Performance: 39 out of 40
As we have come to expect from Seagate’s IronWolf Pro series, the newest 2024 addition is faster and stays faster than ever before. Ten 2.4TB platters using twenty TDMR r/w apertures combined with ‘old school’ firmware is a, known good, winning combination… so we would have been greatly disappointed if it had been anything other than best in class.
Technological Innovation: 17 out of 20
Much like the Exos X24 the innovation stems from the fact that Seagate has been able to up the total drive capacity without upping the platter count. The same could not be said of the last generation and we are glad to see Seagate once again return their roots as true innovators of the industry.
Build Quality & Warranty: 20 out of 20
NAS drives need to be reliable. Yes. They may not get hammered as much as true Enterprise grade drives… but they do indeed get slammed hard in a S/MB Network Attached Storage device, a Network, Storage Server… and sometimes even in a DAS device. This is why we loved the fact that Seagate went to using the Exos X hardware as the foundation for the IronWolf Pro series and it, once again, pays dividends in the peace of mind category. This really is a drive you can plug in, and forget about for years… and yet expect it to hum along doing what it does best: providing reliable and relatively blazing fast mega-capacity storage.
Value:16 out of 20
When dealing with flagship models value is always going to be variable. Much like Dragon’s Tears are salty or sweet depending on the person, so too will the 24TB capacity version of the vaunted IronWolf Pro series be either considered a great value, or an incurability disappointing one. Yes. The price has remained the same. Yes, that is still a lot of money. As such if you do not really care about drive density, or do not have the network backbone to take advantage of what 2-8 of these in a simple R5/R6 array can do, then the smaller (and cheaper by total cost and per GB) capacity versions may be a better value. Thus we have split the difference and ensured everyone will be unhappy with our rating of 16.
Final Score: 92% / 92 out of 100
The IronWolf Pro series has always been a fan favorite in a wide swath of the buying public. Everyone from home enthusiasts, to SMB network admin love this series. They love them for their excellent blend of reliability, performance, value, and even peace of mind. All of which define the new 2024 24TB variant to a T. Yes, buyers now have to think a bit more about read vs. write performance but one thing remains constant… it is hard to go wrong when you opt for an IronWolf Pro.
