IronWolf Pro 28TB and 30TB are close enough that the better buy is usually decided by live price per usable terabyte, not by the spec sheet. Both are current Seagate NAS CMR models with the same warranty, workload rating, cache and broad platform.
The 30TB drive adds 2TB per bay. That is small in a two-bay mirror and material in a full 8-bay or 12-bay array.
Buy IronWolf Pro 30TB when the live premium over 28TB is small and bays are scarce. Buy 28TB when it is discounted enough that the 2TB-per-bay gain does not justify the extra acquisition cost. Technically, this is a capacity and price decision rather than a workload-class decision.
Use this as the procurement-level screen before looking at live price rows.
| Decision point | IronWolf Pro 28TB | IronWolf Pro 30TB |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity | 28TB | 30TB |
| Recording | CMR | CMR |
| Interface | SATA 6Gb/s | SATA 6Gb/s |
| Cache | 512MB | 512MB |
| Max sustained transfer | 270MB/s | 275MB/s |
| Workload / warranty | 550TB/year / 5 years | 550TB/year / 5 years |
| Best use | Value-biased high-capacity NAS | Bay-limited NAS where 2TB per bay matters |
| Main limitation | Less slot density | Can be poor value if priced near 32TB |
This shows the capacity delta only. The financial answer comes from the live $/TB rows on the page.
| Drive count | IronWolf Pro 28TB raw | IronWolf Pro 30TB raw | Raw delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 bays | 112TB | 120TB | 8TB |
| 6 bays | 168TB | 180TB | 12TB |
| 8 bays | 224TB | 240TB | 16TB |
| 12 bays | 336TB | 360TB | 24TB |
No exact in-stock live row is currently matched for ST28000NT000 / ST30000NT011. Relevant live alternatives are shown for pricing context; verify qualification before treating any row as a substitute.
Live prices · updated about once a day · last checked 26 min ago · one side may be unavailable; alternatives are not exact OEM replacements
| Model | Capacity | Recording | RPM | Workload TB/yr | Warranty | $/TB | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16TB ST16000NE000REFURB This offer: sold by ALL4COMPUTERS ----- SIGNATURE REQUIRED ----- · Amazon says Used / Good · ALL4COMPUTERS ----- SIGNATURE REQUIRED -----'s note: 5 YEAR DEALER WARRANTY - 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED. | 16TB | UNVERIFIED | — | 300 | 5 yr | $31.25 | $500 | Buy on Amazon |
| 16TB ST16000NT001 This offer: sold by QuickDealStore · Amazon says New / Unknown | 16TB | UNVERIFIED | 7,200 | 300 | 5 yr | $36.87 | $590 | Buy on Amazon |
| 10TB ST10000NE0008REFURB This offer: sold by ALL4COMPUTERS ----- SIGNATURE REQUIRED ----- · Amazon says Used / Good · ALL4COMPUTERS ----- SIGNATURE REQUIRED -----'s note: 5 YEAR DEALER WARRANTY - 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED. | 10TB | UNVERIFIED | — | 300 | 5 yr | $40.00 | $400 | Buy on Amazon |
| 10TB ST10000NEZ008REFURB This offer: sold by ALL4COMPUTERS ----- SIGNATURE REQUIRED ----- · Amazon says Used / Good · ALL4COMPUTERS ----- SIGNATURE REQUIRED -----'s note: 5 YEAR DEALER WARRANTY - 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED. | 10TB | UNVERIFIED | — | 300 | 5 yr | $40.00 | $400 | Buy on Amazon |
| 32TB ST32000NT000 This offer: sold by QuickDealStore · Amazon says New / Unknown | 32TB | CMR | 7,200 | 550 | 5 yr | $43.75 | $1400 | Buy on Amazon |
| 20TB ST20000NT001 This offer: sold by QuickDealStore · Amazon says New / Unknown | 20TB | UNVERIFIED | 7,200 | 300 | 5 yr | $44.00 | $880 | Buy on Amazon |
| 12TB ST12000NE0008 This offer: sold by Best Products Prime · Amazon says New / Unknown | 12TB | UNVERIFIED | 7,200 | 300 | 5 yr | $44.58 | $535 | Buy on Amazon |
| 8TB ST8000NEZ01REFURB This offer: sold by ALL4COMPUTERS ----- SIGNATURE REQUIRED ----- · Amazon says Used / Good · ALL4COMPUTERS ----- SIGNATURE REQUIRED -----'s note: 100% HEALTH NO BAD SECTORS | 8TB | UNVERIFIED | 7,200 | 300 | 5 yr | $50.00 | $400 | Buy on Amazon |
Workload rating is recorded per part number from the manufacturer's published data for that exact model where available, not blanketed across the line — two drives of the same capacity can differ because they are different generations. A dash means the figure is not stated for that listing. Recording technology comes from the manufacturer's published CMR/SMR list; a model absent from that list is shown as UNVERIFIED rather than guessed. Rows priced above 3× this line's in-stock median are flagged and excluded from the winner callout and from every median we compute.
This table is computed from live DatacenterDisk rows when an exact in-stock match exists. It is intentionally blank for unavailable models rather than filled with stale prices.
| Live model | Drive price | $/TB | 1 drive | 4 drives | 8 drives | 12 drives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No exact in-stock row is available right now. Use the availability table for nearby live alternatives, then re-check the exact model before ordering. | ||||||
A 2TB-per-bay increase sounds minor until multiplied by a full chassis. In four bays it is 8TB raw. In eight bays it is 16TB raw. In twelve bays it is 24TB raw. After dual parity, the usable gain is 4TB, 12TB and 20TB respectively.
That makes the 30TB upgrade most rational when the NAS is full and expansion requires a new chassis. If the NAS has open bays, a cheaper 28TB drive can still produce more total capacity per dollar.
The two drives are not separated by workload class. Both are 7200 RPM, 512MB-cache, CMR IronWolf Pro models with Seagate's NAS feature stack. Seagate lists only a small sustained-transfer difference, so do not invent a performance story the data sheet does not support.
Rebuild planning is almost identical. The 30TB drive takes slightly longer because there is more data to read or reconstruct. Use the capacity delta to size backup windows and parity layout, not to assume one drive is safer.
The live table is the answer for today's market. If exact rows are unavailable, use adjacent IronWolf Pro rows as context and avoid committing to a substitute unless the full model number is acceptable.
For procurement, compare at your protected capacity target. If the 30TB premium is less than the cost and complexity of adding bays, buy 30TB. If it only creates more expensive unused headroom, buy 28TB.
Yes. Seagate's current IronWolf Pro data sheet lists ST28000NT000 and ST30000NT011 as CMR.
Sixteen terabytes raw. In a dual-parity layout, usable gain is about 12TB before filesystem overhead.
No. Price per TB is the first screen, not the whole decision - for the IronWolf Pro 28TB vs 30TB specifically: match recording method, interface, bay count, firmware support, warranty position and rebuild risk before accepting the cheapest row.
Specification claims on this page were checked against the pages below on 1 September 2026. Where a widely-repeated figure did not survive that check, we report what the source says now and say so in the text rather than repeating the familiar number.