Seagate Exos 32TB and WD Ultrastar HC690 32TB are both enterprise procurement candidates, but they are not interchangeable. The tracked Exos 32TB row is a conventional CMR Seagate enterprise drive; HC690 is WD's UltraSMR/host-managed SMR generation.
This page is the Seagate-led counterpart to the WD-led HC690 comparison. It focuses on whether a conventional Exos path is the better enterprise default before a buyer chases UltraSMR density economics.
Choose Seagate Exos 32TB for conventional enterprise storage that expects CMR behavior. Choose WD Ultrastar HC690 32TB only when your software stack, host path and operations are already qualified for UltraSMR/host-managed SMR.
Use this as the procurement-level screen before looking at live price rows.
| Decision point | Exos 32TB | Ultrastar HC690 32TB |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | CMR in tracked Exos 32TB row | UltraSMR / host-managed SMR |
| Capacity | 32TB | 32TB |
| Interface | SATA 6Gb/s in tracked row | SATA and SAS variants |
| Cache | 512MB in tracked row | 512MB |
| Best workload | Conventional enterprise storage | SMR-aware object and retention tiers |
| Avoid for | WD-standardized SMR fleets | Unqualified RAID, NAS or random-write pools |
| Procurement risk | Exact Seagate SKU/interface qualification | Host-stack compatibility |
| Decision metric | CMR fit and live $/TB | SMR support and system density |
This shows the capacity delta only. The financial answer comes from the live $/TB rows on the page.
| Drive count | Exos 32TB raw | Ultrastar HC690 32TB raw | Raw delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 bays | 128TB | 128TB | 0TB |
| 6 bays | 192TB | 192TB | 0TB |
| 8 bays | 256TB | 256TB | 0TB |
| 12 bays | 384TB | 384TB | 0TB |
No exact in-stock live row is currently matched for ST32000NM004K / WSH723220ALN6L4. Relevant live alternatives are shown so the page does not collapse into an empty catalogue.
Live prices · updated every 4-5 hours · last checked 26 min ago · one side may be unavailable in exact live stock
| Model | Capacity | Recording | RPM | Workload TB/yr | Warranty | $/TB | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22TB ST22000NM001HREFURB | 22TB | CMR | 7,200 | 550 | 5 yr | $27.27 | $600 | Buy |
| 22TB ST22000NM001EREFURB | 22TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | 5 yr | $29.09 | $640 | Buy |
| 24TB ST24000NM002HREFURB | 24TB | CMR | 7,200 | 550 | 5 yr | $29.17 | $700 | Buy |
| 22TB ST22000NM001E | 22TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | 5 yr | $29.55 | $650 | Buy |
| 18TB ST18000NM003DREFURB | 18TB | EPMR | 7,200 | 550 | 5 yr | $32.22 | $580 | Buy |
| 20TB ST20000NM007DREFURB | 20TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | 5 yr | $33.50 | $670 | Buy |
| 14TB ST14000NM0018 | 14TB | CMR | 7,200 | 550 | 5 yr | $39.56 | $554 | Buy |
| 16TB ST16000NM002GREFURB | 16TB | CMR | 7,200 | 550 | 5 yr | $39.84 | $637 | Buy |
| 20TB ST20000NM003DREFURB | 20TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | 5 yr | $43.05 | $861 | Buy |
| 12TB ST12000NM002G | 12TB | CMR | 7,200 | 550 | 5 yr | $49.54 | $594 | Buy |
Workload rating is recorded per part number from Seagate's datasheet for that exact model, 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 | 100TB raw target | 500TB raw target | 1PB raw target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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. | |||||
For many enterprises, conventional behavior is worth more than theoretical density. A CMR Exos 32TB drive can fit established RAID, ZFS, backup and object-storage patterns without redesigning writes around SMR zones.
That does not remove normal enterprise checks: exact SKU, interface, sector format, firmware, warranty path and backplane support still matter. It simply means the recording model is familiar.
HC690 is attractive when the buyer already runs WD UltraSMR-aware infrastructure and can turn density into lower rack cost, lower shelf count or standardized fleet operation. In that case, choosing Seagate only because CMR is simpler may leave savings on the table.
The environment has to be known. If host-managed SMR support is not explicit, HC690 should not win on price alone.
The WD-led comparison explains why HC690 can be rational in the right SMR fleet. This Seagate-led page starts from conventional enterprise compatibility and asks what would justify moving away from it.
Both conclusions can be true because they serve different procurement starting points.
Not in WD UltraSMR-standardized fleets. It is a conventional CMR path, while HC690 has different host-managed SMR requirements.
The CMR Exos path is the safer default unless the platform explicitly supports HC690's UltraSMR behavior.
The WD-led page starts from HC690 procurement. This page starts from the Seagate Exos buyer's decision and avoids reusing the same analysis.
No. Price per TB is the first screen, not the whole decision. 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.