Seagate IronWolf Pro 12TB HDD Review

1. Introduction2. Seagate IronWolf Pro 12TB3. Testing Methodology4. CrystalDiskMark5. ATTO Disk Benchmark6. IOMETER7. Throughput8. Real Life File Testing9. Closing Thoughts10. View All Pages

People have been sounding the death knell for the mechanical hard drive for many years. Contrary to popular belief the mechanical hard drive is alive and kicking especially in the market sectors that the IronWolf Pro is aimed at, as demand for cheap storage shows no sign of slowing down. While is true to say that the hard disk market is in decline, an estimated 300 million units were still shipped in Q1- Q3 2017.

We all know that SSD's rule the roost when it comes to performance but the one area they lose to mechanical drives is in cost/GB – particularly when it comes to very large capacity drives. Take the Seagate IronWolf Pro 12TB, at £450 that price tag pales into insignificance when you compare it to the £9,600 asking price to be the proud owner of a 15.36TB Samsung PM1633a SSD.

The IronWolf Pro incorporates a few extras to help it survive in 24×7 multi-disk environments including AgileArray which uses rotational vibration sensors (RV), RAID optimisation and advanced power management to keep the drive running smoothly. Another technology in the IronWolf Pro (and IronWolf) drives of 4TB and above to help them survive in multi-disk enclosures is IronWolf Health Management (IHM).

In compatible NAS drives supporting IHM (check on the Seagate website for NAS compatibility) the 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.

If all else fails then then IronWolf Pro drives come with Seagate's Rescue Recovery Service in addition to the 5-year warranty. Usually the Rescue Recovery Service that comes with the drive lasts for two years, but for a limited period (until December 31st 2017) it runs for the same amount of time as the warranty – 5 years.

We found the 12TB Seagate IronWolf Pro available for pre-ordering at Overclockers UK for £449.99 HERE

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Pros

• Performance.
• 5-year warranty.
• NAS technologies.
• Rescue Recovery Service included.

Cons

• Its not cheap.

Kitguru says: Seagate's 12TB IronWolf Pro brings more storage capacity to NAS users with the added benefits of AgileArray technologies to help maintain the drive in a NAS environment and if all else fails there is the free addition of Seagate's Rescue Recovery Service.

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