Seagate: Which Drive Is Right for You?

BarraCuda, FireCuda, IronWolf, SkyHawk, and Exos. While at first glance these may appear to be mythical creatures of legend from some Lord of the Rings fan fiction, Seagate has used these terms to represent different types of its hard drives and solid-state drives. So, suppose you're in the process of building a computer, populating a RAID or NAS array, replacing a corrupted drive, or simply expanding/upgrading your system's current storage. How can you tell which type of Seagate drive is best suited for you? While it may not be immediately obvious, this article will help break down the function and purpose of each drive, thus allowing you to make more informed decision.

Seagate BarraCuda: Versatile and Dependable

Seagate's base-level drive, which is hardly base level, thanks to its impressive specs, is the BarraCuda. Seagate's BarraCuda is available as a 2.5" hard drive, which is designed for laptop, mobile, AiO, and external storage. B&H stocks the 2.5" Barracuda in capacities up to 2TB. For desktop storage, AiO storage, home servers, and DAS devices, look into the 3.5" BarraCuda drives that are available in capacities up to 6TB. These SATA III drives are not rated 24/7 use, so if you're building a RAID, NAS, or other multi-bay array, the BarraCuda is not your drive of choice.