DatacenterDisk

WD Ultrastar vs WD Ultrastar

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

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Our Recommendation
👑
WD Ultrastar 12TB SATA HUH721212ALE604

WD Ultrastar 12TB SATA HUH721212ALE604 wins on both price ($25.00/TB) and warranty (5 years).

Best $/TB: WD
Best Warranty: WD
Best for RAID: WD
Full Specification Comparison
Spec
WD
Ultrastar 12TB SATA HUH721212ALE604
$25.00/TB
WD
Ultrastar 12TB SATA HUH721212ALE604
$27.50/TB
Brand
WD
WD
Model
Ultrastar 12TB SATA HUH721212ALE604
Ultrastar 12TB SATA HUH721212ALE604
Series
Ultrastar HC520
Ultrastar HC520
Part Number
HUH721212ALE604
HUH721212ALE604
$/TB
👑$25.00
$27.50
Price
$299.99
$329.99
Condition
Refurb
Refurb
Capacity
12TB
12TB
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
256MB
Sector Size
512e
512e
Workload Rating
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
WD
WD
NAS Storage
●●●
●●●
Backup Target
●●●
●●●
OLTP Database
●
●
Cold Archive
●●
●●
Virtualization
●
●
AI/ML Storage
●
●
Buying Recommendation
Choose WD Ultrastar 12TB SATA HUH721212ALE604 if:
  • ✓ You need maximum storage per dollar
  • ✓ You're building a RAID array and need guaranteed CMR compatibility
  • ✓ Your server runs 24/7 under heavy sustained load
  • ✓ You're comfortable with datacenter refurb to maximize savings
Buy WD →
Choose WD Ultrastar 12TB SATA HUH721212ALE604 if:
  • ✓ You need 5-year warranty coverage for production
  • ✓ You're comfortable with datacenter refurb to maximize savings
Buy WD →

Frequently Asked Questions

WD Ultrastar offers better value at $25.00/TB vs $27.50/TB - a 9% 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.

WD Ultrastar 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.