With the increasing storage demands of modern technology, many computer users find themselves needing larger and larger hard drives. While solid state drives (SSDs) are gaining popularity for their speed, traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) remain the most cost-effective solution for mass storage. For those looking to add a sizeable amount of extra storage to their computer without breaking the bank, an 8TB hard drive is a great option.
What capacity hard drives are available?
Hard drive capacities have increased greatly over the years. While early hard drives maxed out at just a few megabytes, drives today are commonly available in capacities up to 12TB or more. Here is an overview of some of the most common hard drive capacities currently on the market:
- 250GB to 500GB – Smaller drives commonly used for boot drives or basic storage needs.
- 1TB to 2TB – A popular mid-range capacity for everyday home and office use.
- 3TB to 6TB – Ideal for users with lots of photos, videos, games and other large files.
- 8TB to 10TB – Provide massive storage for advanced users and media professionals.
- 12TB+ – Enterprise-level drives for server and data center use.
Of these options, 8TB drives offer a great balance of huge storage capacity and more affordable pricing compared to the very largest drives.
What are the main brands of hard drives?
There are three primary manufacturers of hard drive components and consumer storage devices:
- Western Digital – One of the largest storage companies, they own the WD, G-Technology, SanDisk and HGST brands.
- Seagate – Another top hard drive maker and WD’s biggest competitor. Seagate owns the LaCie and Maxtor brands.
- Toshiba – Produces hard drive components and full consumer drives under the Toshiba brand.
Of these companies, Western Digital and Seagate dominate the consumer hard drive market. They produce quality drives across the full range of capacities and form factors.
What interface options are available?
8TB hard drives are available with different interface connections to match various types of computers and setups. The main interface options include:
- SATA III – The latest version of the SATA interface, providing 6Gb/s data transfer speeds. Used for both internal and external drives.
- USB 3.0 – Universal connectivity for external drives with transfer rates up to 5Gb/s.
- USB-C – Newer USB standard with 10Gb/s of bandwidth. Used on many modern external drives.
- Thunderbolt 3 – Supports blistering 40Gb/s transfer speeds but with higher costs.
For a general-use budget 8TB drive, the version with a SATA III interface for internal installation or USB 3.0 for external use will provide the best value.
What form factors are available for 8TB drives?
8TB hard drives come in a few common physical configurations:
- 3.5-inch desktop drives – The classic large square drives designed to be installed internally in desktop PCs. Offer the lowest cost per terabyte.
- 2.5-inch notebook drives – Smaller drives created for laptops and all-in-one PCs. More expensive but can be powered over USB.
- External desktop drives – 3.5-inch drives housed in an external enclosure with USB/Thunderbolt interfaces.
- Portable external drives – Compact 2.5-inch USB-powered drives for on-the-go use.
For a budget 8TB drive option, a 3.5-inch internal drive or external desktop drive provides the optimal combination of high capacity and low cost.
What are the main performance considerations?
Some key specifications to look at when comparing 8TB hard drive options:
- Spindle speed – Measured in RPM, faster drives offer better performance. 7200 RPM is standard for desktop drives.
- Cache size – More memory improves throughput. 64MB or 128MB is typical for 8TB drives.
- Average seek time – How fast the drive can access data. Around 8-9ms is common.
- Interface – Faster SATA, USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt interfaces enable better transfer speeds.
- RAID Support – Allows using multiple drives together for added performance or redundancy.
For an affordable 8TB option, a 7200 RPM drive with 64MB cache and SATA III or USB 3.0 interface offers a good balance of capacity, speed and value.
What are the major budget 8TB consumer hard drive models?
The leading hard drive manufacturers offer several competitively priced 8TB models well-suited to home and small office use:
| Brand | Model | Type | Interface | Cache | Speed | Warranty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WD Red Plus | WD80EFZX | 3.5″ Internal | SATA III | 128MB | 7200 RPM | 5 Years |
| Seagate Barracuda | ST8000DM004 | 3.5″ Internal | SATA III | 256MB | 5400 RPM | 2 Years |
| Toshiba N300 | HDWN180XZSTA | 3.5″ Internal | SATA III | 128MB | 7200 RPM | 3 Years |
| WD Elements | WDBWLG0080HBK | External | USB 3.0 | ? | ? | 2 Years |
| Seagate Backup Plus Hub | STEL8000100 | External | USB 3.0 | 64MB | 7200 RPM | 2 Years |
These models offer a range of options for internal or external installation. The WD Red Plus targets 24/7 home/office NAS usage while the Seagate Barracuda and Toshiba N300 are more general-purpose internal drives. The WD Elements and Seagate Backup Plus Hub are basic, affordable external desktop options.
How much does an 8TB hard drive cost?
Current street prices for top 8TB consumer hard drive models are:
- WD Red Plus 8TB – $180
- Seagate Barracuda Compute 8TB – $150
- Toshiba N300 8TB – $160
- WD Elements 8TB – $140
- Seagate Backup Plus Hub 8TB – $150
Availability and discounts can also be found if purchasing directly from Western Digital, Seagate, Amazon or Newegg.
While pricing fluctuates, most 8TB hard drives fall within the range of $140 to $200. This works out to around $0.02 per gigabyte for an unprecedented amount of affordable storage.
What are the pros and cons of 8TB hard drives?
Pros:
- Excellent value per terabyte
- Enough capacity for tons of large media files
- Room to grow for years to come
- 5+ year warranties on many models
- Easy to install and maintain
Cons:
- Large 3.5-inch drives require more space
- Use more electricity than SSD options
- Slower than SSDs for boot/program usages
- More potential points of failure than smaller drives or SSDs
Overall, 8TB hard drives deliver lots of storage space for the money with good enough performance for general home and office data storage needs.
How can I use an 8TB hard drive?
There are lots of great ways to utilize an 8TB hard drive’s massive storage capacity:
- Media server storage – Store thousands of songs, photos, home videos and other media files.
- PC/Mac Backup – Create system backups and archives of important files.
- Game libraries – Install dozens of large modern game titles.
- Movies/TV shows – Build up an enormous collection of digital video content.
- Home security storage – Save weeks worth of surveillance camera footage.
An 8TB drive can even be used for storing creative and business files like videos, CAD models, database archives and virtual machine disks.
How many 8TB drives can I run together?
One of the great things about large hard drives is that they can easily be set up in RAID arrays to offer even greater capacities and performance.
Some examples of RAID configurations possible with 8TB drives:
- 2 drives in RAID 0 – 16TB total in a performance striped array.
- 3 drives in RAID 5 – 16TB total with distributed parity for data protection.
- 4 drives in RAID 10 – 16TB total in a mirrored+striped array for performance and redundancy.
- 6 drives in RAID 6 – 32TB total with dual parity blocks to tolerate 2 drive failures.
- 8 drives in RAID 6 – 40TB total in a massive array.
The possibilities are almost endless for building gigantic RAID arrays with 8TB hard drives!
Should I consider an external 8TB model?
External 8TB hard drives offer some advantages that make them worth considering over internal drives in some cases:
- Portability to move data anywhere
- No need to install inside PC case
- Can work with multiple computers
- Added data redundancy with pre-installed enclosure
- Plug and play connectivity
Downsides of external drives include slightly higher costs, larger size and the dependence on external power adapters. Still, 8TB external drives like the WD Elements and Seagate Backup Plus provide lots of affordable storage in a convenient plug and play package.
Conclusion
For home users and small offices needing to add a sizeable amount of extra storage on a budget, an 8TB hard drive is a superb choice. Models from leading brands like Western Digital, Seagate and Toshiba can be purchased for around $150-$200, which provides an unparalleled 8,000GB+ of storage capacity at an extremely low cost per gigabyte.
8TB desktop hard drives can be installed internally using a standard SATA interface or utilized externally using USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt ports. They are big enough to handle huge libraries of HD media content, game installs, system images, surveillance data and almost anything else an average consumer can throw at them. And multiple 8TB drives can be paired together in a RAID for even more impressive capacities and performance.
For computer users that need much more space than the typical 500GB or 1TB drive can offer, an 8TB hard drive is the clear choice. Their massive storage combined with affordability and good-enough speeds make these drives a budget-friendly way to expand your digital storage capabilities for years to come.