Seagate IronWolf Pro 30TB Review

Final Score: 87% / 87 out of 100

With its unprecedented capacity, the IronWolf Pro 30TB is a tailor-made solution for S/MB IT staff desperately trying to juggle the seemingly conflicting requirements of keeping up with ever-increasing Network Attached Storage demands… while also trying to stay on budget and avoid (or at least mitigate) costly and complex upgrades (e.g., adding storage expansion enclosures, full system overhauls, etc., etc.). The same holds true for home users desperately trying to avoid upgrading their relatively new 4 or 6-bay NAS appliance to a much costlier 8-bay option. So, if either of those scenarios (and/or archetypes) fit you and your needs to a ‘T’, then the IronWolf Pro 30TB is positioned as the sanest and most practical option available today.

Delving in a bit deeper, the Seagate IronWolf Pro 30TB’s shine does lose a bit of its luster once you start casting a wider net. Yes. It does indeed represent a significant engineering achievement in the domain of NAS, File Servers, and direct-attached storage systems/appliances/devices. However, this new 30TB variant is not quite as flexible as its predecessor(s). Yes. HAMR is a game changer. Yes. This bad boy runs cooler and (somewhat) quieter than the Exos M 30TB (and arguably some of its older predecessors). Yes. It has a better warranty than the Exos M 30TB. Yes, it is even arguably ‘better’ for home consumers than that highly refined, highly focused Enterprise drives. Sadly, there are some inherent (and mostly unavoidable) tradeoffs associated with the new IronWolf Pro philosophy, which simply did not exist in previous generations.

The largest tradeoff is in the reduction of write throughput. While it is indeed true that HAMR is enabling massive density gains, which will only increase in the coming generations, the inherently more complex and time-consuming write process represents a potentially critical issue that may not make it suitable for all S/MB systems and all environments. In fact, for workloads characterized by heavy random writes or requiring low latency, this write performance dip can be considered highly… problematic. Additionally, the increased rebuild times that come with massive 30TB drive-based array(s) demand careful architectural consideration to mitigate prolonged rebuild windows… which is further exacerbated by the quirky nature of HAMR. Which in turn adds complexity to already complex systems’ design… especially in scenarios lacking rapid failure detection and/or hot-swap redundancy and/or a generous budget.

However, in typical NAS and file server deployments (or at least those that are designed by sane and experienced professionals), these well-known performance tradeoffs are allayed by the use of equally well-known solutions. Solutions such as (additional) SSD caching, opting for a more intelligent RAID level, and/or even tiered storage strategies. All of which came about because “mega-capacity” drives have always “suffered” from these issues. Thus, they are essentially an extension of well known limitations. Not new problems introduced by this next generation ‘Wolf. As such the intended S/MB consumer should view these as manageable “quirks” and not “deal-breakers”. Of course, the key phrase there being “the intended S/MB consumer”. S/MB buyers with less critical workloads, or just smaller-scale storage needs, may be better served by opting for lower-capacity “older” generation models with better cost-performance ratios… and thus fall outside the “intended S/MB consumer” this new IronWolf Pro was optimized for. So make sure of your actual requirements before assuming ‘new == better’.

Furthermore, the overall write performance is a touch concerning. To be blunt, for the first time in our memory, we are seeing an (albeit minor at best) across-the-board reduction in write performance compared to its predecessor. The reason for this reduction all boils down to the extremely, arguably overly optimized firmware. This bad boy “should” be faster at writes (at all queue depths and file sizes) than the Exos M 30TB… as it is quite literally writing fewer bits (per write operation) than the Exos M and its overhead increasing ”super-parity” enabled firmware. Yet, as we saw throughout testing… it is slower than the Exos M 30TB. Usually slower than even its lower-density (with slower SoC) 24TB predecessor.

This issue is because Seagate not only took the time to tune the NAS-oriented firmware for HAMR (and its write… and read quirks) but also for its intended environment. Unlike true File Servers that have optimal amounts of air movement… NAS systems in general and NAS appliances in particular suffer from rather poor airflow. With the Exos M 30TB, there is a minute, but non-zero, chance of overheating with those types of appliances. So by ‘tuning’ the performance, Seagate can offer S/MB buyers a drive that consumes less power and creates less waste heat. This, in turn, virtually eliminates any chances of the NAS appliance overheating and/or shaking and baking the drives. For the intended consumer, this is not merely a Good Thing™, it is a Great Thing and a major selling point for why these types of devices should be rocking IronWolf Pro’s and not Exos M’s.

For home users who typically buy the biggest drive they can get their hands this is where “the intended S/MB consumer” caveat really comes into play. On the one hand, while heat should be a non-issue, the added noise (and profile) of the Exos M can be a deal-breaker. You really will ‘notice’ the Exos M 30TB long before you ‘notice’ the IronWolf Pro 30TB. Making the ‘Wolf Pro 30TB “better”. On the other… the last gen 24TB options are both faster and quieter than either HAMR-based series. Not significantly quieter and arguably not even noticeably faster… but the fact remains both the Exos X24 and ‘Wolf Pro 24TB are quieter and faster than the IronWolf Pro 30TB. Mix in the higher upfront cost with the fact that few home user’s ‘need’ 30TB of storage capacity, and many buyers may indeed be better served by the older Exos X24 24TB or IronWolf Pro 24TB… and putting the ~250 (USD) savings to better use on say, including a secondary 2TB SSD in their build. So, think carefully about your actual needs vs. wants. If you do that and if the IronWolf Pro 30TB is right for you… You will never want to go back to using the older tech again. HAMR is a game changer. Just one that brings along some quickish changes to an otherwise stagnant market niche.