Yesterday, I was digging into these Seagate hard drives, specifically the Exos series. You know, I’m always trying to get the best bang for my buck, and I noticed they have these Exos 20 and Exos 18 models. I thought, “What’s the real difference between these two?”
So, I rolled up my sleeves and started comparing them. First thing I did was look at the capacity. It’s pretty obvious, right? The Exos 20 offers 20TB of space, while the Exos 18 has 18TB. That’s a 2TB difference, which might not sound like much, but for someone who hoards data like me, every terabyte counts.
Then I moved on to the speed. Both drives spin at 7200 RPM, so that’s the same. But here’s a kicker – I found that the Exos 20 has a slightly better sustained transfer rate. It’s a bit faster when you’re moving huge chunks of data. Not a game-changer, but noticeable if you’re doing heavy-duty stuff.
Next up, I checked the cache. Both have a 256MB cache, so no difference there. Cache helps with how quickly the drive can access frequently used data, so it’s good that they’re both pretty generous with it.
I also looked into the reliability of these drives. They both have pretty similar specs in terms of workload rate limit and MTBF (mean time between failures). Basically, they’re both built to last and handle a lot of work. Seagate seems to have made them tough cookies.
Power consumption was another thing I was curious about. I mean, who wants a power-hungry drive, right? Turns out, the Exos 20 uses a tiny bit more power than the Exos 18, but we’re talking about a very small difference. Not something that would make me lose sleep.
And then there’s the price. This is where things get interesting. Naturally, the Exos 20 is a bit pricier than the Exos 18. But it’s not a huge gap, and when you consider the extra storage and slight speed bump, it might be worth the extra dough, depending on what you need.
Here’s a quick rundown of what I found:
- Capacity: Exos 20 has 20TB, Exos 18 has 18TB.
- Speed: Both 7200 RPM, but Exos 20 has a slightly better sustained transfer rate.
- Cache: Both have 256MB cache.
- Reliability: Both are pretty reliable with similar workload rate limit and MTBF.
- Power Consumption: Exos 20 uses a bit more power, but it’s a small difference.
- Price: Exos 20 is a bit more expensive.
My Conclusion
After all this digging, I realized that the choice between the Exos 20 and Exos 18 really comes down to your needs. If you need that extra 2TB and want the slightly faster speed, go for the Exos 20. But if you’re okay with 18TB and want to save a bit of money, the Exos 18 is a solid choice. Both are great drives, and you can’t really go wrong with either. That’s just my two cents from my little adventure into the world of Seagate Exos drives.