HDWG51G - CMR or SMR?

CMR

The Toshiba N300 16TB (HDWG51G) uses CMR recording.

Verified against: Toshiba N300 NAS HDD product page ยท Checked

What this means for you

Conventional recording writes tracks side by side without overlap, so a write never forces the drive to rewrite neighbouring data. That makes the HDWG51G safe for every use including RAID, ZFS, a NAS, and anything with sustained random writes. A rebuild or a resilver on this drive behaves the way the array expects, which is the whole reason the distinction matters. There is no recording-technology reason to avoid this drive for any workload.

Specifications

Model numberHDWG51G
BrandToshiba
FamilyN300
Capacity16TB
Form factor3.5"
Rotational speed7200 RPM
Cache512 MB
Recording technologyCMR
Workload rate180 TB/year
Warranty3 years
StatusCurrent
Replaced byโ€”

A dash means the manufacturer does not state that field for this exact model. We leave it blank rather than filling it from a retailer listing.

Related models

Other N300 capacities
HDWG4404TBCMRHDWG4606TBCMRHDWG4808TBCMRHDWG11A10TBCMRHDWG21C12TBCMRHDWG31E14TBCMRHDWG18018TBCMR
The same capacity from other makers
ST16000DM00116TBCMRST16000VE00216TBCMRST16000NE00016TBCMR
Share:WhatsAppFacebookPost on X

Frequently asked questions

Is the HDWG51G CMR or SMR?

It is CMR. That comes from Toshiba N300 NAS HDD product page, which is Toshiba's own documentation for this exact part number rather than a capacity-level summary or a retailer listing.

Can I use the HDWG51G in a NAS or RAID array?

Yes. Conventional recording means a write never forces neighbouring tracks to be rewritten, so rebuilds and resilvers behave normally. There is no recording-technology objection to this drive in an array, check the workload rating and warranty for your duty cycle separately.

Check another model โ†’
Paste any part number
Full CMR/SMR list โ†’
Every drive we track, live prices
Decode a model number โ†’
What the letters mean
Is SMR OK for NAS? โ†’
The honest answer