DatacenterDisk

Seagate Exos vs WD Ultrastar

Side-by-side spec and price comparison. Live data from Amazon US.

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Our Recommendation
👑
WD Ultrastar DC HC530 14TB SATA 4Kn NAS

WD Ultrastar DC HC530 14TB SATA 4Kn NAS wins on both price ($20.00/TB) and warranty (5 years).

Best $/TB: WD
Best Warranty: WD
Best for RAID: WD
Full Specification Comparison
Spec
Seagate
Exos X14 14TB SATA Enterprise
$42.85/TB
WD
Ultrastar DC HC530 14TB SATA 4Kn NAS
$20.00/TB
Brand
Seagate
WD
Model
Exos X14 14TB SATA Enterprise
Ultrastar DC HC530 14TB SATA 4Kn NAS
Series
Exos X14
Ultrastar DC
Part Number
ST14000NM0018
WUH721414ALN604
$/TB
$42.85
👑$20.00
Price
$599.94
$279.99
Condition
New
New
Capacity
14TB
14TB
Interface
SATA-6G
SATA-6G
Form Factor
3.5"
3.5"
Drive Type
HDD
HDD
Recording Tech
CMR
CMR
RPM
7,200
7,200
Cache
256MB
512MB
Sector Size
512e
4Kn
Workload Rating
👑550TB/yr
👑550TB/yr
DWPD
N/A
N/A
Warranty
👑5 years
👑5 years
Workload Tier
nearline
nearline
In Stock
✓ In Stock
✓ In Stock
Buy
Buy on Amazon →
Buy on Amazon →
Workload Fit
Workload
Seagate
WD
NAS Storage
●●●
●●●
Backup Target
●●●
●●●
OLTP Database
●
●
Cold Archive
●●
●●
Virtualization
●
●
AI/ML Storage
●
●
Buying Recommendation
Choose Seagate Exos X14 14TB SATA Enterprise if:
  • ✓ Your server runs 24/7 under heavy sustained load
  • ✓ You need new-with-warranty for compliance or budgeting
Buy Seagate →
Choose WD Ultrastar DC HC530 14TB SATA 4Kn NAS if:
  • ✓ You need maximum storage per dollar
  • ✓ You need 5-year warranty coverage for production
  • ✓ You're building a RAID array and need guaranteed CMR compatibility
  • ✓ Your server runs 24/7 under heavy sustained load
Buy WD →

Frequently Asked Questions

WD Ultrastar offers better value at $20.00/TB vs $42.85/TB - a 53% price difference. Factor in warranty length and workload rating when the price gap is small.

Mixing drives of different models in RAID is not recommended even if capacities match. Different firmware, error handling and seek patterns can cause rebuild issues. Use identical drives within the same RAID group for reliable operation.

Both drives carry 5-year warranties and are built for enterprise operation. Check brand-specific AFR data and Backblaze drive stats for real-world failure rate comparisons.

Seagate Exos is the better fit for NAS storage. It uses CMR recording which is safe for all RAID levels. SATA interface is compatible with all NAS platforms including Synology, QNAP and TrueNAS.