Seagate Exos X20 20TB 3.5" 7200RPM SAS 12Gb/s Enterprise HDD

Overview

The Seagate ST20000NM002D is a 3.5-inch enterprise hard drive designed to deliver 20 TB of raw storage capacity for servers and storage arrays that operate continuously. It features a 12 Gb/s SAS interface with dual-port access, ensuring high availability and redundancy for critical data environments. Spinning at 7200 rpm with a 256 MB cache, this drive maintains a sustained transfer rate of up to 285 MB/s and an average latency of 4.16 ms, providing consistent and responsive performance under heavy workloads.

Key features

• Helium-sealed enclosure reduces air resistance, lowers operating temperatures, and decreases power consumption for efficient long-term use.
• Dual-port SAS interface supports redundant data paths, enabling quick failover and enhancing system reliability in high-availability setups.
• Large 256 MB cache buffers bursty data requests, smoothing out performance during mixed read/write operations.
• Supports both 512e and 4Kn sector formats, allowing seamless integration with legacy systems and modern file systems alike.
• Hot-plug capability simplifies maintenance and replacement without downtime, ideal for data centers requiring continuous operation.
• Firmware optimizations provide flexible power management options, balancing performance needs with energy efficiency.
• Designed for demanding environments such as dense rack-mount chassis, scalable NAS/SAN appliances, object storage clusters, and surveillance archives.

Key specs

• Capacity: 20 TB
• Form factor: 3.5 inch
• Interface: 12 Gb/s SAS with dual-port architecture
• Spindle speed: 7200 rpm
• Cache size: 256 MB
• Sustained transfer rate: up to 285 MB/s
• Average latency: 4.16 ms
• Mean time between failures (MTBF): 2.5 million hours
• Non-recoverable bit error rate: 1 in 10¹⁵
• Sector formats supported: 512e and 4Kn
• Power consumption: 5.8 W idle, 9.8 W random reads, 7 W random writes

Connectivity and compatibility

This drive connects via a 12 Gb/s SAS interface with dual ports, providing redundant data paths that enhance fault tolerance and uptime. It supports hot-plug operation, allowing easy integration into existing enterprise storage systems without interrupting service. Compatibility with both 512e and 4Kn sector formats ensures it works well with a wide range of operating systems and storage architectures, from legacy applications to modern high-efficiency file systems.

Performance and reliability

With a spindle speed of 7200 rpm and an average latency of 4.16 ms, the drive delivers predictable and responsive access times suitable for mixed workloads. The helium-sealed design reduces friction and heat, contributing to lower power consumption and longer component life. A 2.5 million-hour MTBF and an extremely low non-recoverable bit error rate of 1 in 10¹⁵ provide confidence in data integrity and long-term reliability, essential for enterprise environments where data loss is not an option.

Ideal uses and environments

This hard drive is well suited to data centers and enterprise storage solutions that require large capacity and consistent performance. It fits naturally into dense rack-mount chassis, scalable NAS or SAN appliances, and object storage clusters. Whether managing virtual machines, storing large media files, or maintaining backup repositories and surveillance archives, it offers the capacity and speed needed without excessive power demands. IT professionals looking for a balance of reliability, capacity, and efficiency will find this drive a strong choice for demanding workloads.