Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDD – Should You Buy It?
Seagate revealed the dual actuator EXOS Mach.2 series of HDDs way back in 2019 at CES, promising that this new kind of HDD for enterprise could smash the current performance benchmarks set by optical HDDs. Fast forward to 2023 and they have been hard at work not only proving that it is possible, but further refining and improving upon it. Now Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDDs are available in several capacities, different interfaces and with many of the same performance and durability benefits of the rest of the EXPS data center class media in their portfolio. However, we are still talking about some particularly specialized kind of kit and despite dual actuator technology continuing to get bigger and bolder (as well as WD now throwing their hat in the ring with the HC760 Ultrastar DC drive series), many are wondering if NOW is the time to jump on Seagate Mach.2 Series. So, in today’s article, I am going to give you 4 reasons why they might well deserve your data and 4 reasons why you might want to remain on the fence a while longer!
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Seagate EXO Mach.2 14/16/18TB HDDs – HARDWARE HIGHLIGHTS
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4 Reasons the Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDD is a Good Drive For Your Needs
So, first up, let’s discuss the high points! Here are the four reasons why the Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDD server media deserves your money and your data! Note – if you are in a hurry, you can watch my ‘Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDD – Before You Buy’ video below:
#1 – Near FULL SATA Bandwidth Saturation = With a Hard Drive?!
This is possibly the most obvious benefit of the Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDD series (as it’s their main selling point) but the fact that these new dual actuator HDDs can hit speeds of 540-550MB/s sequential transfer speeds is genuinely astounding! Now, some users might say that SATA performance in the 500MB/s area is not new and that SATA SSDs have been cranking out those kinds of numbers for years – which is indeed true. HOWEVER, SATA SSDs also have a price point and maximum capacity that can easily make them prohibitive outside of the data center! The Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDD media gives you the best of both worlds, with a performance point that challenges (and surpasses) many SATA SSDs, but is also available in upto 18TB right now with the Seagate EXOS 2X18. This speed is achieved by the drive effectively duplicating the same mechanisms that allow the EXOS single actuator HDDs to hit 280MB/s+, with the inside of the drive technically formed of two sets of actuators and platters running parallel and funnelled out the single interface. It is also worth highlighting that higher performance HDDs beyond the traditional transfer speeds of other HDDs have been around at the data center level for years – but in the much more expensive, lower capacity and more temperamental 10K and 15K RPM drives (eg the WD Velociraptor). The Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDD series is a significantly more refined and stable alternative to those, which is why WD are in the process of rolling out its own dual actuator HDDs with the Ultrastar HS760 DC Drives later in 2023, as well as both brands discussing three and even four actuator drives down the line theoretically.
#2 – Available in SAS and SATA!
This was really surprising, given the incredible Data Center focus of these drives, but the Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDD series is available in both SATA and SAS connectivity. Now, technically SATA 6Gb/s bandwidth is enough for the reported throughput of these drives, so I shouldn’t really be surprised at the Seagate EXOS Mach.2 2X18 being available in more than just SAS (12Gb/s bandwidth). However, with many enterprise systems prioritizing SAS, it’s still refreshing to see them provide these available in SATA too, as it will allow their deployment in more affordable systems.
#3 – High Durability
Another point that Seagate was very keen to highlight when presenting the Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDD range way back in 2019 at CES was that, despite the doubling of transfer speeds compared with those of single actuator Seagate EXOS drives, they still maintain the same level of durability and sustained use associated with enterprise-class drive media. All the Seagate EXOS 2X14, 2X16 and 2X18 HDDs have a 550TBW annual workload, 2.5 Million hours workload limit and 600K load/unload cycles. Obviously, thise is still la drive that has the potential to write at twice the speed of single actuator HDDs, but its still good that this standard of sustained use is maintained by comparison.
#4 – Quieter than the same capacity with a single actuator
This is a point that is going to be exceedingly easier to explain the video linked below than to try and describe, but the Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDD series are surprisingly quieter than single actuator HDDs of the same capacity. I performed several tests using a single Seagate EXOS 2X18 HDD in a quiet NAS (so I could isolate the individual drive noise) and then compared with against a Seagate Ironwolf Pro 20TB HDD. The result was that the 20TB drive was noticeably noisier in both general access noise AND when the HDD was accessed at high volume in 4K random IOPS benchmarks. Now, you might be thinking that the reason was because of the additional 2TB of storage in 18TB vs 20TB – Nope. It was seemingly down to the dual actuator design separating the need for a more ‘highly sprung’ arm+actuator to hop between all the platters as much. The Seagate EXOS 2X16 Mach.2 HDD, for example, is technically 2 8TB HDD’s worth of platters and two actuators – so the noise level was akin to that. As many of my previous HDD tests have show, HDDs under 10TB have tended to be significantly quieter and this was indicated when the 2X18 drive was the lower noise of the two. Again, it’s tough to describe, so I recommend you SKIP AHEAD to HERE in the video to hear how the Seagate Mach.2 HDD compares with a Seagate Ironwolf Pro when installed in a NAS Drive.
4 Reasons the Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDD Might Not Suit Your Needs
Nothing is perfect, right? For all of the positives that I have highlighted above, the Mach.2 HDD is still not a perfect Seagate EXOS drive for your needs. Here are four reasons why you might want to give the Seagate EXOS Mach.2 server drive a miss, opt for an alternative drive like Ultrastar or go ‘Pro’ instead.
#1 – Dual LUN Architecture is not straightforward
I think this si something that Seagate could stand to be ALOT clearer about in it’s messaging about the Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDD series, but the fact that the drive needs to be communicated/mounted with in a specific way is not as well known as it should be. Normal single actuator HDDs are connected via SAS/SATA and the drive appears as one single large area of storage for you to use. These dual actuator HDDs on the other hand are comprised of two Logical Unit Number (LUN) storage blocks (each one has it’s defined platters and actuator). You cannot just connect the Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDD with any storage system (that includes Synology, QNAP, etc) and get those 550MB/s+ performance speeds, as they do not see the HDD in that way. In those setups, the Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDD will hit a max 280MB/s or so, like any other larger capacity EXOS HDD. At the enterprise-class level, the dual LUN architecture can be interfaced with logically at the server level as geared to take advantages of the dual storage architecture, e.g. think RAID 0/1 in a NAS of two drives versus a single HDD that is twice the capacity – double write/read type performance is only possible in a system that understands the RAID configuration and protocol. The same applies to dual LUN drives such as the Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDDs.
#2 – Pricing and Availability is ‘bulk’ Restricted
Despite the fact that the Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDD series have now been available to buy for the coming close to two years, stock levels and pricing is still INCREDIBLY enterprise focused (not a huge surprise, but still). Typically they are only available for special orders, can only be purchased in bulk cartons and do not benefit from any kind of bulk discount pricing. Quite the opposite infact and are comparable to the bulk pricing and restrictions of Ultrastar temperature-sensitive drives and the 10K/15K HDDs we mentioned earlier. Again, this all makes sense in the context of an enterprise-grade product, but does make the price per TB and price for the performance gains negligible unless you are going to go serious bulk’.
#3 – Price and Capacity could be challenged by SATA SSDs with QLC NAND
This is a barrier that is only now starting to emerge, but the growing affordability of SSDs thanks to Quad Layer Cell NAND development and its ability to 1) increase capacity possible on single PCB SSDs and 2) significantly reduce the cost per TB of SATA SSDs, is DEFINITELY something worth considering. For a start, although the general price point and capacity max of a SATA QLC NAND SSD is around $499 for 8TB, (still less than half the capacity of the Seagate EXOS 2X18 for example), they have a lower power consumption, are more widely available, lack the hassle of the dual LUN architecture needed for 2x actuator HDDs and once you start to look at the performance of QLC NVMe SSDs, they become even more viable. Now, elephant in the room, there is the question of durability with QLC NAND SSDs versus that of the Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDDs, which makes QLC SSDs at the data center hugely unsuitable, BUT for home/SOHO users and even mid-large businesses, there might well be enough pluses in the QLC NAND SSDs at 8TB available right now to win overall (especially if their data refresh rates are domestic/low).
#4 – Seagate NVMe SSDs on the horizon for DC?
This is one for the future and more of a reason not to invest in Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDDs ‘yet’! In 2021 we saw Seagate reveal a prototype HDD that they are working on that arrives with M.2 NVMe support. Now, as ridiculous as that sounds for a mechanical HDD that pumps out hundreds of MB/s to be connected via NVMe (a connection that can provide bandwidth in the thousands of MB/s), the big take away here is focusing on the future potential of this. For a start, in systems that are restricted to U.2/U.3/NVMe only, this would allow a larger capacity drive to be injected easily in conjunction with the existing faster NVMe SSDs. But, when you start considering the dual actuator HDDs in the market, as well as discussions by both Seagate and WD on triple and quadruple actuators being researched, this could easily mean that SATA and even SAS could prove itself to be a bottleneck. So, although we cannot see this arriving any time soon, I can definitely see multi-actuator HDDs like the Seagate EXOS Mach.2 HDD possibly being superseded by NVMe-connected versions down the road (in the same way we saw hybrid HDD+SSD technology be superseded by onboard flash drives like the WD OptiNAND technology to free up space by moving drive Ops to the NAND). It’s still hugely speculative, but it might be enough for you to maybe sit out eh current generation of dual actuator HDDs till ‘the next gen comes along’.
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