Seagate 3.5" 18TB, 7.2KRPM SAS3 12Gb/s 256MB,512e/4Kn - ST18000NM004J

Detailed information

HDD

Traditional rotating or platter disks are ideal for applications where maximum affordability and high capacity play the most important role. These are, for example, cold storage, NAS solutions and others. Server HDDs are significantly more reliable than desktop HDDs. Also, many of them can achieve higher read and write speeds.

SAS

Or serial-attached SCSI is used to connect hard drives and external JBOD disk shelves. It is backward compatible with SATA 2.0, so disks with 3.0 Gbit/s SATA can be connected to the SAS interface, (the SAS interface is backward compatible with older SAS but also SATA interfaces, so the SAS port on the backplane supports the SATA drive. The current most used generation is SAS 3 with a speed of 12 Gb/s, however, server manufacturers are already starting to promote SAS 4 with a speed of 24 Gb/s.

Speed

A key parameter for hard drives is the speed of rotation of the platters, which for hard drives ranges between 5400 rpm - 15000 rpm (revolutions per minute). This directly affects the speed of the disk and, of course, its price. Nowadays, hard drives are increasingly being replaced by SSD solutions.

Capacity

The capacity of a disk often determines its usage. Large capacity HDDs are used for storing and backing up large amounts of data. A large-capacity SSD is useful, for example, in cases where multiple users simultaneously work with larger volumes of data in real time. On the contrary, SSD disks, which have a small storage space, are mainly used for the operating system and its fast running, or as a boot drive or for the hypervisor.

3.5“

This format is most often found in hard drives. The advantage of these drives is mostly their capacity-to-price ratio, reliability and compatibility. 3.5” drives can be installed in most servers as well as desktop cases.