Performance: 38 out of 40
No this is not the ‘fastest’ SATA Solid State Drive available, especially the 240GB capacity model. What it is however is one of the most stable and consistent SATA drives you will find. So, while certain tests do show it loosing, sometimes ‘badly’, the reality is over the long haul this drive will be faster than most. More importantly, its firmware is razor sharp and refined for Network Attached Storage duties. This is a potent one-two combination that makes its performance darn near perfect for its intended customer.
Technological Innovation: 20 out of 20
Even though most, but not all, of the low-level enhancements Seagate has included in the IronWolf 110 SSD have been seen before we can not think of another series in recent memory that combines them all in one package. Everything from TIM instead of a heat pad for the controller, to variable sized pseudo-SLC cache buffer, to even over-provisioning customization, combines in to one highly innovative package. A package that is built more to Enterprise grade levels rather than SMB or SOHO standards.
Build Quality & Warranty: 18 out of 20
The only possible way Seagate could improve upon the build quality or warranty was to have opted for MLC NAND instead of TLC. This would have made it even more durable, but there does come a point where durability for the sake of durability is not called for. Whether or not the IronWolf 110 SSD 240GB is past this point remains to be seen, but what is certainly true is that MLC NAND would have significantly raised the asking price and arguably made the IronWolf 110 SSD less optimal for its targeted consumer.
Value: 20 out of 20
While it is indeed true you can find cheaper SATA solid-state drives to use as a Solid State Drive cache buffer, the fact of the matter is those drives are cheap for a reason. The IronWolf 110 SSD may cost a bit more, but you get one heck of a lot more value. So much so it is the new gold standard for SSD Cache drives.
Final Score: 96 out of 100
Thanks to numerous low-level innovations, the Seagate IronWolf 110 series is the only TLC-NAND based solid state drive series worthy of your consideration if you are looking to either boost performance of a NAS or simply increase the consistency of your NAS’ performance. Mix in a great five year warranty with a rather reasonable asking price and it is about as close to perfect – for its market niche – as we have seen to date.
