INTRODUCTION

   Although most surveillance systems right now used in small business and houses are still previous generation ones based on DVD-R video recorders large companies have moved to the far more advanced and current generation network video recorders which use hard disk drives to store recorded data. The good news is that the market is also filled with cost-effective NVR/DVR camera kits (we will be reviewing some soon) designed for home and office use so many people are obviously using them already but since most such solutions use a single HDD to store recorded data (and usually up to just 8 cameras) it's not really as crucial to choose a model with low electrical requirements and good read/write speeds as it is with multiple HDD NVR/DVR systems that have at least 16 cameras plugged into them (video streaming issues). For that exact reason Seagate has designed their latest Surveillance HDD line and today we will be taking a look at the 3TB variant.

   Founded in 1979, Seagate is the leading provider of hard drives and storage solutions. From the videos, music and documents we share with friends and family on social networks, to servers that form the backbone of enterprise data centers and cloud-based computing, to desktop and notebook computers that fuel our personal productivity, Seagate products help more people store, share and protect their valuable digital content. Seagate offers the industry’s broadest portfolio of hard disk drives, solid-state drives and solid-state hybrid drives. In addition, the company offers an extensive line of retail storage products for consumers and small businesses, along with data-recovery services for any brand of hard drive and digital media type. Seagate employs more than 50,000 people around the world.

   Two are the key ingredients for an HDD used in devices operating 24/7 like NAS Servers and NVR systems, low electrical requirements and low temperatures (higher reliability). In single HDD devices these two features may not have a very significant impact but when we're talking about devices with multiple HDDs mounted inside then these can be the difference between smooth system operation and system failure not to mention increased electricity bills. To achieve both of the above the Surveillance HDD 3TB spins at a relatively low speed of 5900RPM which although according to Seagate allows the drive to use a maximum of 8W during operation still along with its 64MB cache can offer an average read/write data rate of 146MB/s which in turn is more than enough to support simultaneous video streaming from up to 32 cameras. So far the specs seem too good to be true for an HDD aimed for use with Surveillance NVR/DVRs so let’s see how it performs in our tests.