Synology HAT5300 Series: Six Part Numbers and the Enterprise Drives Beside Them

Synology HAT5300 price on Amazon.co.uk

The table lists Amazon.co.uk listings whose title names a HAT53 part number, lowest price per terabyte first. Prices are pounds sterling inc VAT, and each row prints whether the offer is new or used. It holds 3 listings right now. Lowest price per TB: £37.50/TB.

Check the part number on every row against the sheet. Synology's Enterprise Series sheet lists six models, at 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24TB. Two numbers that can turn up in listings are not on it: HAT5310-18T, because the sheet has no 18TB model, and a HAT5310 at 20TB, because the sheet's 20TB model is HAT5320-20T. A listing's title and its part number can also name different Synology series. If they disagree, ask the seller which drive is in the box before you buy.

Synology HAT5300-4T, 8T, 12T and 16T: the series by part number

HAT5300 is the series name, and only one model carries it in its part number. If you searched for HAT5300-4T or HAT5300-8T, Synology's sheet names those drives HAT5320-4T and HAT5320-8T. The 12TB is HAT5300-12T, the 16TB is HAT5310-16T, and the 20TB and 24TB return to HAT5320. Use the full part number when you search Amazon.co.uk or compare listings, not the series name.

The series splits in two at 12TB. The 4TB and 8TB models are air-filled with a 2 million hour MTBF; everything from 12TB up is helium-sealed with 2.5 million hours. The 12TB HAT5300-12T is the odd one out within the helium half, with the smallest buffer on the sheet at 256MB and the lowest sustained transfer figure at 254MB/s. The 24TB HAT5320-24T sits at the other end, with a 1GB buffer and 309MB/s.

What the Synology HAT5300 series shares at every capacity

• CMR recording: Synology describes the series as CMR-based.
• 7,200 RPM at every model.
• A workload rating of 550TB transferred per year.
• A 5-year warranty.
• Persistent write cache technology.

Synology's sheet also says the drives' firmware and DiskStation Manager (DSM) work together in the series' performance tuning. That ties the drive's design to Synology's own NAS software, and the sheet frames it as a feature of the pair rather than of the drive alone.

We have not found an acoustics figure in Synology's HAT5300 data sheet, so this page does not compare the series on noise. If a quiet room is the deciding factor, that is a question to put to Synology before buying.

Synology HAT5320-24T against a 24TB enterprise hard drive

The second table lists new 24TB SATA drives from the Exos, Ultrastar and Toshiba MG lines, the general enterprise drives at the HAT5320-24T's capacity. It holds no listings right now. Lowest price per TB: -.

Read the table row by row. The HAT5320-24T's workload rating equals the figures on the Ultrastar HC580 and Toshiba MG11 sheets, and its warranty term and MTBF equal the figures on the Exos X24 sheet. Each match is to the sheet named in its row, not to all three makers. Nor do the ratings tell you whether any of these drives is the same mechanism under another label, and we make no such claim.

The warranty terms above are the makers' own, printed on their sheets. What a given Amazon.co.uk seller offers is a separate question, worth reading on the listing before you click Buy on Amazon.

Synology HAT5300 series or HAT3300 Plus Series

Synology sells a second line, the Plus Series, under HAT33 part numbers. Its data sheet gives those drives a 3-year warranty, against 5 years for the HAT5300 Enterprise Series. The two sheets differ on more than the warranty, and the Synology HAT3300 page sets out the Plus Series on its own terms.

This page makes no claim about which Synology NAS models accept, require or favour HAT drives of either series. Check Synology's own documentation for your NAS model before you buy, and keep the part number from the sheet in hand when you do.

Planning an array? The RAID calculator below shows the usable space a set of drives leaves under each RAID level, which helps decide whether two 24TB drives or four 12TB drives suit the space you need.