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Home » Seagate IronWolf vs WD Red: Which NAS Internal Hard Drives are Better?

Seagate IronWolf vs WD Red: Which NAS Internal Hard Drives are Better?

Seagate IronWolf vs WD Red

A hard drive is a non-volatile device with a variety of capacities. It comes with excellent transfer speed and an attractive design. The hard drive is portable and has a long lifespan. The hard drive writes data in a platter disk that does not wear out. It is available in a variety of form factors and colors. The hard drive doesn’t cost much. So, let’s compare the Seagate IronWolf vs WD Red, and choose which is better.

The Seagate IronWolf comes with an AgileArray with CMR technology for NAS Optimization. It has an MBTF of 1.2 million hours and a multi-user optimization of 300 TB/year. The WD Red is a Network Access Storage drive and comes with a great lifespan. It is primarily designed for Network Systems. The WD Red hard drive can also be used for home and personal use. It comes with up to 8 days for processing and storing data.

Seagate IronWolf vs WD Red – Similarities

So, let’s take a look at their similarities.

Uses

The Seagate IronWolf and the WD Red can be used on most laptops or Desktops with Windows, Windows Server, and Linux operating systems. They can keep photos, applications, and videos effectively. Both devices can be used conveniently in NAS and RAID environments.

Compatibility

These devices are compatible with most PC and enterprise operating systems. The Seagate IronWolf and WD Red are designed for home and personal use, use in an enterprise-grade storage system, and data centers.

NAS

The Seagate IronWolf and WD Red are built and tested for home and personal NAS systems with up to 8-bays. They offer a wide array of storage for customers or clients looking to build a NAS Solution. The Seagate IronWolf offers RAID Support and one million hours MBTF. They come with a workload of 180 TB/year.

Vibration Technology

The Seagate IronWolf and the WD Red have enhanced vibration protection technology for improved performances in vibration environments.

Warranty

The Seagate IronWolf and the WD Red both come with up to 5-year limited warranty.

 

Side by Side Comparison

Name

Seagate Ironworlf

Seagate IronWolf

WD Red

WD Red

Form FactorM.2 NVME, 2.5, and 3.5 inches2.5 and 3.5 inches
CapacityM.2 NVME – 240GB, 480GB, 960GB, and 1.92TB

2.5 inch – 240GB, 250GB, 480GB, 500GB, 960GB, 1TB, 1.96TB, 2TB, 3.84TB, and 4TB

3.5 inch – 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, and 18TB

 

2.5 inch – 1TB

3.5 inch – 1TB, 2TB, 3TB,  4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, and 18TB

Speed5400, 5900, and 7200 rpm

 

5400 rpm and 7200 rpm
RAID SupportAll configurationAll configuration
Workload180 TB/year180 TB/year
MTBF1 million hours1 million hours
Load/unload600,000600,000
InterfaceSATA and PCIeSATA
CacheUp to 64MB to 256MB for all form factorUp to 256MB for 3.5-inch form factor
CompatibilityWindows, Windows server, and LinuxWindows, Windows server, and Linux
PriceCheck Price on AmazonCheck Price on Amazon

Differences Between Seagate IronWolf and WD Red

In this section, we will take a look at the difference between the Seagate IronWolf and the WD Red.

Capacity

They also have different storage capacities.

Seagate IronWolf Review

  • Seagate IronWolf: This Seagate IronWolf comes with variety of hard drive. It comes with a M.2 NVME (2280) form factor with capacities such as 240GB, 480GB, 960GB, and 1.92TB. This drive comes with a 2.5-inch SSD with capacities such as 240GB, 250GB, 480GB, 500GB, 960GB, 1TB, 1.96TB, 2TB, 3.84TB, and 4TB. The Seagate IronWolf 3.5-inch HDD with capacities 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, and 12TB. This Seagate IronWolf also comes with 3.5-inch Seagate IronWolf Pro HDD with capacities like 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, and 18TB.
  • WD Red: The WD Red comes with a 2.5-inch WD Red Plus hard drive with 1TB storage capacity. The WD Red comes with a 3.5-inch hard drive with capacities such as 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, and 6TB. It comes with a 3.5-inch WD Red Plus hard drive with capacities like 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, and 14TB. It also comes with a 3.5-inch WD Red Pro hard drive with capacities such as 2TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, and 18TB.

Read next – WD Green vs WD Red: Which Hard Drives Are better?

Disk Speed

Both devices come with different revolutions per minute (RPM).

WD Red Comparison

  • Seagate IronWolf: This hard drive comes with 5400 rpm, 5900 rpm, and 7200 rpm.
  • WD Red: This WD Red only comes with a speed of 5400 rpm.

Read next – WD Red vs WD Blue: Which Hard Drives are Better?

Interface

Seagate IronWolf Comparison

  • Seagate IronWolf: The Seagate IronWolf comes with SATA and PCIe connectivity.
  • WD Red: This hard drive only supports SATA connectivity.

Other features

WD Red Review

  • Seagate IronWolf: It comes with an AgileArray feature that allows RAID optimization in multi-bay environments and dual-plane balancing. This device actively protects your NAS with its IronWolf Health Management feature.
  • WD Red: This drive comes with NASware 3.0 technology to improve system storage performances.

Pros and Cons

Before our final verdict, we will go over a few pros and cons of the Seagate IronWolf and the WD Red.

Seagate IronWolf

Pros

  • It comes with a silent operation.
  • It is affordable.
  • Efficient for Network Systems.

Cons

  • Only devices that are greater than 6GB have 7200 rpm.

WD Red

Pros

  • It comes with excellent performance and it’s suitable for NAS and RAID environments.
  • It delivers a good transfer speed and storage capacity.
  • It delivers great sharing with your network and devices, stereo, TV, and more.

Cons

  • It gets damaged if it’s not properly managed.

The Final Verdict

The Seagate IronWolf and the WD Red are great hard drives with up to 8 bays enclosure. They have a workload of180 TB/year and an MTBF of 1 million hours. Both devices come with great design and storage capacities. They are specifically designed for NAS operation. The Seagate IronWolf and the WD Red have great heat resistance and vibration resistant, and they can run 24 hours a day 7 times a day operation. They also come with a longer life span.

After considering the features, we decided to choose the Seagate IronWolf as the better option. Although the Seagate IronWolf and the WD Red come with similar feature the Seagate IronWolf comes with varieties of capacity which are affordable and convenient to use. Its design is great and they work efficiently in NAS environments.