CONCLUSION

   When the very first SSDs made their appearance in the market the vast performance difference between them and HDDs had many people saying that it was the beginning of the end for mechanical drives. The same thing happened when the first SATA III SSDs were unveiled since they produced even higher performance numbers and thus a larger performance gap compared to regular mechanical drives. Fast forward nearly 6 years after that and mechanical drives are not only still around but their performance levels have doubled and they have literally nothing to fear from SSDs when it comes to their superior price/capacity ratio. Coming back to the IronWolf Pro 12TB hard disk drive for NAS there’s not much more we can say than what we did when we tested the regular IronWolf 12TB model. Performance wise the IronWolf 12TB sits at the top of our charts (SATA drives) while in terms of durability thanks to its MTBF of 1.2 million hours and 300TB/year workload rate it has very limited competition. Its average operating power of 7.8W (as stated by Seagate) may not be its strongest selling point but it’s just as good or better as any drive featuring a rotational speed of 7200RPM.

   The 12TB variants of the entire Guardian line of hard disk drives by Seagate was announced less than a month ago so naturally their prices are still set quite high. To be more specific the IronWolf Pro 12TB hard disk drive for NAS currently retails for USD507.55 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 513Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) a price tag which is indeed set quite high. Of course for that amount you’re getting one of the fastest and most durable SATA III hard disk drives in the market today that’s also covered with a 5 year warranty so once again it all comes down to your needs and requirements. That being said once again at the end of the day the IronWolf Pro 12TB Hard Disk Drive by Seagate is among the fastest and most durable models currently available in the market and that’s why it gets our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (300WRL / 1.2 Million Hours MTBF)
- Top Of The Charts Performance (SATA)
- 256MB Cache
- 12TB's Capacity
- Temperatures / Noise Levels / Power Consumption
- Enclosure Material (Low Temperatures)
- 5 Year Limited Warranty

CONS

- Price (For Some)