagate is not promoting these drives to retail prospects, and is as a substitute making them out there to its enterprise shoppers.
Coming to the patron Exos sequence, the 12TB model of the Exos X24 begins off at $318, the 16TB drive retails for $360, the 20TB is $409, and the 24TB HDD that I am reviewing (ST24000NM002H) is available for $479 on Amazon. I am utilizing the variant with the usual 6Gbps SATA interface, and Seagate additionally has a dual-port 12Gbps SAS possibility out there.
Having used the 20TB Exos X20 extensively over the course of the final 12 months, the principle distinction with the X24 is that it has a 512MB cache buffer (up from 256GB). The 24TB drive has 10 2.4TB platters, and solely the heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR)-based Exos Mozaic 3+ has a greater density in Seagate’s portfolio, providing 3TB platters.
The remainder of the numbers are according to the X20 sequence; the 24TB Exos X24 spins at 7200RPM, has a 550TB/12 months workload ranking, 2.5 million hour MTBF (imply time between failures), sustained transfers of 285MB/s, and 168/550 random learn/write IOPS. And like different Exos fashions, the X24 comes with an prolonged guarantee that covers any points as much as 5 years.
The Exos X24 drives are helium-filled, and this enables higher density because the platters could be thinner; that is how Seagate was in a position to match 10 platters into the Exos X24 — common HDDs characteristic as much as six platters. These drives generate much less noise and warmth, they usually face up to vibrations somewhat higher than conventional HDDs. That is why most high-density HDDs nowadays use a helium-sealed enclosure.
I used the Exos X24 24TB for simply over two months now within the DiskStation DS1823xs+, and it has been terrific. The drive is technically designed for knowledge middle use, however should you’re operating an fanatic server and have to retailer numerous knowledge, it is likely one of the greatest choices proper now. I ran the Exos X24 alongside the 20TB Exos X20 and a 22TB IronWolf Professional, and it runs somewhat cooler below load. I managed transfers of 254MB/s on common, and that’s greater than what the 20TB and 22TB drives delivered.
Seagate additionally makes a 24TB model of the IronWolf Professional, and whereas these proceed to be among the many greatest NAS HDDs out there, the Exos X24 is a more sensible choice. It tends to be noisier throughout sustained reads and writes, however it is not significantly extra so than the IronWolf Professional, and in each day utilization eventualities, the drive is not audible.
Coming in at $479 for the 24TB drive, the Exos X24 prices $19.95 per terabyte, and whereas that is increased than the $16.6/TB that the 18TB Exos X18 is retailing for as of writing, you’re getting a lot better storage density.
Finally, the 24TB Exos X24 is your only option if you would like an HDD with a big capability and excellent efficiency. With Seagate switching gears to HAMR tech and specializing in drives just like the Mozaic 3+, the Exos X24 is the default alternative if you would like a CMR drive with excessive storage potential and confirmed reliability.