Best high-capacity NAS hard drives (16TB+)
When bays are the limit, capacity per drive is everything. These are the largest CMR drives in our catalog - 16TB and up - for dense arrays that need maximum storage without another enclosure.
Big drives mean longer rebuilds and more data riding on each disk, so pair them with real redundancy: RAID 6 / SHR-2 once you're past a few large drives.
| Drive | Capacity | Tech | Class | Interface | AFR | €/TB | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
WUH722626ALE6L4
WD Ultrastar DC HC590
|
26 TB | CMR | Enterprise | SATA | 0.40% | €41.42 | €1,077 |
| 2 |
WD240KFGX
WD Red Pro
|
24 TB | CMR | NAS-Pro | SATA | - | €43.29 | €1,039 |
| 3 |
WD241KRYZ
WD Gold
|
24 TB | CMR | Enterprise | SATA | - | - | - |
| 4 |
WUH722424ALE6L4
WD Ultrastar DC HC580
|
24 TB | CMR | Enterprise | SATA | - | €51.25 | €1,230 |
| 5 |
ST24000NT002
Seagate IronWolf Pro
|
24 TB | CMR | NAS-Pro | SATA | - | - | - |
| 6 |
ST24000NM002H
Seagate Exos X24
|
24 TB | CMR | Enterprise | SATA | 2.75% | - | - |
| 7 |
ST24000VE002
Seagate SkyHawk AI
|
24 TB | CMR | Surveillance | SATA | - | €40.21 | €965 |
| 8 |
MG11ACA24TE
Toshiba MG11
|
24 TB | CMR | Enterprise | SATA | 0.68% | €42.38 | €1,017 |
| 9 |
WD221KFGX
WD Red Pro
|
22 TB | CMR | NAS-Pro | SATA | - | - | - |
| 10 |
WD221KRYZ
WD Gold
|
22 TB | CMR | Enterprise | SATA | - | - | - |
| 11 |
WUH722222ALE6L4
WD Ultrastar DC HC570
|
22 TB | CMR | Enterprise | SATA | 0.47% | €51.11 | €1,124 |
| 12 |
WD221PURP
WD Purple Pro
|
22 TB | CMR | Surveillance | SATA | - | - | - |
Ranked by capacity. $/TB shows once live prices are wired.
Going big without going fragile
Capacity per bay
Fewer, larger drives keep the enclosure simple and leave slots free for later. Almost all of them are helium-sealed, which matters more than it sounds when a chassis is packed: less heat, less power, less noise per terabyte stored.
Plan for longer rebuilds
The price of density is rebuild time. Resilvering a 20TB+ drive can run a full day, and a second failure during that window takes a single-parity array down with it. Past a few large drives, RAID 6 or SHR-2 isn't a nicety - it's the thing standing between you and a restore from backup.
Match endurance to workload
High-capacity NAS and enterprise drives carry workload ratings of 300-550TB/year. For a busy multi-user NAS or a backup target that's always ingesting, that endurance headroom matters more than raw speed - and it's where enterprise drives earn their premium.
Frequently asked questions
- Are large hard drives less reliable?
- Not inherently - modern 16-24TB CMR drives are built to enterprise standards. The real risk is rebuild time: with very large drives, a RAID rebuild takes longer, widening the window for a second failure. Use double-parity redundancy with big arrays.
- What's the largest NAS drive available?
- Current top capacities reach 24-28TB for conventional (CMR) drives. Capacities climb steadily, so check the table above for what's shipping now.
- Should I use helium drives?
- Most high-capacity drives are helium-sealed, which lowers power draw, heat and noise. It's a mature, reliable technology used across enterprise fleets.