WD Red 4TB NAS 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - 5400 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, SMR, 256MB Cache

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The EXOS drive beats the IronWolf Pro with a workload limit of 550TB, a significant improvement over the 300TB of its brother mechanism. These are the same workload limits as the Western Digital UltraStar DC HC560 20TB and WD Gold 20TB. Another Seagate drive with ten 2TB platters in the classic 3.5-inch form factor to sit alongside the new IronWolf Pro 20TB. The only significant difference on the outside is that the EXOS comes in a SAS flavor in addition to a conventional SATA variety model. Multi-Level Cell (MLC): MLC takes up to 2-bits per cell and four levels of charge. Available both in 2D and 3D variants, MLC offers good performance, reliability and endurance at a cheaper price than SLC. 3D NAND variants can reach P/E cycles in the range of 30K.

And for those seeking recommendations, we've curated a list of the best NAS hard drives suitable for personal, home office, and small business use, utilize our custom price comparison tools to ensure you're obtaining value for money. Single-Level Cell (SLC): They can only store one bit per cell and take up to two levels of charge. SLC NAND offers the highest performance, reliability and endurance (up to 100K P/E (program/erase) cycles). However, the memory density is the lowest among the variants and the price per GB is considerably higher than the other types. SLC is only available in 2D format and mostly used in enterprise setups. Triple-Level Cell (TLC): TLC stores 3-bits per cell for up to eight levels of charge. Commonly used for consumer grade products, TLC has a lower performance, reliability and endurance to the previous two. However a cheaper price and higher memory density make up for the drop in performance. The 3D variant can reach up to 3K P/E cycles.

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Quadruple-Level Cell (QLC): Similarly to TLC, QLC is also commonly found in consumer grade products. QLC stores 4-bits per cell and can take up to 16 levels of charge. Among the 4 variants listed, it has the highest memory density and cheapest price. However, the lower price comes at a cost in performance, reliability and endurance (up to 1K P/E). Even if you invest in the best NAS device, an inferior drive could mean not only a poor return on investment but also potential data loss. When looking for the best hard drive for your NAS, consider your priorities. Is top-tier speed paramount, or is storage capacity at the forefront of your needs? Features like enhanced cache and vibration protection might also play a role in your decision.

On the plus side of this equation, the new IronWolf Pro 20TB is 2TB bigger than the 18TB model, about 25MB/s faster at reading and writing, and it's more power-efficient. All these advantages come at a price that is only marginally more than the 18TB option. So it's a no-brainer forcommercial and enterprise NASto support the needs of creative professionals and large businesses, indeed? Additionally, the number of bits a cell contains serves as one of the primary ways to classify NAND Flash: