Solved How do different HDDs differ (e.g., WD Red, Blue, Purple)

Baeolophus · Nov 14, 2023

Western Digital and Seagate offer different HDDs for different use cases: desktop computer (WD Blue, Seagate BarraCuda), NAS (WD Red, Seagate IronWolf) and video surveillance (WD Purple, Seagate SkyHawk). How do these vary in construction? What do those differences accomplish in detail?

Kees · Nov 14, 2023

As far as WD concerns, I am sure you can find the specs of each model on the WD site, so that you can compare the differences by yourself. I did that not so long ago, because I needed a 2 TB drive. I won't tell which one I have chosen, because my desires may be completely different from yours.

The Seagate drives I don't have any idea of (not of the Seagate site as well) as I don't have the best experience with Seagate in the past.
But Seagate certainly will have a comparing list as well.

Froggie · Nov 14, 2023

For me, the biggest thing to worry about is whether a HDD is CMR vs SMR. To understand these differences (and they are important depending on your use case), GOOGLE is your friend using "CMR vs SMR" Seagate has finally come around to designating these differences with their drives, many other manufacturers have not done so to date.

Anibor_11 · Nov 14, 2023

Baeolophus said:
Western Digital and Seagate offer different HDDs for different use cases: desktop computer (WD Blue, Seagate BarraCuda), NAS (WD Red, Seagate IronWolf) and video surveillance (WD Purple, Seagate SkyHawk). How do these vary in construction? What do those differences accomplish in detail?

It´s very important to consider the write method, which can be CMR (Conventional Magnetic Recording) or SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording). This applies to both WD and Seagate.

Froggie · Nov 14, 2023

...and if you're considering SEAGATE, here's a quick LOOK at which drives are which. You may not find this with other vendors. I personally have found SMR drives to be very slow when writing large files, and if they're used in RAID arrays that can be very cumbersome.

glasskuter · Nov 14, 2023

Western Digital HDD Colors Explained « HDDMag

Western Digital’s HDD series has six colors, which is confusing. We'll explain the difference between all the Western Digital HDD colors.

hddmag.com

Baeolophus · Nov 14, 2023

What I am gathering, including from a Wikipedia article on hard disk drives, is that there are fundamental differences in

caching methodologies,
write prioritization vs. read prioritization,
build quality and corresponding duration of warranty and
reliability under constant vs. intermittent use.

Solved How do different HDDs differ (e.g., WD Red, Blue, Purple)

Baeolophus

Active member

My Computer

System One

Kees

Well-known member

My Computer

System One

Froggie

Well-known member

My Computer

System One

Anibor_11

Well-known member

My Computer

System One

Froggie

Well-known member

My Computer

System One

glasskuter

aka Mama Glass

Western Digital HDD Colors Explained « HDDMag

My Computers

System One System Two

Baeolophus

Active member

My Computer

System One

Latest Support Threads

Latest Tutorials