INTRODUCTION

    Thanks to the long awaited HAMR technology 30TB hard disk drives are finally here and significantly sooner than what I had initially anticipated back in 2019 when Seagate released their first 16TB models. The recent introduction of HAMR technology based hard disk drives also effectively means that we should see 40TB models hit the global market by early to mid-2026 and if things go as planned by the people over at Seagate, we may even see 100TB capacities by 2030. My very first HAMR HDD review was of the latest EXOS M 30TB hard disk drive by Seagate a couple of weeks ago and since it delivered as advertised today, I'll be testing the also HAMR based IronWolf Pro 30TB model.

    Seagate is a global leader in mass-capacity data storage, having delivered over 4.5 billion terabytes of capacity over four decades. From edge to core to cloud, Seagate builds trust in data by delivering scalable, sustainable, and secure storage solutions. Learn more at www.seagate.com.

    Just like the Exos M 30TB the IronWolf Pro 30TB HDD (primarily designed for use with NAS) is also a helium sealed model based on Seagate’s Mozaic3+ platform and is powered by CMR (conventional magnetic recording) technology. The Mozaic3+ HAMR technology allows for more data density with improved reliability and reduced power consumption (thus carbon footprint) thanks to a combination of superlattice platinum-alloy media for the platters, plasmonic writer (nanophotonic laser, photonic funnel and quantum antenna combination), Gen 7 spintronic reader and a 12nm integrated controller. Seagate has plans for 4TB, 5TB and 6TB capacities per platter in the coming years but for now the new 30TB models feature a total of 10 platters. Moving to specifications the platters of the IronWolf Pro 30TB spin at 7200RPM while the drive itself has 512MB of cache resulting to a maximum sustained transfer rate of 275MB/s. Once again, Seagate covers their IronWolf Pro 30TB drives with a 5-year limited warranty (including 3-years or their rescue data recovery services) and reports an MTBF (meantime between failures) of 2.5 million hours.