Question Anyone have a good recommendation for a very large capacity HDD ?

[gio2vanni86]

I been looking for a large HDD, and maybe someone here can sound off on a good one. I keep seeing 22TB drives but keep reading that their only for NAS or cloud services and wouldnt be capable of storing media on them. So can anyone sound off if say like the Ironwolf or EXOS of seagate would be okay for storage? I've seen the drives and my old seagate barracuda pro 14tb sells for more then a 20tb EXOS and was like their has to be a reason for it. I just wish they had a barrcuda at 22tb or 20tb but alas none exist so maybe someone can point me in the right direction. I've been stumped for months now and i dont want buy two 14tb if i can just buy one 22TB and be good for awhile. Thanks again.

 

[wyliec2]

I have two Seagate EXOS 16 TB drives in two different PCs - one stores copies of BD ISO or folder files and the other stores finalized MKV files. Both work just fine as shared folders on a regular PC (not NAS).

I've been looking at the 18 TB EXOS drives out now. I only use WD Red or Seagate EXOS in my builds...

One consideration, often the very largest drives available (ie. 20TB) have a cost premium compared to smaller (16-18 TB) drives.

 

[Secret-Squirrel]

I keep seeing 22TB drives but keep reading that their only for NAS or cloud services and wouldnt be capable of storing media on them.

That's not correct.

Take the WD Gold Enterprise Class 22TB drive as an example. It's designed for business-critical tasks with its enhanced reliability, speed and data protection, but it'll work just as well inside your PC.

By the way, are the Seagate 22TB drives you mention actually available for sale yet?

 

[USAFRet]

I keep seeing 22TB drives but keep reading that their only for NAS or cloud services and wouldnt be capable of storing media on them.

Absolutely incorrect.

That is a likely use, but by no means restricted to only that use.

In or attached to my NAS, I have:
14TB Seagate ST1400NM000J-2TX103
18TB Seagate ST1800NM000J-2TX103
16TB Toshiba MG08ACA16TE

The 16TB Tosh is in an external pod attached to the QNAP, and it holds only 'media files'.
Could just as easily be installed internally in my PC.

 

[BFG-9000]

Both Seagate's 20TB EXOS-X, and WDC's 22TB Ultrastar DC HC570, Purple Pro, Red Pro, and Gold drives are CMR so should perform fine in a PC.

Even SMR disks can store media files on them in a PC, just slowly (unless they are host-managed SMR drives, which would require special OS and driver support or they just won't work. I suspect that's what you've been reading about)