Which is the best hard drive to buy in 2022. A Seagate model defies all expectations

The best hard drive to buy in 2022, confirmed by one of the largest cloud storage service providers.

Blackblaze published the report for 2021, detailing the cumulative failure rate of several consumer hard drive models, signed by brands such as Western Digital, Seagate, Hitachi and Toshiba.

Offering consumers a rare opportunity to see not only which manufacturers offer the best hard drives, but also which exact models they might be wary of, Backblaze makes a discordant note with other content companies that are content. in publishing a general ranking of producers, or keep these data secret so as not to spoil their good relations with suppliers.

With a reasonable degree of accuracy, the statistical data were obtained on the basis of a number of 206,928 hard disks, totaling 65,929,573 cumulative operating days. In total, 1820 defective HDDs arrived in the recyclable waste bin, representing 1.01% of the total devices in operation.

The results are even more interesting when Backblaze uses regular hard drives for consumption, but subject to an intensive mode of operation that can highlight fairly quickly the models prone to accelerated wear or other design problems.

Adding to 38214 units, the Toshiba MG07ACA14RA hard drive series (14TB capacity) is the most common in the company’s racks, with an estimated annual failure rate of 0.77% per year being absolutely reasonable in terms of intensive use. meet on a regular PC. With 20201 units, the Seagate STI2000NM0008 (12TB) is another safe choice, with a defect rate of 1.08% per year. At the opposite end is a Seagate model, STI4000NM0138 (14TB), with a defect rate of 4.79%, but compared to a relatively small batch of 1611 units.

Of the non-Seagate hard drives, the only one that draws attention through an above average failure rate is the Toshiba MD04ABA400V (4TB) with an estimated annual failure rate of 2.04%.

Represented with a group of 886 drives, the most reliable hard drive seems to be a Seagate model that has been in Blackblaze racks for almost seven years. This is the 6TB ST6000DX000 model, with a failure rate calculated at only 0.11%, corresponding to a single failed hard drive throughout the year 2021.

Used in large enough numbers so that the accuracy of the measurements cannot be easily questioned, the Western Digital WUH721816ALE6LO (16TB) series of hard drives seem to be another great choice for consumers looking for a high capacity HDD and proven reliability. And for this model, only one HDD out of the 1767 units used failed in 2021 (0.14% of the total).