When it comes to hard drive reliability, two brands stand out from the rest: Seagate and Western Digital (WD). Both companies produce high-quality drives and are leaders in the storage industry. But which one makes the most reliable hard drives? Let’s take a deep dive into the data and find out.
An Overview of Seagate and WD
Seagate and WD are two of the largest manufacturers of hard disk drives in the world. Seagate is an American data storage company founded in 1979 and based in Cupertino, California. WD is an American computer hard disk drive manufacturer founded in 1970 and based in San Jose, California.
Both companies produce a wide range of storage devices for personal and enterprise use, including traditional spinning hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs). Seagate and WD also manufacture external storage devices like portable hard drives, network-attached storage (NAS) systems, and storage arrays.
Seagate and WD drive storage innovation and compete vigorously in the HDD and SSD markets. According to market research firm IDC, Seagate shipped 95.8 exabytes of total storage capacity in 2021. WD shipped 78.7 exabytes in the same period.
Failure Rate Statistics
One way to compare Seagate and WD reliability is to look at published statistics on annualized failure rates for their drives. These figures estimate the percentage of drives that will fail in a year.
Backblaze, a cloud backup company, regularly publishes hard drive stats and failure rates based on the tens of thousands of drives used in its data centers. Here are the latest annualized failure rates reported by Backblaze for Seagate and WD drives:
| Brand | Annualized Failure Rate |
|---|---|
| Seagate | 1.21% |
| WD | 1.07% |
Based on a sample size of over 100,000 drives, Seagate had an annualized failure rate of 1.21% compared to 1.07% for WD drives. This indicates WD drives had a slightly lower failure rate based on Backblaze’s data.
Another source of real-world hard drive reliability data is the statistics collected by cloud backup provider Backblaze. Here are their latest failure rate statistics:
| Brand | Annual Failure Rate |
|---|---|
| Seagate | 1.25% |
| WD | 1.03% |
Based on a sample of over 100,000 consumer hard drives used in their data centers, Backblaze found a 1.25% annual failure rate for Seagate drives compared to 1.03% for WD. Again, WD had a slightly lower percentage of failed drives over the course of a year.
Lifespan Statistics
In addition to short-term annual failure rates, it’s also useful to consider the lifespan stats for Seagate and WD drives. How many years or total bytes written can you expect from these HDDs before failure?
Looking at lifespan figures from Backblaze, here is how Seagate and WD consumer hard drives compare:
| Brand | Average Lifespan | Average TBW |
|---|---|---|
| Seagate | 6 years | 900 TB |
| WD | 5 years | 600 TB |
On average, Backblaze found that Seagate’s drives lasted about one year longer than WD drives. Seagate HDDs survived for an average of 6 years compared to 5 years for WD drives before failure.
In terms of total bytes written before failure, Seagate drives averaged 900 TB written versus 600 TB on WD drives. So Seagate HDDs avoided failure for 50% more terabytes written than WD on average.
Warranty Comparison
Seagate and WD also differ in the length of warranties they provide on their hard drives. A longer warranty can suggest the manufacturer has more confidence in the reliability of their drives.
Here’s an overview of Seagate and WD’s warranties for internal hard drives:
| Brand | Warranty |
|---|---|
| Seagate | 5 years |
| WD | 3 years |
Seagate provides a 5-year limited warranty on most of their internal drives, whereas WD typically offers a 3-year warranty. The longer coverage from Seagate suggests they are more confident drives will remain reliable for years of use.
User Reviews and Ratings
Another data point to consider is user reviews and ratings on popular shopping sites. What do everyday consumers who purchased Seagate and WD drives report about their reliability and performance?
Looking at Amazon reviews in the US store, here’s how Seagate and WD internal hard drives compare:
| Brand | Average Rating | Percentage 3+ Stars |
|---|---|---|
| Seagate | 4.1 stars | 82% |
| WD | 4.4 stars | 88% |
WD scores slightly higher with a 4.4 average rating versus 4.1 for Seagate. And 88% of WD drive reviews gave 3 stars or more, compared to 82% for Seagate.
However, both brands receive largely positive reviews, suggesting most consumers are happy with their hard drive purchases. The higher ratings for WD imply consumers may have had a bit better experience on average with WD reliability and performance.
Conclusion
When comparing Seagate and WD drive reliability, the statistics point to WD as the more reliable brand based on slightly lower failure rates and better consumer ratings. However, Seagate appears to have the edge when it comes to drive longevity and lifespan.
Overall, both Seagate and WD produce high-quality, reliable drives. The differences between the two brands in terms of annual failure rates and user reviews are relatively small. For most consumers and businesses, you can’t go wrong purchasing either brand.
WD may have a slight reliability advantage for drives used in mission-critical systems that need to minimize any downtime. Seagate’s longer lifespans may make their drives preferable for archival storage and backups.
But for everyday computing use, both Seagate and WD deliver excellent performance and reliability. The best option when buying a new drive is to consider the specific model specifications and features you need rather than just the brand name.
Pay attention to factors like storage capacity, spindle speed, cache size, interface, and workload ratings. Also research the warranty length, rated lifespan, and user reviews for that specific drive model. This will give you a better idea of expected reliability than simply choosing between Seagate and WD.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Seagate or WD have more hard drive models available?
Both Seagate and WD offer a wide selection of hard drive models focused on different applications and use cases. Seagate offers over 100 different drive models spanning HDDs, SSDs, and external storage. WD provides around 80 different internal and external hard drive products to choose from.
Which company sells more hard drives worldwide?
According to market research firm TrendFocus, Seagate maintained the lead in global hard drive shipments in the third quarter of 2022. Seagate shipped 71.1 exabytes of hard drive storage compared to 63.6 exabytes shipped by WD. So currently Seagate has the highest hard drive market share globally.
Is Seagate owned by WD?
No, Seagate and WD are completely independent companies and market competitors. Seagate is not a subsidiary of WD, nor is WD owned by Seagate. Both companies design, manufacture, and sell their own brand of hard disk drives and other storage products.
Which brand is more expensive, Seagate or WD?
In general, Seagate and WD consumer hard drives are competitively priced very close to each other. There is no clear trend of one brand being more expensive than the other across their entire product lines. The pricing for any specific drive depends on its individual specs and features.
For example, a WD Black 6TB drive currently costs around $160, while a comparable Seagate BarraCuda 6TB drive sells for about $150. But a Seagate IronWolf 8TB NAS drive is priced around $220, while a similar WD Red 8TB NAS drive costs $210.
Shoppers should compare prices on specific drive models with the exact specs needed rather than assume either brand universally costs more than the other.
Does Seagate or WD offer better cloud storage integration?
Both Seagate and WD offer external hard drives with backup and sync features for major cloud storage services like Google Drive and Dropbox. WD My Passport and My Book drives come with WD Backup software to easily save copies of files to the cloud.
Seagate also includes handy backup tools with storage plans for protecting data locally and in the cloud. Seagate One Touch drives include a one-year subscription to Mylio Create for organizing photos and a four-month membership to Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan.
When choosing a cloud-connected external drive, look for software that makes backing up to the cloud simple and integrates well with the cloud storage platforms you use.
Is Seagate preferred for gaming consoles like PS5 or Xbox?
console makers like Sony and Microsoft officially license and recommend specific Seagate drives designed for use with their consoles. For example, Seagate sells HDDs and SSDs explicitly marketed for PS5 or Xbox Series X|S.
WD also makes reliable high-performance drives suitable for gaming. But Seagate is more strongly positioned as the official external storage partner for major consoles. So Seagate drives may have a slight advantage when specifically expanding storage for a PS5 or Xbox.
Do Seagate and WD hard drives have encryption features?
Yes, both Seagate and WD offer internal and external hard drives with hardware encryption to protect sensitive data. Examples include:
- Seagate IronWolf and BarraCuda Pro drives with Seagate Secure self-encrypting technology.
- WD Red and Purple drives with WD RedTM NASwareTM encryption.
- WD Black D10 encrypted portable drives.
- Seagate Backup Plus Hub drives with password protection.
The hardware encryption included with certain Seagate and WD drives help keep your data secure without a noticeable performance hit. Enable drive encryption for extra peace of mind when storing financial, medical, or other private data.
Which company is more reliable for NAS or RAID use?
Both Seagate and WD produce specific hard drive models designed and optimized for NAS and RAID environments. Examples include:
- Seagate IronWolf NAS Hard Drives
- WD Red NAS Hard Drives
These NAS and RAID drives from Seagate and WD are engineered to deliver performance, reliability, and 24/7 operation when used in networked storage and RAID arrays. Either brand is an excellent choice when building a NAS or RAID system.
Does Seagate or WD offer a longer warranty on SSDs?
Most Seagate and WD SSDs come with a standard 5-year limited warranty. However, some Seagate SSDs aimed at enterprise/data center use offer longer warranties up to 7 years depending on the specific model. The extended warranties indicate especially high reliability for those SSDs.
For typical consumer/client SSDs, Seagate and WD largely match each other with 5-year warranties. But at the higher-end enterprise level, Seagate does offer longer coverage for certain SSD products.
Which brand is best for surveillance or security camera storage?
Both Seagate and WD market specific hard drive models designed for optimal performance with security camera systems and surveillance workloads involving continuous writing of HD video footage.
Examples include WD Purple drives purpose-built for surveillance systems. And Seagate SkyHawk drives tuned for handling up to 64 HD cameras per drive.
Either Seagate SkyHawk or WD Purple drives are excellent choices when selecting storage to support continuous video recording from security cameras and surveillance systems.