Performance: 30 out of 40
Much like the IronWolf 125 series, the IronWolf 510 has been designed with satisfying all of the needs of a very specific group of buyers. So while the IronWolf 510 is one of a very select few S/MB M.2 drives we would trust to survive NAS caching duties many of those features make it a touch ‘slow’ outside of its niche. Still good, with very good read performance, but relatively slower than other Guardian 510 and 520 models offer outside of NAS caching situations. That is the trade-off you have to make. We have split the difference and called the average a 30 out 40. In reality you will either consider it “amazing” or “meh”. Adjust your final score accordingly.
Technological Innovation: 20 out of 20
It actually is hard to describe just how amazing a piece of engineering this model is. Typically when you put ‘M.2’ and ‘NAS R/W Cache’ in the same sentence what you get is ‘early death’ or ‘silent corruption of data’. The fact of the matter is the M2 2280 form-factor may free up SATA/SAS ports for ‘real’ storage but the itty-bitty form-factor really makes it darn difficult to create a drive tough enough to survive (let alone thrive under) the constant hammering it will undergo. That is what the IronWolf 510 was designed to do and Seagate really knocked it out of the park.
Build Quality & Warranty: 20 out of 20
When you take an excellent warranty, pair it with generous total bytes written ratings, and then add in years of free Rescue services the only people who will complain on the warranty front are those who want/need/desire Rescue services for the full warranty period. That is it. On the build quality front, the only ones who will complain about this M.2 drive are those who feel the need for (write) speed… as the E12DC is getting a bit long in the tooth. Considering when this drive was released those people need to shut the hell up and wait for the inevitable IronWolf 520… or be prepared to pay true enterprise prices for what other manufactures demand for their versions.
Value: 13 out of 20
When it comes to perceived value of the IronWolf 510… it will be in the eye of the beholder on whether or not this is an excellent value (easily 18 out 20) or a rather mediocre one (at best 8 out of 20). We sincerely doubt anyone will fall in between these extremes as this is an ‘all or nothing’ design that is not meant to satisfy all needs for all people. Instead, it was designed to satisfy the needs of a very specific group of buyers and that is what it delivers. Sadly, being so optimized for one group means it does lack the flexibility to be a truly excellent value outside its niche. As such we have split the difference and called it 13 out of 20, but most will find it to be either ‘perfect’ or ‘hard to justify’. Adjust your own score accordingly.
Final Score: 83%
The IronWolf 510 series certainly will not be right for everyone but what Seagate has created is nevertheless impressive. In one fell swoop they have shown other solid-state drive manufactures how to do NAS caching right as this M.2 drive is (relatively) fast, extremely robust, extremely protective of your precious data and does all that while not costing an arm and a leg. Color us impressed.
