List of WD CMR and SMR hard drives (HDD)
Find if your drive is SMR by HDD model number
If you know an SMR type of drive, share it with others in a table below!
PMR, also known as conventional magnetic recording (CMR), works by aligning the poles of the magnetic elements, which represent bits of data, perpendicularly to the surface of the disk. Magnetic tracks are written side-by-side, without overlapping. SMR offers larger drive capacity than the traditional PMR because SMR technology achieves greater areal density.
WD CMR/ SMR drive list
| Model | Series | Capacity | Type | Platter |
| WD10EFRX | Red | 1TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD20EFRX
WD20EFZX |
Red | 2TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD20EFAX | Red | 2TB | SMR | 3.5inch |
| WD30EFRX
WD30EFZX |
Red | 3TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD30EFAX | Red | 3TB | SMR | 3.5inch |
| WD40EFRX
WD40EFZX |
Red | 4TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD40EFAX | Red | 4TB | SMR | 3.5inch |
| WD60EFRX
WD60EFZX |
Red | 6TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD60EFAX | Red | 6TB | SMR | 3.5inch |
| WD80EFAX
WD80EFZX |
Red | 8TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD100EFAX | Red | 10TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD101EFAX | Red | 10TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD120EFAX | Red | 12TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD140EFFX
WD140EFGX |
Red | 14TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD20EZAZ
WD20EZBX |
Blue | 2TB | SMR | 3.5inch |
| wd20ezrz | Blue | 2TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD60EZAZ | Blue | 6TB | SMR | 3.5inch |
| WD40EZRZ
WDBH2D0040HNC |
Blue | 4TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD40EZAZ | Blue | 4TB | SMR | 3.5inch |
| WD30EZRZ | Blue | 3TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD30EZAZ | Blue | 3TB | SMR | 3.5inch |
| wd10ezex
wd10ezrz WD10JUCT |
Blue | 1TB | CMR | |
| WD10SPZX | Blue | 1TB | SMR | 2.5inch |
| WD20SPZX | Blue | 2TB | SMR | 2.5inch |
| wd5000azrz
wd5000azlx WD5000LPVT |
Blue | 500GB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD10SPSX | Black | 1TB | SMR | 2.5inch |
| WD5000LPSX | Black | 500GB | SMR | 2.5inch |
| WD5000LPLX
WD3200LPLX WD2500LPLX WD101FZBX WD8001FZBX WD6003FZBX WD4005FZBX WD2003FZEX WD1003FZEX WD5003AZEX WDBA3A0050BBK WDBA3A0040BBK WDBA2W0020BBK |
Black | CMR | ||
| WD2002FFSX | Red Pro | 2TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD4003FFBX
WD4002FFWX |
Red Pro | 4TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD6003FFBX | Red Pro | 6TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD8003FFBX | Red Pro | 8TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD101KFBX | Red Pro | 10TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD102KFBX | Red Pro | 10TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD121KFBX | Red Pro | 12TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD141KFGX | Red Pro | 14TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD161KFGX
WD160EMFZ |
Red Pro | 16TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD181KFGX | Red Pro | 18TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD1005FBYZ | Gold | 1TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD2005FBYZ | Gold | 2TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD4002FYYZ | Gold | 4TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD4003FRYZ | Gold | 4TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD6002FRYZ | Gold | 6TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD6003FRYZ | Gold | 6TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD8003FRYZ | Gold | 8TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD8004FRYZ | Gold | 8TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD101KRYZ | Gold | 10TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD102KRYZ | Gold | 10TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD121KRYZ | Gold | 12TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD121KRYZ | Gold | 12TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD141KRYZ | Gold | 14TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD30EZRX | CAVIAR GREEN | 3TB | CMR (PMR) | 3.5inch |
| WD10PURZ | Purple | 1TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD8001PURP
WD101PURP WD121PURP WD141PURP WD181PURP |
Purple PRO | 8TB
10TB 12TB 14TB 18TB |
CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD20PURZ | Purple | 2TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD30PURZ | Purple | 3TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD40PURZ | Purple | 4TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD60PURZ | Purple | 6TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD82PURZ | Purple | 8TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD101PURZ | Purple | 10TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD102PURZ | Purple | 10TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD121PURZ | Purple | 12TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD140PURZ | Purple | 14TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| WD180PURZ | Purple | 18TB | CMR | 3.5inch |
| all models
Ultrastar DC HC310 – 0B36039 |
WD HGST | alls sizes | CMR | 3.5inch |
| HGST – 3.5″ DC HC600 Series 14TB, 15TB and 20TB Ultrastar HM-SMR |
Shrugged hard drives from WD. Your list is missing this drive. WD80EZAZ, its shrugged from external drive. Many have used this trick to safe money. But maybe it was a bad move? WD80EZAZ-11TDBA0 is full model name.
WD80EZAZ just like other versions above 6TB size are CMR drives.
DC HC600 Series Ultrastar
14TB & 15TB Host-Managed SMR HDD
7200 RPM | SATA 6Gb/s & SAS 12Gb/s
SATA
HSH7214xxALE6M0
HSH7214xxALE6M4
HSH7214xxALN6M0
HSH7214xxALN6M4
SAS
HSH7214xxAL52M0
HSH7214xxAL52M4
HSH7214xxAL42M0
HSH7214xxAL42M4
TOSHIBA CMR/ SMR drive list
https://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/content/dam/toshiba-ss-v2/emea/en_gb/company/teds/events-calendar/cloudfest/downloads/CloudFest2021_File1_Toshiba_CF2021_Toshiba%20Brochure_Storage.pdf
MG06ACA800E Toshiba 8TB Enterprise 3.5- CMR –
The MG08 and MG07 Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR) HDDs use a helium-sealed design
SMR in some video surveillance HDDs: P300 6TB, P300 4TB, DT02 6TB, DT02 4TB, DT02-V 6TB and DT02-V 4TB.
Certain notebook PC, game consoles, and external consumer drives also use SMR: L200 2TB, L200 1TB, MQ04 2TB and MQ04 1TB.
Desktop PC P300
CMR (500 GB- 3 TB):
HDWD130EZSTA, HDWD130UZSVA,
HDWD120EZSTA, HDWD120UZSVA,
HDWD110EZSTA, HDWD110UZSVA
HDWD105UZSVA,
SMR (2 TB-6 TB):
HDWD260UZSVA, HDWD240UZSVA, HDWD220UZSVA
HDWD260EZSTA, HDWD240EZSTA, HDWD220EZSTA
Toshiba – 3.5″ HDWD240UZSVA 4TB P300 Desktop DM-SMR
Toshiba – 3.5″ HDWD260UZSVA 6TB P300 Desktop DM-SMR
Toshiba – 3.5″ DT02ABA400 4TB DT02(-V) DM-SMR
Toshiba – 3.5″ DT02ABA600 6TB DT02(-V) DM-SMR
Toshiba – 2.5″ HDWL110 1TB L200 Slim DM-SMR
Toshiba – 2.5″ HDWL120 2TB L200 DM-SMR
Toshiba – 2.5″ MQ04ABF100 1TB MQ04
Toshiba – 2.5″ MQ04ABD200 2TB MQ04
MQ04 2.5-inch mobile generation SMR,
L200 Laptop PC Hard Drive Series, 9.5mm 2TB and 7mm 1TB branded models.
DT02 3.5-inch desktop generation all utilise drive managed SMR, and include the 4/6TB models of the P300 Series branded consumer drives.”
other desktop drives
- MD07ACA – 7,200rm 12TB, 14TB CMR (base of X300 Performance Hard Drive Series branded models
- MD04 – 7,200rpm – 2, 4, 5, 6TB CMR (base for X300 Performance Hard Drive Series branded models
- DT02 – 5,400rpm – 4, 6 TB SMR (base for P300 Desktop PC Hard Drive Series 4TB and 6TB branded models)
- DT01 – 7, 200rpm – 500GB, 1,2,3 TB CMR (base for P300 Desktop PC Hard Drive Series 1/2/3TB branded models)
Surveillance S300
Recording Technology
CMR:
HDWT140UZSVA, HDWV110UZSVA
SMR:
HDWT740UZSVA, HDWT720UZSVA,
HDWT860UZSVA, HDWT840UZSVA
S300 Surveillance Hard Drive
Part number Capacity Color
HDWT31AUZSVA (Bulk) 10 TB – ?
HDWT380UZSVA (Bulk) 8 TB – ?
HDWT360UZSVA (Bulk) 6 TB – ?
HDWT150UZSVA (Bulk) 5 TB – ?
HDWT140UZSVA (Bulk) 4 TB – SMR
S300 Pro Surveillance Hard Drive
6TB – CMR
8TB – CMR
10TB – CMR
HDWT31AUZSVA (Bulk) 10 TB -CMR
HDWT380UZSVA (Bulk) 8 TB -CMR
HDWT360UZSVA (Bulk) 6 TB -CMR
MD03ACA400R – CMR ?
Also known SMR :
P300 6TB
P300 4TB
DT02 6TB
DT02 4TB
DT02-V 6TB
DT02-V 4TB
L200 2TB
L200 1TB
MQ04 2TB
MQ04 1TB
Seagate SMR HDD List
St6000vn001 CMR
And other IronWolf capacity drives are all CMR
ST33000651NS CMR
And other Seagate Constellation capacity drives are all CMR
kc872399 CMR
EXOS 7E8 CMR
WD80EFEXOS 7E8AX CMR
And other Seagate EXOS capacity drives are all CMR
Seagate – 3.5″ ST2000DM005 2TB Barracuda DM-SMR
Seagate – 3.5″ ST2000DM008 2TB Barracuda DM-SMR
Seagate – 3.5″ ST3000DM007 3TB Barracuda DM-SMR
Seagate – 3.5″ ST4000DM004 4TB Barracuda DM-SMR
Seagate – 3.5″ ST5000DM003 5TB Barracuda DM-SMR
Seagate – 3.5″ ST6000DM003 6TB Barracuda DM-SMR
Seagate – 3.5″ ST8000DM004 8TB Barracuda DM-SMR
Seagate – 3.5″ ST5000DM000 5TB Desktop DM-SMR
Seagate – 3.5″ ST5000AS0011 5TB Archive DM-SMR
Seagate – 3.5″ ST6000AS0002 6TB Archive v2 DM-SMR
Seagate – 3.5″ ST8000AS0002 8TB Archive v2 HA-SMR
Seagate – 3.5″ ST8000AS0003 8TB Exos (Archive v3) DM-SMR
Seagate – 3.5″ ST1000VX008 1TB Skyhawk Lite DM-SMR
Seagate – 3.5″ ST2000VX007 2TB Skyhawk Lite DM-SMR
SEAGATE SMR DRIVES
Seagate – 2.5″ ST1000LM048 1TB Barracuda DM-SMR
Seagate – 2.5″ ST2000LM015 2TB Barracuda DM-SMR
Seagate – 2.5″ ST3000LM024 3TB Barracuda DM-SMR
Seagate – 2.5″ ST4000LM024 4TB Barracuda DM-SMR
Seagate – 2.5″ ST5000LM000 5TB Barracuda DM-SMR
- Barracuda 2TB – 7,200rpm – SATA 6gig – model name – ST2000DM008
- Barracuda 4TB – 5,400rpm – SATA 6gig – ST4000DM004
- Barracuda 8TB – 5,400rpm – SATA 6gig – ST8000DM004
- Desktop HDD 5TB – 5,900rpm – SATA 6gig – ST5000DM000
- Exos 8TB – 5900rpm – SATA 6gig – ST8000AS0003
- Archive v2 6TB – 5,900rpm – SATA 6gig – ST6000AS0002
- Archive v2 8TB – 5,900rpm – SATA 6gig – ST8000AS0002
WD My Passport drives – SMR
WDBPKJ0050 and other capacities and colours
SAMSUNG LIST
HD103SJ – CMR
Frequently asked questions about CMR / SMR
Can SSD be SMR drive?
No, it’s only mechanical HDD hard drives.
More information about SMR
How to tell a difference between DM-SMR and non-SMR (CMR) drives (HDD) – compare
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SMR is always noticeable, regardless of whether it’s drive or system managed. In particular, performance plummets in sync-heavy write scenarios. That is to say, when applications write data and request that it be synced to platter before they return to do further business. An obvious scenario is with database applications, but a less obvious one is with common COW-based filesystems such as btrfs or ZFS. These filesystems sync metadata blocks to disk constantly, and the nature of SMR drives is that the full remainder of a zone has to be written whenever a bit is changed inside it. This causes massive write amplification, blocking, and drive death (literally). This is also why ZFS, btrfs, APFS, etc. are such SSD killers. SSDs also have to rewrite an entire cell when a bit is changed and synced, so the write amplification by these sorts of filesystems is really detrimental.
Yes, RAID0 or RAID10 is better for SMR drives.
I’m a little puzzled about the Toshiba MQ01ABD vs MQ01ABDV drives… Here, it reads that the “V” drives are CMR whereas the non-“V” drives are SMR. Is this really correct? As usual, Toshiba doesn’t offer this information online as far as I’m able to conclude.
But the MQ01ABD-V series is presented as “suitable for video editing, set-top-box (STB), digital video recorders (DVR) and network video recorders (NVR) applications,” while the non-“V” series is presented as a “suitable storage solution for laptops, All-in-One systems and applications where performance, reliability and power efficiency are critical.”
In other words, it sounds as though the “V” is for video, which usually means SMR. It really makes me wonder if the reports here haven’t been switched? I’ve contacted Toshiba asking if the two 500-GB drives from both series are SMR or CMR, but who knows if and when they’ll respond.
SMR drives are only good for no RAID, or RAID1, RAID10 (mirror options). That can still be used for video editing. CMR drives can be used in RAID5/6 etc. And also can be used for video editing. https://nascompares.com/answer/list-of-wd-cmr-and-smr-hard-drives-hdd/
I email WD and asked if the drive was CMR or SMR and they said that no one at western digital knows this information. I call BS on this. SMR has no place near in NAS or RAID.
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I think Western digital got class action sued over this.
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They were confusing before and have made it worse. ????
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The dead giveaway that a drive is SMR, is TRIM SUPPORT! … I don’t know WHY manufacturers can’t just be open and transparent about what customers are buying?
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Using something like a NAS in a home environment, I don’t have constant read/write cycles but I want security and longevity.
I think the conventional recording seems more trustworthy.
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I’d like to compare this to backup tapes. DLT and LTO (linear) never mad a problem whereas technologies squeezing more data into a place like AIT and DAT (helical) were not that reliable. And consequently disappeared from the market.
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Agree with Jerry Yu and, besides his valid comment, not listing HDDs in some kind of order makes this voting even more useless.
What a great opportunity for you to improve this page and help others. You can send an email to info@nascompares with a quick draft how you would like it to look.
WD Blue wd20ezaz 1TB SMR
Isn’t this drive 1TB? https://tinyl.io/6kgX
I’ve now owned a number of WD40EFZX and WD60EFZX HDDs for over a year now, and have had no problems. They are also the quietest HDDs I have ever observed (and I’ve worked with thousands of HDDs). I can barely hear these Red Plus drives even with my ear right next to any of them. Contact vibration is almost non-existant, too. HOWEVER…
Shipment Packaging and Early Failures:
Nwegg packaging of “OEM” HDD offerings is not quite adequate at this time. All drives were packed in bubble-wrap, 1 HDD per small cardboard box. It would have been great packaging EXCEPT…
*one side in EVERY box had an open edge of the bubble-wrap on one side of the HDD*
The HDD could contact the cardboard box sides without any intervening “bubble” along that entire edge. That means on that on one axis the HDDs were NOT properly protected from shock during shipping. Drives also “bounced around” in boxes so that can also expose the drives to high-G shocks during shipping. If dropped on that exposed edge from any reasonable height, the induced shock will exceed the drive’s G-shock spec. That could result in DOAs, early life failures, intermittent errors, or “weird noises” during operation. It’s an easy fix on the shipping prep line and WD should take care of it ASAP.
Negative Reviews and User Error?:
By the way, I also think some number of negative reviews claiming DOA’s, greatly reduced capacity, etc of these drives are due to *_user error_* when first installing and initializing these drives…with users being unfamiliar with GPT v MBR, and OS and hardware incompatibilities with the multi-terabyte drives. I’ve seen compatibility issues between these drives and quite a few docking stations, even when the docking stations claim compatibility.
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Re statement in video at (02:30)
Probably already covered somewhere in here, but “Plus” also includes 4TB and 6TB drives. WD40EFZX and WD60EFZX
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There is a typo in HDD’s brand name. It is not “hitashi”, but “hitachi”.
Corrected. Thank you.
Great list, thanks guys for sharing and maintaining!! How about adding a new column “Helium”? 🙂
I have WD Red Plus in a dead Drobo. Can I put them in a Synology NAS directly (with data on them), or am I going to have to reformat them? (I’m probably thinking I have to reformat them, but would love to get your advice).
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Drive managed SMR if it did it right, would be invisible. But if its noticable/measurable its not doing it well enough.
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Glad I got the 16TB WD Gold for my desktop/server host which is on 24/7 but “shouldn’t be” instead. 😛
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Are the CMR drives *actually* CMR or could some of them be device-managed SMR?
Telling the truth by putting CMR or SMR is too confusing. Better to keep it a secret and drawing in the suckers then selling them a pile of shit. Just like a Venus fly trap does to a fly.
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I think it’s worth mentioning, given that they’re available on Amazon, that the WD Blue 3TB drives are SMR. If you look at the model number, if it ends in AZ, I believe that’s a sure bet it’s SMR. On this webpage (https://shop.westerndigital.com/products/internal-drives/wd-blue-desktop-sata-hdd#:~:text=protect%20your%20data.-,Recording%20Technology,-CMR%3A%20WD5000AZLX%2C%20WD5000AZRZ), WD gives a short list of the types:
“Recording Technology
CMR: WD5000AZLX, WD5000AZRZ, WD10EZEX, WD10EZRZ, WD20EZRZ, WD30EZRZ, WD40EZRZ
SMR: WD20EZAZ, WD20EZBX, WD30EZAZ, WD40EZAZ, WD60EZAZ”
I was very close to buying the WD30EZAZ, as 3TB with 256MB of cache at 5400RPM for $60 USD new is a great deal, but not for an SMR drive, honestly. This page came up early in my searches, but it wasn’t until I found WD’s own page on it that I was able to confirm it was SMR. I wish they had to list that somewhere on the page on Amazon, but sadly they do not.
no no no
we need McNeil…tests
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still pretty confused… the WD Red plus in 2 to 6GB are in red color in the table, are they no good?
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intel is more fraud
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Funny to see so many uneducated misleading info here about SMR. Just like those people boycott 5G technology.
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