Seagate IronWolf: 2TB to 16TB Part Numbers, and When to Step Up From It

Seagate IronWolf prices on Amazon.co.uk

Every listing below is titled Seagate IronWolf without the word Pro, and the order runs from the cheapest terabyte to the dearest, in pounds inc VAT. The table holds 19 listings right now. Cheapest terabyte: £36.58/TB. Smallest outlay: £129.01. A 2 or 4 TB drive often wins on outlay and loses on cost per TB, so decide on capacity first.

A title is not a part number. Seagate's IronWolf sheet says all IronWolf drives use conventional magnetic recording (CMR), but that only helps once you know the drive is an IronWolf from that sheet. Read the model number on each row and match it to the list in the next section. The Recording cell fills only where a document names that exact number, and both the New/Used label and the seller's own wording sit on the row.

Seagate IronWolf part numbers, 2TB to 16TB

Seagate's IronWolf sheet, revision DS1904.23-2509US, lists eight standard model numbers across seven capacities. Every one carries VN in the middle:

• 16 TB: ST16000VN001
• 12 TB: ST12000VN0008
• 10 TB: ST10000VN000
• 8 TB: ST8000VN004 and ST8000VN002, two different drives
• 6 TB: ST6000VN006
• 4 TB: ST4000VN006
• 2 TB: ST2000VN003

A 10 TB listing that prints ST10000VN0008 or ST10000VN0004 rather than the sheet's ST10000VN000 is not covered by the figures on this page. Ask the seller which Seagate data sheet such a drive belongs to.

The bigger trap is Seagate's other NAS line. Its IronWolf Pro sheet uses NT-series part numbers, every one with a workload rate limit of 550. A listing titled IronWolf can still print an NT number; where it does, trust the number and check it against the IronWolf Pro sheet. We have not found a Seagate document that lists ST2000NT003 or ST8000NT002, two NT numbers that have appeared on IronWolf-titled listings.

Seagate IronWolf 8TB, 10TB, 12TB and 16TB

From 8 TB upward every IronWolf on the sheet shares the same ratings: 1 to 8 bays, 180 TB a year, 1,000,000 hours MTBF and a 3-year limited warranty. Speed is where the sizes differ. The 16 TB ST16000VN001 is rated at 240 MB/s maximum sustained, the 12 TB, 10 TB and ST8000VN004 at 210 MB/s. The 16, 12 and 10 TB models idle at 28 dBA; on seek the 16 and 12 TB read 30 dBA and the 10 TB 32.

Seagate IronWolf 8TB: two part numbers, two spindle speeds

Seagate IronWolf 8TB is the one capacity where the sheet lists two drives, and they are not interchangeable. ST8000VN004 spins at 7,200 RPM like the larger models; ST8000VN002 spins at 5,400 RPM and is the quieter of the two.

The slower spindle costs only 8 MB/s on the sheet, 210 against 202, while the seek noise drops by 6 dBA and the idle noise by 3. For a NAS in a living room or a small office, that trade favours VN002, so look for it by number. MTBF, workload, bay rating and warranty are the same on both.

Seagate IronWolf 2TB, 4TB and 6TB

All three small models spin at 5,400 RPM and keep the family ratings: 1 to 8 bays, 180 TB a year, 1,000,000 hours MTBF and a 3-year limited warranty. Speed and noise fall with capacity:

• Seagate IronWolf 6TB, ST6000VN006: 202 MB/s, 25 dBA idle, 26 dBA seek
• Seagate IronWolf 4TB, ST4000VN006: 202 MB/s, 23 dBA idle, 25 dBA seek
• Seagate IronWolf 2TB, ST2000VN003: 180 MB/s, 20 dBA idle, 21 dBA seek

The 2 TB is the quietest IronWolf on the sheet on both rows, and the 4 TB keeps the 6 TB's 202 MB/s with 2 dBA less at idle. On price, these drives usually carry the smallest outlay in the table and a higher cost per TB, so check both columns before deciding a small drive is the cheap option.

Seagate IronWolf 12TB against a 12TB enterprise drive

At 12 TB the IronWolf meets enterprise drives of the same size, and two rows separate them. Seagate rates IronWolf at 1,000,000 hours MTBF with a 3-year limited warranty; it gives Exos X24 and Exos X16 2.5 million hours and a 5-year limited warranty.

On workload, IronWolf's 180 TB a year sits well below Toshiba's rating for its MG09 enterprise series, 550 TB a year.

This table holds new SATA drives from the Exos, Ultrastar and Toshiba MG lines at exactly 12 TB, the size of ST12000VN0008. It holds 4 listings right now. Cheapest terabyte in it: £26.26/TB. Set that against the IronWolf 12 TB rows in the first table.

The 12TB enterprise hard drive page covers this size across every maker, and Exos X24 and Toshiba MG09 have pages of their own.

Seagate IronWolf 16TB or IronWolf Pro 16TB

At 16 TB the natural next step for an IronWolf buyer is IronWolf Pro. Seagate says IronWolf Pro drives are rated for 550 TB a year, and its sheet prints that workload rate limit on every NT model from 2 TB to 24 TB, against 180 TB a year for the IronWolf ST16000VN001. At 16 TB to 24 TB the Pro also carries a 5-year limited warranty and 2,500,000 hours MTBF, against the IronWolf's 3 years and 1,000,000 hours.

The table below holds 16 TB IronWolf Pro listings, new and used together, so check the Condition column. It holds 3 listings right now. Cheapest terabyte in it: £37.67/TB. Compare that figure with the IronWolf 16 TB rows above to see what the higher ratings cost. The IronWolf Pro page sets out its part numbers and ratings, and IronWolf vs IronWolf Pro puts the two lines side by side.

Which Seagate IronWolf to buy

If your NAS has eight bays or fewer and writes well under 180 TB a year, an IronWolf is inside Seagate's own rating, and the choice is capacity, speed and noise from the sections above. If the yearly workload is higher, IronWolf Pro and the enterprise drives are the ones rated for it. If you want five years of maker's warranty or a higher MTBF, both IronWolf Pro (2,000,000 to 2,500,000 hours on its sheet) and Exos X24 (2.5 million hours) carry them. Whatever you pick, confirm your NAS takes the drive's size and interface, and look for the exact part number on the NAS maker's list.

The bay figure on the sheet is the size of system Seagate specifies IronWolf for, not a RAID level. The calculator below turns your bay count and drive size into usable space and fault tolerance.