Seagate gets its long-awaited HAMR tech into $600 30TB HDDs you can buy

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/07/seagates-massive-30tb-600-hard-drives-are-now-available-for-anyone-to-buy/

by moelf • 1 year ago

35 11 1 year ago

With a 1 year warranty (as seen on Newegg's $600 drives), I might just chance it for the refurbs.

28TB for $350, with a 6 month warranty, is wildly good. https://www.ebay.com/itm/236112931239

There's so much insanely awesome tech in these drives. "12nm integrated controller" (meh ok). nanophotonic laser (fancy led?). photonic funnel. superlattice platinum-alloy media. plasmonic writer. quantum antenna. https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/hdds/new-hamr-las...

In HAMR HDDs, the nanophotonic laser diode heats tiny portions of drive media to temperatures of 400°C ~ 450°C to reduce its magnetic coercivity before the plasmonic writer writes data to this area.

I get that it's a very very small area. I am curious though how power consumption compares!

It's crazy how far ahead Seagate has gotten. WD and Toshiba haven't been making anywhere near the progress, it feels like. Exos drives are crazy high performance and stunningly affordable.

Neywiny2• 1 year ago

Just clarifying, you mean a 1 year on the refurbs? These seem to have a 5 year warranty

jauntywundrkind2• 1 year ago

I'm very used to 5 year warranty on Seagate enterprise drives, yeah!

I just saw a 1 year on this Newegg item though. Maybe missed something, maybe a weird listing. https://www.newegg.com/seagate-exos-m-st30000nm004k-30tb-har...

barchar2• 1 year ago

Toshiba at least is at 24TB with their MAMR drives.

dent92• 1 year ago

Buy the 28TB models from Server Part Deals. Don't use eBay it's awful if you need to utilize the sellers warranty past 90 days.

RainyDayTmrw• 1 year ago

Do these drives have any unusual performance characteristics, like shingled magnetic recording (SMR) has?

abracadaniel• 1 year ago

I wonder about heat buildup during sustained writes.

rbanffy• 1 year ago

If it's filled with helium, it might help a bit, as helium conducts heat better than air.

barchar2• 1 year ago

No, not really. Definitely not on the level SMR drives do

dent92• 1 year ago

No. I have five of the 28TB drives and they're fine.

Seagate gets its long-awaited HAMR tech into $600 30TB HDDs you can buy

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