The WD Ultrastar DC HC590 26TB is the high-capacity CMR answer in this WD enterprise batch. That matters because the HC680 and HC690 pages in the same cluster are UltraSMR/host-managed SMR pages with very different deployment requirements.
For buyers who need a conventional enterprise hard drive, HC590 is the more broadly compatible path: high rack density, SATA and SAS variants, 512MB buffer, 7200 RPM and a 550TB/year workload rating without the host-managed SMR qualification burden.
Choose the HC590 26TB when you need a high-capacity Ultrastar drive that behaves like a normal CMR enterprise HDD. It gives up capacity versus HC680/HC690, but it is the safer procurement path for general-purpose servers, ZFS, Ceph clusters and storage shelves that are not explicitly designed for host-managed SMR.
Manufacturer-published values for the exact product family. Retail listings can collapse these details, so match the part number before ordering.
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Model number | WUH722626ALE6L4, WUH722626ALE6L1, WUH722626AL5204, WUH722626AL5201 |
| Capacity | 26TB decimal marketed capacity |
| Recording technology | CMR/ePMR on an 11-disk OptiNAND platform |
| Platform | High-capacity conventional recording Ultrastar generation |
| Interface | SATA 6Gb/s and SAS 12Gb/s variants |
| Sector format | 512e and 4Kn family variants; model code resolves the exact interface/format |
| Spindle speed | 7200 RPM |
| Cache / buffer | 512MB |
| Maximum sustained transfer rate | 302MB/s maximum sustained transfer rate on 26TB SATA/SAS variants |
| Workload rating | 550TB/year |
| Reliability rating | 2.5M hours projected |
| Warranty | 5-year limited warranty |
| Power | 5.6W idle SATA / 5.9W idle SAS; 8.4W SATA / 8.7W SAS random 50/50 4KB QD=4 at max IOPS |
| Acoustics | 3.2/2.5 Bels operating/idle typical |
| Operating temperature | 5C to 60C operating; -40C to 70C non-operating |
| Compatibility note | Conventional enterprise media; still verify SATA/SAS and sector format against the backplane. |
No exact in-stock live row is currently matched for WUH722626ALE6L4, WUH722626ALE6L1, WUH722626AL5204, WUH722626AL5201. Relevant live alternatives are shown so the page does not collapse into an empty catalogue.
Live prices · updated every 4-5 hours · last checked 2 min ago · exact model not currently matched in 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 | — | — | $24.75 | $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. | |||||
Raw capacity is not usable capacity. This table shows the slot-level math before filesystem overhead, snapshots, reserved space and vendor-specific parity layouts.
| Drive count | Raw capacity | Single-parity usable | Dual-parity usable |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 bays | 104TB | 78TB | 52TB |
| 6 bays | 156TB | 130TB | 104TB |
| 8 bays | 208TB | 182TB | 156TB |
| 12 bays | 312TB | 286TB | 260TB |
The central fact is not just 26TB. Western Digital's HC590 data sheet positions the family as an 11-disk CMR platform. That makes it the high-capacity conventional-recording option next to WD's denser UltraSMR lines.
CMR is boring in the useful way. Writes do not have to obey sequential zone rules, and the drive can be deployed in normal enterprise storage software once interface, sector format and firmware qualification are settled.
The 26TB HC590 family includes WUH722626 SATA and SAS variants. The model code resolves interface, power-disable behavior and security mode, so procurement should not stop at the marketing name. A SAS SKU is not a SATA drop-in, and a 4Kn format can be a problem for hosts expecting 512e.
For NAS and server builders, this is where many listing mistakes happen. A title can say Ultrastar HC590 26TB while the full model number describes a different interface or security variant. Match the model string against the data sheet before buying a batch.
HC590 is easier to recommend for TrueNAS, conventional RAID, many Ceph deployments and mixed read/write file services. It may be lower density than HC680 or HC690, but compatibility has financial value. A cheaper SMR drive is expensive if the host stack cannot write it correctly.
At rack scale, HC590 still improves density over HC580. Moving from 24TB to 26TB is an 8.3 percent raw capacity increase per slot. In a 60-bay shelf, that is 120TB more raw capacity before parity with the same enclosure footprint.
The HC590 26TB is the WD enterprise page to read if you are deliberately avoiding host-managed SMR. It is not the highest-capacity Ultrastar generation, but it is the high-capacity CMR generation.
If live stock is thin, compare against HC580 and Seagate Exos rather than substituting HC680/HC690 blindly. Recording architecture is a bigger decision than two to six terabytes per drive.
Yes. Western Digital's HC590 data sheet lists the 26TB family as CMR.
The data sheet uses the WUH722626ALxxyz family. Common 26TB examples include WUH722626ALE6L4, WUH722626ALE6L1, WUH722626AL5204 and WUH722626AL5201.
For a conventional ZFS server not designed for host-managed SMR, yes. HC590 is CMR, while HC680 is an UltraSMR/HM-SMR platform.
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.