[section label=”Introduction”]
For many folks, the idea of a NAS drive is still a tough concept form the grasp. Many people have no idea about the benefits of a NAS drive or what it’s all about in the first place. It is agreed upon thought that these drives are intended for NAS device usage and with the NAS market growing at a steady-pace, more and more companies are trying to deliver solutions intended for SOHO and small NAS implementations. Sure you can use any drives in your NAS but if you’re critical about data integrity and device stability, that’s what exactly what NAS drives offer. In this review, we’ll take a look at the Segate NAS HDD featuring capacities up to 4TB and features Seagate’s very own NASWorks firmware. Read on!
Seagate has gone the extra mile to ensure compatibility of their NAS HDD with major NAS vendors to guarantee that their NAS drives are certified to meet the stringent requirements of NAS vendors like vibration reduction, error recovery, power management and data integrity. Right now there’s stiff competition for Seagate with their NAS HDD, but the company is focusing on delivering a reliable drive that’s quiet, safe and fast for NAS users. Let’s take a closer look at the Seagate NAS HDD. Read on!
[section label=”Features”]
Features
- Specifically designed to minimise rotational vibration (RV) effects typically found in multi-drive solutions, improving system performance and reliability
- Advanced power profiles tailor low power options for always-on NAS applications
- Extended error recovery controls help to ensure drives comply with NAS system requirements for better data integrity
- 3 Year Limited Warranty so you can rest easy with your drive choice
- Try buying NAS HDD with Seagate Rescue Recovery Service Option for 360 degree data protection
[section label=”Specifications”]
Specifications
[table style=”table-striped”]| Specifications | 4TB | 3TB | 2 TB |
| Model Number | ST4000VN000 | ST3000VN000 | ST2000VN000 |
| +Rescue Model Number | ST4000VN003 | — | ST2000VN001 |
| Interface Options | SATA 6Gb/s | SATA 6Gb/s | SATA 6Gb/s |
| Halogen-free | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| NASWorks | |||
| Number of Drive Bays Supported | 1 to 8 | 1 to 8 | 1 to 8 |
| Dual-Plane Balance | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Vibration Tolerance for Small NAS | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Error Recovery Control | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| +Rescue Data Recovery Service | |||
| 3-Year Option With +Rescue Model | Yes | — | Yes |
| Performance | |||
| Cache, Multi-segmented (MB) | 64 | 64 | 64 |
| SATA Transfer Rates Supported (Gb/s) | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Standby to Ready (typical, sec) | <17 | <17 | <17 |
| Max Sustained Data Rate OD (MB/s) | 180 | 180 | 159 |
| Voltage | |||
| Voltage Tolerance, Including Noise (5V) | ±5% | ±5% | ±5% |
| Voltage Tolerance, Including Noise (12V) | ±10% | ±10% | ±10% |
| Power Management | |||
| Start-up Current 12V (amps max) | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Operating, Average (W) | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.3 |
| Idling Average (W) | 3.95 | 3.95 | 3.0 |
| Standby/Sleep Mode (typical, W) | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Environmental | |||
| Temperature (°C) | |||
| Operating (ambient min) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Operating (drive case max) | 70 | 70 | 70 |
| Non-operating (ambient) | –40 to 70 | –40 to 70 | –40 to 70 |
| Temperature Gradient, Operating/Non-operating (°C per hour max) | 20/30 | 20/30 | 20/30 |
| Shock | |||
| Operating: 2ms (max, Gs) | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| Non-operating 2ms (max, Gs) | 300 | 300 | 300 |
| Acoustics | |||
| Idle (typical, bels)2 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
| Operational (typical, bels) | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.1 |
| Reliability | |||
| Load/Unload3 | 600,000 | 600,000 | 600,000 |
| Non-recoverable Read Errors per Bits Read, Max | 1 per 1014 | 1 per 1014 | 1 per 1014 |
| Power-on Hours | 8,760 | 8,760 | 8,760 |
| Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF, hours) | 1M | 1M | 1M |
| Warranty, Limited (years) | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Physical | |||
| Height (mm/in, max) | 26.11/1.028 | 26.11/1.028 | 26.11/1.028 |
| Width (mm/in, max) | 101.6/4.0 | 101.6/4.0 | 101.6/4.0 |
| Depth (mm/in, max) | 146.99/5.787 | 146.99/5.787 | 146.99/5.787 |
| Weight (g/lb, max) | 610/1.345 | 610/1.345 | 535/1.18 |
| Carton Unit Quantity | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| Cartons per Pallet | 40 | 40 | 40 |
| Cartons per Layer | 8 | 8 | 8 |
Closer Look
PERFORMANCE TESTING
Test Setup
Processor: Intel Core i7 3770K
Motherboard: MSI Z77 Mpower
Memory: Kingston HyperX Beast DDR3-2400 16GB
Storage: SEAGATE NAS HDD 2TB (ST2000VN000)
PSU: Seasonic Platinum P1000
NAS: Synology DS215j
Router: ASUS RT-AC66U
Potential Performance
ATTO Disk Benchmark benchmarks a drive’s read and write speeds with increasing file sizes and graphs them.
Potential Write Performance
For potential write testing, HD Tune was used to measure the drive’s write performance. Again, we focus on the average results for real-world relevance.
Crystal DiskMark
Crystal Disk Mark is storage benchmarking software was developed by “hiyohiyo” of Japan, and is available for free. Crystal Disk Mark measures sequential, and random read/write speeds of storage devices.
Real-world Test: File Transfer
We’ve taken our compression test files, a collection of images, documents and other files ranging from 1KB to 50MB amounting to 3,343 files for 3GB and a single, large 12GB file. We’re posting the raw transfer results for your reference. Test data is copied off a PCI-express SSD.
NAS Transfer
For this test, we’re using a Synology DS215j 2-bay NAS with the Seagate NAS HDD configured in single drive configuration connected to our gigabit network. We’re copying off files from our PCI-e SSD to ensure maximum throughput.
Conclusion
From a performance standpoint, its easy to dismiss the Seagate NAS HDD as just another hard drive but as we’ve pointed out Seagate has intended their NAS HDD specially for SOHO and small NAS owners. These devices still maintain their enterprise bloodline in some form as many NAS owners want a highly reliable device with minimal downtime, with some owners stringent about the security of data. Still, capacity and performance are still key factors here and Seagate offers a good capacity range from 2TB, 3TB and 4TB. Couple this with the specialized NASWorks firmware from Seagate that ensures the Seagate NAS HDD delivers solid levels of data integrity and low power consumption which is key for many applications of NAS devices.
Going back to performance, we get a highly capable drive able to deliver good numbers across the board. We would’ve loved to see performance from multiple Seagate NAS HDDs in an array because the single drive alone doesn’t do justice to what this drive is able to deliver. The main point here is that for NAS users, you’re getting an optimized product that is capable of delivering the necessary features that are important for a NAS.
All in all, the Seagate NAS HDD is a good choice if you’re after a highly reliable drive for your NAS device.
The Seagate NAS HDD comes in 2TB, 3TB and 4TB capacities and is backed by a 3-year warranty. We give it our B2G Recommended Award!
