Seagate 16TB (ST16000NM002G): Recording Status
We have not found a manufacturer document stating the recording technology for this exact part number. We know what the drive is - a Seagate 16TB SAS-12G hard drive (3.5") that we track - but a recording technology printed without a source is a guess, and for RAID, NAS or ZFS use that guess is the one that matters. That is a statement about what we have found, not about what Seagate has published.
ST- Seagate product prefix. (Seagate - product part-number and model-number decoding)16000- Capacity field. 16000 denotes 16TB of formatted capacity. (Seagate - product part-number and model-number decoding)NM- Enterprise nearline family (Exos and its OEM equivalents). (Seagate - product part-number and model-number decoding)002- we have not found a Seagate document defining this segmentG- we have not found a Seagate document defining this segment
Part-number reference: ST16000NM002G — decoded segments, sibling variants and the warranty check. Live rankings this model belongs to: every 16TB hard drive · 16TB SAS drives · Seagate 16TB SAS. Product pages for this part number: Seagate Exos 16TB SAS 12G 7.2K.
We hold no SAS model with a sourced recording technology to compare against, and a drive on a different interface would not be a fair comparison - so there is no nearest-model link here.
| Maker | Seagate |
| Capacity | 16TB |
| Interface | SAS-12G |
| Recording technology | No maker source found |
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How to settle it for this drive
Read the model number on the drive's own label, then find Seagate's data sheet or product manual for that family. A document that prints ST16000NM002G in its own row of a recording-technology table settles the question. A family page that names no part numbers does not: we have found maker pages that list neither a part number nor a recording method, and we no longer count them as sources. A retailer listing is not a source either - it is a seller's description, and sellers repeat what other listings say.
Documented Seagate drives at 16TB
These Seagate part numbers at the same capacity do have a maker document on record. They are listed for comparison, not as an answer for ST16000NM002G: two part numbers at one capacity can use different recording methods.
- ST16000DM001 (BarraCuda) - not sourced
- ST16000NM001G (Exos X) - not sourced
- ST16000NE000 (IronWolf Pro) - CMR at family level
- ST16000NT001 (IronWolf Pro) - CMR at family level
- ST16000VE000 (SkyHawk AI) - not sourced
- ST16000VE002 (SkyHawk AI) - CMR
When a source turns up
When we find a maker document that names ST16000NM002G, this page will state the answer with that document linked and the date we read it, the same way our documented pages do. Until then, the honest answer is that we do not know.
In-stock drives with sourced CMR, 16TB and up
- WD Red Pro 16TB WD161KFGX - $609.99 · Buy on Amazon
- SkyHawk AI 16TB ST16000VE002 - $764.54 · Buy on Amazon
- DC HC550 18TB SATA 512MB Enterprise - $519.99 · Buy on Amazon
- WD Red Pro 18TB WD181KFGX - $537.90 · Buy on Amazon