HGST (now Western Digital) Ultrastar drives are among the most reliable enterprise HDDs available, widely used in hyperscale deployments. Backblaze data consistently ranks HGST highest for reliability.
HGST (Hitachi Global Storage Technologies) was acquired by WD in 2012 and its enterprise lines merged into the Ultrastar brand. HGST drives still appear on the market as refurbished datacenter pulls. The Ultrastar He series pioneered helium-sealed technology. HGST drives are known for above-average reliability in Backblaze's public drive failure statistics.
| $/TB ▲ | Brand / Model | Capacity | Interface | Tech | Workload | Form | Warranty | Price | Cond. | Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
👑$12.50 👑 Best | HGST 4TB SAS 12G LFF Renewed Refurb · CMR · | 4TB | SAS-12G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | — | $49.99 | REFURB | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$15.13 ✓ Great | HGST HUS724030ALS640 3TB SAS 6G Refurb · CMR · | 3TB | SAS-6G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | — | $45.39 | REFURB | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$17.00 ✓ Great | HGST Ultrastar HUS723030ALS640 3TB SAS 6G Refurb · CMR · | 3TB | SAS-6G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | — | $51.00 | REFURB | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$20.00 ✓ Great | HGST HUS724030ALA640 3TB SATA Enterprise Refurb · CMR · | 3TB | SATA-6G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | — | $59.99 | REFURB | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$20.00 ✓ Great | HGST 4TB SAS 12G LFF Renewed CMR · | 4TB | SAS-12G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | — | $79.99 | new | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$23.50 ✓ Great | HGST Ultrastar He10 10TB SAS 12G Refurb · CMR · 5yr | 10TB | SAS-12G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | 5yr | $235.00 | REFURB | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$26.53 | HGST Ultrastar He10 10TB SAS Refurb · CMR · 5yr | 10TB | SAS-12G | CMR | oltp | U.2 | 5yr | $265.32 | REFURB | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$26.93 | HGST HUS726040ALS210 4TB SAS 12G Refurb · CMR · | 4TB | SAS-12G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | — | $107.70 | REFURB | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$29.00 | HGST 12TB SAS 12G 7.2K Refurb · CMR · | 12TB | SAS-12G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | — | $347.99 | REFURB | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$31.25 | HGST Ultrastar He8 8TB SAS 12G NAS Refurb · CMR · 5yr | 8TB | SAS-12G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | 5yr | $249.99 | REFURB | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$31.90 | HGST Ultrastar He10 10TB SATA NAS Refurb · CMR · 5yr | 10TB | SATA-6G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | 5yr | $319.00 | REFURB | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$33.00 | HGST HUS724030ALS640 3TB SAS 6G CMR · | 3TB | SAS-6G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | — | $99.00 | new | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$33.00 | HGST HUS726060ALS641 6TB SAS 6G Refurb · CMR · | 6TB | SAS-6G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | — | $198.00 | REFURB | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$34.25 | HGST HUS726040ALS210 4TB SAS 12G CMR · | 4TB | SAS-12G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | — | $137.00 | new | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$36.13 | HGST Ultrastar He8 8TB SAS 12G NAS CMR · 5yr | 8TB | SAS-12G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | 5yr | $289.00 | new | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$38.44 | HGST Ultrastar He10 10TB SATA NAS CMR · 5yr | 10TB | SATA-6G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | 5yr | $384.36 | new | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$39.45 | HGST Ultrastar He10 10TB SAS CMR · 5yr | 10TB | SAS-12G | CMR | oltp | U.2 | 5yr | $394.45 | new | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$41.50 ↑ High | HGST HUS726060AL5210 6TB SAS 12G CMR · | 6TB | SAS-12G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | — | $249.00 | new | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$42.50 ↑ High | HGST Ultrastar He10 10TB SAS 12G CMR · 5yr | 10TB | SAS-12G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | 5yr | $425.00 | new | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$45.00 ↑ High | HGST 1.2TB 10K SAS 12G 2.5 CMR · | 1.2TB | SAS-12G | CMR | oltp | 2.5" | — | $54.00 | new | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$49.12 ↑ High | HGST Ultrastar He8 8TB SAS 12G Refurb · CMR · 5yr | 8TB | SAS-12G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | 5yr | $392.99 | REFURB | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$54.62 ↑ High | HGST 12TB SAS 12G 7.2K CMR · | 12TB | SAS-12G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | — | $655.49 | new | Buy →Details | ▼ |
$73.33 ↑ High | HGST HUS724030ALA640 3TB SATA Enterprise CMR · | 3TB | SATA-6G | CMR | nearline | 3.5" | — | $220.00 | new | Buy →Details | ▼ |
For the enterprise line in depth, WD Ultrastar prices carries the part-number decoder and live new-versus-refurbished pricing on both tracks. The retail/channel enterprise SATA line is covered on the WD Gold hub, with WD Gold 26TB, WD261KRYZ, Gold versus HC590 and Gold versus Red Pro pages for the 26TB decisions. The surveillance line, WD Purple and Purple Pro, is priced alongside its Seagate counterpart on the SkyHawk page, where the workload rating and recording technology are recorded per part number. For the high-capacity Purple Pro decision, start with WD Purple Pro 26TB, Purple Pro versus Red Pro and Purple Pro 26TB versus 24TB. The NAS line is on the WD Red page, which decodes Red, Red Plus and Red Pro by model-number suffix and answers the CMR-or-SMR question from WD's own documents rather than from the name on the listing.
We track 23 active HGST products, 20 of which have a buyable offer right now, all of them hard drives. Capacities run from 1.2TB to 12TB, which is the practical range to plan around rather than whatever the manufacturer's full line-up contains - a capacity nobody stocks is not a capacity you can buy.
On interface, the catalogue is SAS-12G (9), SAS-6G (3) and SATA-6G (2). That matters more than it sounds: a SAS drive needs a host bus adapter, a U.2 drive needs a backplane or an adapter, and neither will work in a machine expecting the other. Check the interface column on every row before you buy on price alone.
The cheapest HGST listing we can currently price works out at $15.13 per terabyte, which is well below the $41.67 median across every hard drives brand we track. That comparison is the useful one. A headline price tells you what a drive costs; the rate per terabyte against the category median tells you whether this manufacturer is where your money goes furthest today.
Concretely, that entry point is the HUS724030ALS640 3TB SAS 6G at $45.39, while the largest thing they have in stock is the 12TB SAS 12G 7.2K at 12TB for $655.49. Those two rows bracket the range: one is the cheapest way in, the other is the most capacity on a single unit, and the right answer is usually neither extreme.
HGST appears here in both conditions - 9 new listings and 11 recertified or used - and they are genuinely different purchases rather than the same product at two prices. New carries the manufacturer's own warranty term. Recertified carries a reseller's, which is a different promise from a different company, and the discount is the compensation for that. Our recertified guidance covers what to check on arrival.
The seller matters as much as the condition, and the two are shown separately for a reason. A listing fulfilled by Amazon can still be sold by a third party, and in a market where prices have risen sharply that distinction is worth the thirty seconds it takes to read. Our channel and counterfeit guidance covers what to look for at the point of purchase.
If you have settled on HGST, the table above is the whole picture and the cost-per-terabyte column is the ranking that matters. If you have not, the category pages are the better starting point, because they put this brand beside every other one we track at the same capacity rather than in isolation.
On price, their cheapest current listing works out at $15.13 per terabyte against a $41.67 median across every brand we track in the same category. That is the comparison we can make from live data. Whether a specific drive suits your workload is a separate question the table above cannot answer for you.
14 hard drives. That is what has listings we can verify and price, rather than everything the manufacturer produces.
Both — 9 new and 11 recertified or used in stock right now, labelled per row. They are different purchases: new carries the manufacturer's warranty, recertified carries a reseller's, and the price gap is the compensation for that difference.
From 1.2TB to 12TB across what we currently track. Availability at any single size moves week to week, so the table above is the authority rather than the range.
Every few hours, from the live listings themselves. Cost per terabyte is computed from that price and the product's real capacity, so a listing that changes price changes its ranking on this page without anyone editing anything.
HGST (now Western Digital) Ultrastar drives are among the most reliable enterprise HDDs available, widely used in hyperscale deployments. Backblaze data consistently ranks HGST highest for reliability. HGST enterprise drives are widely deployed in production datacenters and carry manufacturer warranties of 3-5 years depending on the series.
HGST storage products are used in enterprise datacenters, cloud service providers, NAS appliances, and high-performance computing environments worldwide.
Most HGST enterprise drives carry a 5-year limited warranty. NAS-grade drives typically have 3-year warranties. OEM-branded drives may carry the server manufacturer's warranty instead. Check the specific model for warranty details.