Seagate IronWolf Pro 20TB HDD Review

1. Introduction2. Seagate IronWolf Pro 20TB3. Testing Methodology4. CrystalDiskMark5. ATTO Disk Benchmark6. 4K Random Performance7. Throughput8. Workload Scenarios9. PCMark 10 Data Drive Benchmark10. Real Life File Testing11. Closing Thoughts12. View All Pages

The global pandemic has pushed an already seemingly insatiable demand for data storage even harder. While HAMR (heat-assisted magnetic recording) and MAMR (microwave-assisted magnetic recording) technologies are seen as the way forward towards massive capacity hard drives, companies continue to squeeze every last drop of capacity from Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR) technology including Seagate whose latest flagship drive in the NAS focussed IronWolf Pro range is a whopping 20TB.

The IronWolf Pro range has been built from the ground up as heavy-duty NAS drives offering workload rates of 300TB/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. The IronWolf Pro range can be used in NAS enclosures from a single bay unit up to 24-bay. 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 enclosures 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 285MB/s for the 20TB IronWolf Pro. The best test figures we got from the drive under testing was when using CrystalDiskMark where we saw a Sequential read result of 282.7MB/s with writes a bit further back at 279.4MB/s.

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 20TB Seagate IronWolf Pro on Box.co.uk for £509.99 (inc VAT) HERE.

Pros

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

Cons

• Pricey.
  

KitGuru says: The fastest IronWolf Pro drive to date, Seagate's latest 20TB flagship drive brings an increase in capacity that users of large NAS devices, in particular, will find very useful as it may negate the need to buy additional enclosures.

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