Toshiba MA11 versus WD Ultrastar HC680 is not primarily a speed contest. Both are 28TB-class enterprise density choices that require host-managed SMR awareness, so the first question is infrastructure fit.
The winner depends on which vendor platform your software, support process and procurement channel can qualify. Capacity alone does not decide the purchase because both drives target controlled-write storage rather than ordinary random-write NAS use.
Choose Toshiba MA11 if your Toshiba channel, firmware plan and HM-SMR storage stack are qualified for MA11. Choose WD Ultrastar HC680 if your infrastructure already supports WD UltraSMR/HC680 and you value WD's documented model variants. Choose neither for conventional NAS or unqualified RAID.
Use this as the procurement-level screen before looking at live price rows.
| Decision point | MA11 28TB | Ultrastar HC680 28TB |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Host-managed SMR | UltraSMR / host-managed SMR |
| Capacity | 28TB public MA11 branch | 28TB HC680 |
| Interface | SATA 6Gb/s in public MA11 material | SATA 6Gb/s |
| Cache/buffer | 1GiB | 512MB |
| Workload class | 550TB/year class | 550TB/year |
| Best workload | Qualified Toshiba HM-SMR bulk storage | Qualified WD UltraSMR bulk storage |
| Main limitation | Exact public order codes need channel verification | Not a normal CMR replacement |
| Decision metric | Toshiba qualification and channel support | WD UltraSMR ecosystem support |
This shows the capacity delta only. The financial answer comes from the live $/TB rows on the page.
| Drive count | MA11 28TB raw | Ultrastar HC680 28TB raw | Raw delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 bays | 112TB | 112TB | 0TB |
| 6 bays | 168TB | 168TB | 0TB |
| 8 bays | 224TB | 224TB | 0TB |
| 12 bays | 336TB | 336TB | 0TB |
No exact in-stock live row is currently matched for MA11 28TB family / WSH722880ALN6L4. Relevant live alternatives are shown so the page does not collapse into an empty catalogue.
Live prices · updated every 4-5 hours · last checked 25 min ago · one side may be unavailable in exact live stock
| Model | Capacity | Recording | RPM | Workload TB/yr | Warranty | $/TB | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3TB HUS724030ALS640REFURB | 3TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | — | $15.13 | $45 | Buy |
| 4TB HUS726040ALS210REFURB | 4TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | — | $16.15 | $65 | Buy |
| 3TB HUS724030ALA640REFURB | 3TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | — | $20.00 | $60 | Buy |
| 10TB HUH721010AL5200REFURB | 10TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | 5 yr | $23.50 | $235 | Buy |
| 14TB WUH721414ALE604REFURB | 14TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | — | $24.29 | $340 | Buy |
| 4TB HMS5C4040ALE640REFURB | 4TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | — | $24.73 | $99 | Buy |
| 14TB WUH721414ALE6L4REFURB | 14TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | — | $25.00 | $350 | Buy |
| 14TB WUH721414ALE604REFURB | 14TB | CMR | 7,200 | — | — | $25.00 | $350 | 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. | |||||
Both products live in the host-managed SMR world. That means the software stack has to understand how writes are placed and sequenced. If the buyer cannot validate that path, neither drive should be chosen for the workload.
This is why the comparison does not crown a universal 28TB winner. The right answer follows the platform that has been qualified.
In the verified sources used here, WD publishes detailed HC680 model families and a data sheet with explicit UltraSMR context. That makes HC680 easier to describe as a procurement object when the buyer needs a public model-code trail.
Toshiba's public MA11 material identifies capacity, host-managed SMR architecture and Mx11 platform attributes, but exact orderable MA11 codes should be confirmed through the channel before quoting.
At 28TB, both drives offer the same headline slot density. The economic difference therefore comes from live acquisition price, qualification cost, support comfort, firmware tooling, spares and fleet standardization.
If neither exact product is live in stock, the alternatives shown here are context only. A CMR 28TB or 24TB drive is not a drop-in equivalent to a host-managed SMR platform.
Yes in the 28TB host-managed SMR enterprise-density sense, but exact infrastructure support and channel availability decide the actual purchase.
Neither is the default. Use a CMR drive such as Toshiba MG11, WD HC590 or Seagate Exos/IronWolf Pro for conventional NAS unless the platform explicitly supports HM-SMR.
WD publishes detailed HC680 public model-code data. The MA11 public material verified here identifies the family and architecture, while exact orderable codes require channel confirmation.
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.