Toshiba N300 NAS 14TB (HDWG21EEZSTA) HDD Review

1. Introduction2. Toshiba N300 NAS 14TB3. Testing Methodology4. CrystalDiskMark5. ATTO Disk Benchmark6. IOMeter 4K Random Performance7. Throughput8. Real Life File Testing9. Closing Thoughts10. View All Pages

Thanks to Helium technology, Toshiba have been able to get nine platters (discs) in a 3.5in format, albeit with a deeper, 26.1mm enclosure.  The drive has a spin speed of 7,200rpm and comes with 256MB of cache. The drive uses Toshiba’s Dynamic Cache Technology to optimise cache allocation during read/writes to maintain high performance.

Helium technology not only allows you to cram more discs in a 3.5in format, it also a handy tool to have in the fight to keep power consumption as low as possible. This benefit is nicely highlighted by the official power ratings. The power figures for the 14TB N300 are 6.77W typical when in operation and 4.54W when in active idle mode. Both of those figures are lower than the non-helium 8TB N300 model we previously reviewed, which was rated at 9.2W operating and 6.2W in active idle.

 

Having lots of hard drives inside a single enclosure, (the N300 series supports up to 8 disk enclosures) can lead to problems due to vibration and Toshiba have equipped the N300 with technologies to try and counteract any potential problems. Toshiba’s Stable Platter technology utilises a tied spindle motor to stabilise the motor drive shaft at both ends to protect against system-induced vibration, while Toshiba’s Ramp Load technology reduces disk head wear and tear.

The drive also has three built-in rotational vibration sensors to detect and compensate for drive vibration problems that might occur in multi-disk enclosures which can be a real cause for concern.

Toshiba quote a sustained transfer rate for the 14TB N300 at 260MB/s, something we were able to confirm with the ATTO benchmark, the reviewed disk producing figures of 271MB/s for reads and 272MB/s for writes.

We found the 14TB Toshiba N300 on Amazon UK for £369.96 HERE

Pros

• Fast Sequential performance.
• Extra features aid reliability in a NAS environment.

Cons

• 4K performance not as good as some of the competition.

KitGuru says: It's taken a while for Toshiba to add very large capacities to the N300 series, but with the 14TB model and the more recently released 16TB model they are now keeping pace with the competition.

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