DatacenterDisk

Toshiba MG08 vs WD Ultrastar

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

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Our Recommendation
👑
Toshiba MG08 16TB SAS

Toshiba MG08 16TB SAS balances price ($37.63/TB), warranty (5 years), and 550TB/yr workload rating for the best overall value.

Best $/TB: WD
Best Warranty: Toshiba
Best for RAID: Toshiba
Full Specification Comparison
Spec
Toshiba
MG08 16TB SAS
$37.63/TB
WD
Ultrastar 16TB SAS WUH721816AL5205
$32.81/TB
Brand
Toshiba
WD
Model
MG08 16TB SAS
Ultrastar 16TB SAS WUH721816AL5205
Series
MG Series
Ultrastar HC550
Part Number
MG08SDA16TE
WUH721816AL5205
$/TB
$37.63
👑$32.81
Price
$602.00
$525.00
Condition
New
Refurb
Capacity
16TB
16TB
Interface
SAS-12G
SAS-12G
Form Factor
3.5"
3.5"
Drive Type
HDD
HDD
Recording Tech
CMR
CMR
RPM
7,200
N/A (SSD)
Cache
—
—
Sector Size
512e
512e
Workload Rating
550TB/yr
—
DWPD
N/A
N/A
Warranty
5 years
—
Workload Tier
nearline
nearline
In Stock
Check
✓ In Stock
Buy
Buy on Amazon →
Buy on Amazon →
Workload Fit
Workload
Toshiba
WD
NAS Storage
●●
●●
Backup Target
●●●
●●●
OLTP Database
●
●
Cold Archive
●●●
●●●
Virtualization
●
●
AI/ML Storage
●●
●●
Buying Recommendation
Choose Toshiba MG08 16TB SAS if:
  • ✓ 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
  • ✓ You need new-with-warranty for compliance or budgeting
Buy Toshiba →
Choose WD Ultrastar 16TB SAS WUH721816AL5205 if:
  • ✓ You need maximum storage per dollar
  • ✓ You're comfortable with datacenter refurb to maximize savings
  • ✓ You need high-density storage for bulk/archive workloads
Buy WD →

Frequently Asked Questions

WD Ultrastar offers better value at $32.81/TB vs $37.63/TB - a 13% 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.

Toshiba MG08 carries a longer 5-year warranty vs unknown years for WD Ultrastar. Longer warranty typically correlates with manufacturer confidence in reliability.

Toshiba MG08 is the better fit for NAS storage. It uses CMR recording which is safe for all RAID levels. SAS interface requires a SAS HBA or SAS-capable NAS.