Seagate IronWolf Pro 2TB NAS Hard Drive (ST2000NT001): specs and uses

The Seagate IronWolf Pro 2TB (model ST2000NT001) is a 3.5-inch internal hard drive made for RAID network attached storage. Seagate designed the IronWolf Pro line for multi-bay, multi-user systems that run around the clock, in commercial and enterprise settings as well as serious home setups.

What makes it a NAS drive

A NAS drive has to cope with being switched on all the time, sitting beside several other spinning disks and taking requests from several people at once. Seagate lists these features for that job:

• AgileArray firmware, with dual-plane balancing, which the brand says delivers strong RAID performance in multi-bay environments.
• Time-limited error recovery (TLER). In a RAID, a drive that retries a damaged sector for too long can be dropped from the array. Limiting the retry time is a standard NAS feature that avoids this.
• Rotational vibration (RV) sensors, which help the drive compensate for the shaking caused by neighbouring drives.

CMR, 7200 RPM and cache

The drive uses conventional magnetic recording (CMR), where tracks do not overlap. In general, CMR gives steadier write performance than shingled recording (SMR), which matters during RAID rebuilds and sustained transfers. Seagate describes its portfolio as all-CMR. The drive spins at 7200 RPM, carries a 256 MB cache and connects over SATA 6 Gb/s, the usual interface for 3.5-inch drives.

Workload and reliability figures

Seagate states these figures:

• Workload of up to 550 TB per year, a measure of how much data the drive is designed to handle annually.
• 2.5 million hours MTBF (mean time between failures). This is a statistical figure across many drives, not a prediction for a single unit.
• A five-year limited warranty.

Health management and data recovery

IronWolf Health Management is a monitoring feature that Seagate says offers prevention, intervention and recovery recommendations. It generally needs a NAS that supports it, so check your NAS maker's software. The listing also includes a three-year Rescue Data Recovery Service. Terms and eligibility are set by Seagate, so read them before relying on it.

Size and fit

The drive measures about 5.8 x 4.0 x 1.0 inches (roughly 14.7 x 10.2 x 2.5 cm) and weighs 1.7 lb (about 0.77 kg), the standard 3.5-inch size.

Who it suits

It is aimed at people building or expanding a multi-bay NAS or RAID server who want a drive designed for continuous operation. A single drive in a desktop used a few hours a day does not need these features.

What to check before you buy

• Confirm your NAS lists 3.5-inch SATA drives and has a free bay.
• Look at the NAS maker's compatibility list for this model.
• Think about capacity and the RAID level you plan to use, since redundancy reduces usable space.
• Allow for heat, airflow and noise from 7200 RPM drives.
• Remember that RAID is not a backup. Keep a separate copy of important data.

The short version

• 2TB, 3.5-inch CMR hard drive, 7200 RPM, 256MB cache, SATA 6 Gb/s.
• Seagate lists AgileArray, TLER and rotational vibration sensors for RAID use.
• Rated at up to 550TB per year with 2.5M hours MTBF.
• Five-year limited warranty plus a three-year data recovery service.
• Check NAS compatibility before buying.

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