While most of the exciting innovations in the storage industry are focused on SSDs, mechanical hard drives are not left behind – quite the opposite. Seagate, in particular, has continually delivered hard drives of ever-increasing capacity, and the Exos X24 is at the forefront. The drive launched late last year and is the flagship of the Exos X24 series, which ranges from 12TB to 24TB.
All Exos drives But Seagate doesn’t sell these drives to private customers, but instead makes them available to its corporate customers.
As for the consumer Exos series, the 12TB version of the Exos I use is the variant with the standard 6Gbps SATA interface, and Seagate also offers a dual-port 12Gbps -SAS option.
After using the 20TB Exos The 24TB drive has ten 2.4TB platters, and only the thermally assisted magnetic recording (HAMR)-based Exos Mozaic 3+ has better density and features in Seagate’s portfolio 3TB disks.
The remaining numbers are consistent with the X20 series; The 24TB Exos And like other Exos models, the X24 comes with an extended warranty that covers any problems for up to five years.
The Exos X24 drives are filled with helium, allowing for higher density as the platters can be thinner; In this way, Seagate was able to install ten platters in the Exos X24 – normal hard drives have up to six platters. These drives produce less noise and heat and resist vibration slightly better than traditional hard drives. For this reason, most high-density hard drives today use a helium-sealed enclosure.
I use the Exos The drive is technically designed for data center use, but if you’re running a hobby server and need to store a lot of data, it’s one of the best options right now. I ran the Exos X24 alongside the 20TB Exos X20 and a 22TB IronWolf Pro and it runs slightly cooler under load. I managed an average transfer rate of 254MB/s, which is more than the 20TB and 22TB drives.
Seagate also makes a 24TB version of the IronWolf Pro, and while these remain among the best NAS drives available, the Exos X24 is the better choice. It tends to be louder during sustained reads and writes, but not significantly louder than the IronWolf Pro, and the drive is inaudible in everyday use.
Priced at $479 for the 24TB drive, the Exos costs
Ultimately, if you want a large capacity hard drive with outstanding performance, the 24TB Exos X24 is your best choice. With Seagate moving to HAMR technology and focusing on drives like the Mozaic 3+, the Exos X24 is the default choice if you’re looking for a CMR drive with high storage potential and proven reliability.
Seagate Exos X24 24TB Hard Drive
The 24TB Exos X24 is the best choice if you need a lot of storage space on a single drive. It is designed for use in data centers, but is also suitable for home NAS servers.