Both competitors are envisioned for NAS (Network Attached Storage) hard drives, have an equivalent non-operating temperature, support a workload rate limit of 180, and perform well for personal and home office. They are highly reliable and deliver exceptional performance.
The WD Red is a one-stop unit to fulfill all the requirements from storing to accessing and managing data. It comes with a NASware 3.0 technology that improves power use subsequently causing noteworthy power reserves and lower hard drive operating temperatures, hence, increasing the overall consistency and performance of the drive.
On the other side, the Seagate Ironwolf delivers an incomparable performance in NAS systems. It has a comprehensive range of data storage capacities. It’s Ironwolf Health Management upsurges the system’s consistency and performance.
In case of bewildering data exploitation or damage, a data recovery plan can help to recover the data. It makes the drive competitive, instant, and accessible multi-bay networked environments.
Table of Contents
Comparing Them Side By Side:
Compared to Seagate Ironwolf, the WD Red has NASware firmware compatibility, a lower chance of failure, and consumes lower power whereas its competitor is cheaper, versatile in products, has a superior data transfer rate, and is more compact & lighter in weight.
| Technical Specifications | WD Red | Ironwolf |
| Device type | NAS (Network Attached Storage) Hard Drive | NAS (Network Attached Storage) Hard Drive |
| Interface | SATA 6Gb/s | SATA 6Gb/s |
| Supported bays | 1-8 | 1-8 |
| Workload Rate Limit (WRL) | 180 | 180 |
| Compatible devices | NAS systems | NAS systems |
| Unrecoverable Error Rate (bits read) | 4TB = <1 in 1014 | 4TB = 1 per 10E14 |
| Limited Warranty (years) | 3 | 3 |
Features WD Red offers:
- NASware 3.0 technology connects you to the world and experiences improved drive compatibility, dependability, and incorporation.
- Optimization of devices up to 48TB capacity in an 8-bay system.
- It has a distinctive structure that boosts work reliability and performance in personal and home environments.
- Performs well in a 24/7 environment.
Features of Ironwolf:
- It is designed for NAS with Agile Array technology that optimizes system reliability and performance empowering dual-plane balancing because of considerable width and time spent to recover from a read/write error.
- Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR) technology allows data recording on magnetic media, mainly hard disks for constant NAS performance.
- It endures a workload of 180 TB/year letting smooth storing and dealing with huge volumes of networked data.
- Provides super RAID performance in multi-bay systems
- Seagate benefits its customers with an efficient recovery rate of 95% and supports in case of unintentional data abuse or drive damage.
- It allows multiple users to access data at multiple locations simultaneously.
- Built-in RV sensors lessen the effect of vibration guaranteeing constant performance in multi-bay systems.
- Ironwolf Health Management (IHM) protects your NAS data with security, accession, and approvals for retrieval to confirm vital system performance
By analyzing the feature of both contenders, we can state that Ironwolf takes the lead in the category of providing superior features.
Compare WD Red with other:
Compare Seagate Ironwolf with others:
Segare Ironwolf vs Toshiba N300.
Design & Hardware
Both NAS hard drives are having a rectangular shape.
Red, as its name shows, has a red color with three vertical lines, silver lustrous corners, a white bottom portion with Western Digital written on it, and black background with the WD logo on its front.
On the other hand, Ironwolf’s front side has three portions.
The upper portion is green with the logo of Seagate, the bottom portion is Red with capacity mentioned on the right side, and the middle portion is shiny black with an Ironwolf logo.
Both of them are having almost the same dimensions but Ironwolf is relatively lighter which makes it more condensed and superior to its competitor.
| Parameter | WD Red | Ironwolf |
| Dimension in inches (L x W x D) | 4TB = 1.028 × 5.787 × 4 | 4TB = 1.028 x 5.787 x 4 |
| Weight, g | 4TB = 571.5 | 4TB = 490 |
| Form Factor | 3.5 inches | 3.5 inches |
Working Environment
The lifecycle span of the NAS hard drive is greatly influenced by the environment temperature.
An increased risk of failure can be due to the result of the higher temperature.
Both competitors seem to have a lower initial operating temperature of 0°C.
On the contrary, WD Red has a comparatively lower maximum operating temperature.
Hence, WD Red takes the lead for having a controlled and lower operating temperature comparatively.
The non-operating temperature of both the contenders is identical.
Both competitors are suitable for personal and small businesses but Ironwolf wins the race as it delivers exceptional performance in professional businesses.
| Parameter | WD Red | Ironwolf |
| Temperature (Operating / Non-Operating) | 4TB = 0 to 60° C / -40 to 70°C | 4TB = 0 to 65° C / -40 to 70°C |
| Environment | Personal and home office NAS systems | Personal and home office NAS systems |
Interface
A medium used to establish a connection between two unconnected units or entities is referred to as the interface.
Both contestants support the SATA 6 Gb/s interface, the third generation of SATA.
It is the major interface that links host bus connectors to hard disk drives, and optical drives that are termed mass storage devices. SATA is short for “Serial ATA” or “Serial Advanced Technology Attachment.”
The “6Gb/s” make sure concurrent data transfer speeds of 6 gigabits per second, and prolonged performance in high-bandwidth applications that are used to measure the amount of data downloadable from the server such as streaming high-graphics video.
Hence in this contest, both contenders ended up in a stalemate.
Rotational Speed
Rotational Speed measures the speediness of the travel of platters inside the hard drive. The quicker the movement of platters, the data bits move past the read/write head quicker, delivering higher data rates.
Ironwolf has an outstanding rpm of 7200 which means it has a good data transfer rate comparatively.
| Parameter | WD Red | Ironwolf |
| Rotational speed | 5400rpm | 7200rpm |
Power Consumption
WD Red utilizes comparatively lesser power than its competitor, reducing the power usage, making it less pricey, protracting the lifespan of the drive, and making it more proficient in performance.
| Parameter | WD Red | Ironwolf |
| Power Consumption Idle Average (W) | 4TB = 3.1 | 4TB = 3.95 |
Data Transfer Speed
Ironwolf has two models in 4TB capacity.
One model has the same speed as WD Red.
But another has a comparatively higher data transfer speed.
So we can conclude that Ironwolf allows the quicker transmission of data from one place to another.
| Parameter | WD Red | Ironwolf |
| Data Transfer Speed | 4TB = up to 180mb/s | 4TB ST4000VN006 = 202mb/s 4TB ST4000VN008 = 180mb/s |
Storage Capacity
Ironwolf has a more flexible product range.
It has 11 sizes available in terms of storage capacity with some sizes having variations in models.
It has a massive storage capacity ranging from 1TB – 18TB.
On the contrary, WD Red has limited product variety and comes in 4 sizes from 2TB – 6TB.
Hence, Ironwolf takes the lead for being more versatile in size and having a massive storage capacity.
| Specification | WD Red | Ironwolf |
| Capacity | 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB | 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, 18TB |
Price Comparison
Even though Red has lower power consumption, lower risk of failure, slimmer design, and NASware firmware compatibility, this does not justify its high price.
Because its competitor is having advanced features, a more compact design, superior temperature range, high rotational & transfer speed, and enlarged data storage capacity.
Quick Summary
Both competitors;
- have an equivalent non-operating temperature.
- support 1-8 drive bays.
- have an interface of SATA 6Gb/s.
- offers 3 years of warranty.
- have 3.5 inches form-factor.
WD Red;
- NASware firmware compatibility.
- has lower power consumption.
- has a slimmer design.
- has a lower risk of failure.
Seagate Ironwolf;
- is more compact and lighter in weight.
- built-in RV sensors lessen the effect of vibration.
- Has higher storage capacity and more product versatility.
- has a superior data transfer speed.
- is a more economical choice.