The Seagate Exos 16TB SAS 12G 7.2K is a 16TB SAS-12G HDD in used condition. It is in stock at $637.44 - $39.84/TB.
Part number: ST16000NM002G — decoded, with sibling variants and the warranty check.
Before you buy: this is a SAS drive
SAS drives do not plug into a normal SATA motherboard port. You need a SAS host bus adapter or a backplane that speaks SAS - an LSI/Broadcom HBA in IT mode is the usual answer. A SATA drive will run on a SAS controller, but not the other way round. HBA and IT-mode guide
This is a refurbished or recertified listing
Recertified enterprise drives are pulled from datacentre fleets, tested and resold. They are usually the cheapest route to bulk capacity, and the risk is concentrated in the first weeks - so check SMART data the day it arrives rather than the day you need it. What recertified means · Refurbished warranty terms · Verify on arrival
The Seagate Exos 16TB SAS 12G 7.2K is a 16TB SAS-12G enterprise drive at $39.84/TB - CMR recording makes it safe for all RAID levels and NAS deployments. As a refurbished unit, run SMART diagnostics on arrival and verify power-on hours.
Against every other drive we have an in-stock price for today, this one is cheaper per tb than 40% of them (98 of 245). The cheapest we can currently buy is $14.99/TB; the middle of the market is $35.83/TB.
These are third-party figures about the retail market as a whole, quoted and dated. They are not our own measurements and they do not describe this specific drive.
Yes. The Exos 16TB SAS 12G 7.2K uses CMR recording which is fully compatible with all RAID levels. It is rated for 550TB/year workload.
5-year manufacturer warranty. This listing is a refurbished/renewed unit - verify seller warranty before purchase.
Compatible with any server or workstation equipped with a SAS HBA or SAS backplane. Tested with Dell PowerEdge, HPE ProLiant, Supermicro and IBM System x platforms.
Use Case Scenarios
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Home & SMB NAS
Building a high-capacity NAS for media, backups and file sharing.
✓ Excellent fit
CMR recording is RAID-safe and fully compatible with Synology, QNAP, TrueNAS and UnRAID. Refurb units offer strong value for non-critical NAS.
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Backup Server / Veeam Target
Dedicated backup storage for Veeam, Commvault, or NetBackup.
✓ Excellent fit
16TB SAS drives are ideal for backup targets. Dual-port SAS suits dual-path backup infrastructure.
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Object Storage / Cold Data Tier
High-density storage for MinIO, Ceph or Hadoop at scale.
✓ Excellent fit
At 16TB per drive, a 60-bay JBOD delivers 960TB raw — enough for petabyte-scale object storage.
Maintenance & Troubleshooting
Maintenance Checklist
On installCheck SMART baseline on arrival
Run smartctl -a /dev/sdX and record: Reallocated_Sector_Ct, Power_On_Hours, Spin_Retry_Count. Critical for refurb drives — refuse any with reallocated sectors > 0.
MonthlyRun SMART short self-test
smartctl -t short /dev/sdX — takes 1-2 minutes, catches most developing issues. Schedule during off-peak.
QuarterlyRun SMART long self-test
smartctl -t long /dev/sdX — full surface scan, takes 8 hours for 16TB. Any test failure is grounds for immediate replacement.
QuarterlyCheck RAID array health
Verify no degraded drives. A degraded array with no hot spare is one failure from data loss. Check mdstat or controller UI.
AnnuallyVerify drive firmware version
Check Seagate support site for firmware updates. Some versions have known bugs affecting integrity.
Every 3-5 yearsPlan proactive replacement
Enterprise HDDs have higher failure rates after year 4-5. At 16TB per drive, budget for replacements before failures occur.
Troubleshooting Guide
Cause: HBA not initialized, SAS expander issue, cable fault, or incompatible controller.
Fix: Verify HBA firmware. Check SAS topology with sas2ircu or StorCLI. Test with known-good cable. Confirm drive is SAS not SATA.