Seagate IronWolf 4TB NAS Hard Disk Review

Seagate completely rebranded their HDD lineup in 2016 by having each of their specific function drives reintroduced as one of the Guardian Series. BarraCuda drives for everyday computing, SkyHawk drives for surveillance systems and finally the IronWolf for network attached storage (NAS) systems.

Today what we have in our labs is the Seagate IronWolf 4TB NAS HDD, in fact, 2 units of them so that we could perform a real-world test in our Synology DS216j 2-bay NAS.

(Seagate IronWolf 4TB NAS HDD is retailed at RM 699.)

Seagate IronWolf Specifications

Overview

The drive itself has conventional design without anything fancy on it.

Top view

Bottom view

Label

Connector & PCB

Test 1: Use as Internal Drive

Testing Methodology

• CPU: Intel Core i5-3470
• Cooler: DeepCool Lucifer V2
• Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-M
• Memory: G-Skill Ripjaws X DDR3-1600 4GB x 2
• OS Drive: PLEXTOR PX-256M6M
• PSU: Seasonic G-550
• Case: Silverstone TJ-08e
• OS: Windows 10

The Seagate IronWolf drive is connected to the test rig as above through the motherboard's SATA III 6Gbps connector. Tests conducted include synthetic benchmark via CrystalDiskMark and real world usage via the transfer of a 4 GB file between the PLEXTOR SSD and Seagate IronWolf HDD.

Synthetic Benchmark

Synthetic Benchmark - CrystalDiskMark standard

Synthetic Benchmark - CrystalDiskMark 0Fill

Real World Usage

Read from HDD

Write to HDD

We are getting the expected real life read and write speed from the IronWolf drive. The sequential read and write speeds are matching with the product specifications. For a 5,900 rpm drive, the transfer speed is quite fast.

If you ever decide to install the IronWolf as your PC's secondary storage, it should work relatively fine. However, do take note that BarraCuda drives are more suitable for PC environment because it is more optimised for everyday computing, lower price and faster read/write speed.

Next, we will talk about how it performs when installed in a NAS.

Test 2: Use as NAS drive

Testing Methodology

Seagate IronWolf in Synology DS216j

• Router: D-Link DIR-850L Wireless AC1200 Dual-Band Gigabit Cloud Router
  
  • Gigabit LAN to both NAS and Computer
• NAS: Synology DiskStation DS216j
  
  • Seagate IronWolf 4TB x 2
  • RAID 0
• PC: ASUS ROG G752VS
  
  • Intel Core i7-7700HQ
  • Samsung DDR4-2400 CL17 8GB x 2
  • Samsung SM951 NVMe 256GB M.2 PCIe 3.0
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070

Both of the Seagate IronWolf 4TB drives are installed into the Synology DiskStation DS216j NAS box and configured in RAID0. We then tested the setup by transferring files over the Gigabit LAN network.

Real World Usage

Read from NAS

Write to NAS

Theoretically, Gigabit LAN's transfer speed is capped at 125 MBps. Since there are different kinds of overhead on a network, getting the read/write speed of 100~110 MBps over the network means both the drives and network is performing without any hiccups.

Final Words

Seagate IronWolf 4TB

At this point, some of you might be asking why do we need a NAS drive as they are slower than regular desktop HDDs and yet the transfer speed is ultimately bottlenecked by the network's speed. On the surface, it might seem true because speed is something that we can measure and compare. In fact, we have to factor in several other concerns, for example, 24/7 performance, RAID optimisation and power management.

In our home NAS scenario, since we're using one of the entry level 2-bay NAS box, the RAID optimisation from the NAS drives might not contribute much to the use case. However, the 24/7 availability and power management certainly have their place here. After almost two weeks of day to day usage, I am very pleased with the overall performance of the Seagate IronWolf HDDs. Based on my observation, even when the drives are at full load, the noise level has been pretty much inaudible.

If you're in the market for a NAS drive either for home or small office usage, I'm sure that the Seagate IronWolf drives are capable of delivering the performance and reliability to ensure your data are well kept.

More info at Seagate's website.

Pros:

• Fast transfer speed for a 5900 rpm drive
• Quiet operation
• Great NAS features

Cons:

• More expensive than regular hard drives

Transcend StoreJet Cloud 110K Review

Instead of relying of cloud storage services, more and more people is moving towards the direction of having their own personal cloud storage that doesn't binds them to any form of rules and additional costs for more space and download speed.

Instead of another NAS for the advanced users, we'll be looking at a much simpler NAS, the Transcend StoreJet Cloud 110K (SJC110K) that is specially tailored for entry level users who just wanted to get things done without any hassle. 

Unboxing

Starting off with the packaging, we can see that Transcend kept things simple as usual with the StoreJet Cloud 110K - simple yet sufficient highlights on the product information and features. Marketed as a personal cloud for home users, the StoreJet Cloud 110K features a 1-bay design to accommodate only ONE hard drive and doesn't comes with fancy enterprise level features.   

At the back of the box, you'll find the technical specifications, package content, system requirements as well as the labelled diagram for the IO available on the StoreJet Cloud 110K.

Moving on to the content of the box, you'll find a quick start guide, power adapter with interchangeable plugs, a CAT 5e Ethernet cable to get you the proper transfer speed through the network, some product catalogs and of course, the StoreJet Cloud 110K itself.

The StoreJet Cloud 110K

Appearance wise, the StoreJet Cloud 110K looks nothing like any NAS we've used in the past. It uses a minimalist matte-black enclosure instead of those that comes with a display panel, removable bay, etc - which is good if you don't plan to let your guests to notice its existence before you start to brag about it.

Despite having a slim profile, the StoreJet Cloud 110K has these grill-like design on both the top and bottom side on its enclosure for better airflow, preventing the device from overheat damage.

Moving on to the IO at the back of the StoreJet Cloud 110K, a red function button to enter / resume from its power-saving sate sleeping mode, an odd looking on / off switch, a USB 3.0 port, a Ethernet RJ45 port, DC input port and a Kensington lock slot.

While it's good to have a USB 3.0 port to allow content sharing with external storage devices, Transcend might want to reconsider the placement of the USB 3.0 port. It can be a pain if you happens to have a USB 3.0 devices that comes with a ridiculously big connector. 

Product Setup

Once you've done connecting all the necessary cables i.e network cable, power adapter, and powered up the StoreJet Cloud 110K, enter the link find.storejetcloud.com as stated on the quick start guide on your browser to start configuring your StoreJet Cloud 110K.

This is how things looks like once you're logged into the web user interface of the StoreJet Cloud 110K.

An inner window that resembles a file explorer will appear after you clicked on the icons for photo, music and video management. The only problem here is that all of the operation has to be done with the control buttons and you can't just move the files with a simple copy-paste, select all, etc.

Other features available in the web user interface includes a disk manager for S.M.A.R.T info monitor and format disk, a built-in Dropbox app for backing up data to the service provider, managing users for remote access and a built-in media player. 

StoreJet Cloud App

Once you've done setting up the accounts for remote access, the StoreJet Cloud 110K can be accessed via the Transcend StoreJet Cloud app which can be downloaded from Google Play and Apple App Store without any cost.

While authorized users can backup and access their personal files with the app with ease, Transcend could really consider on making the user adding process easier for the StoreJet Cloud 110K owner. Adding user invite function via messaging app, social media app or even a simple QR code scanning are some of the directions that is worth to consider for.

Performance

Performance wise, there's nothing much to complain here actually. The StoreJet Cloud 110K has a fairly decent speed of 113 MB/s peak speed on copy-from operation and 89 MB/s peak speed on copy-to operation with a highly compressed zip file. More less, we're pretty satisfied with the performance it can deliver here.

Verdict

The StoreJet Cloud 110K is probably one of the easiest to configure entry-level NAS we've came across so far and it makes a great kickstart NAS for first-time users who wants a personal storage that can be accessed anytime, anywhere as long as there's internet connection. However, the level of customization for the StoreJet Cloud 110K is very limited, especially for the apps available - as far as we can tell, you can't install or remove any apps from it.

There's no deny that one can configure remote access to your computer with apps like TeamViewer to achieve similar functionality here, but for the amount of data, electricity that you'll be using to achieve this, investing in a NAS would be a much wiser choice on the long run. 

At the price of RM799, it's fair for us to say that the StoreJet Cloud 110K is one heck of a personal storage that's worth to consider for. 

Pros

• Very easy to configure
• Very simple user interface
• Small footprint
• Decent performance
• Reasonable cost

Cons

• USB 3.0 port can be a pain for device with large USB connector
• Lack of customization (3rd-party app)
• Lack of flexibility for keyboard shortcut in the file management window

Event Coverage: Western Digital My Cloud NAS Launch Event

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen , this is Jack from Tech-Critter bringing you coverage of Western Digital's product launch which was held at St Giles The Gardens - The Garden Hotel & Residences just last week.

Western Digital has invited us here to enlighten us about the expansion of their line of My Cloud NAS. This time specifically designed for creative professionals, pro-sumers and small businesses. After a warm welcome from the emcee and a lovely speech given by Sales Director of Asia South, Western Digital, Margaret Koh. Simon Whitford, Senior Regional Marketing Manager, Asia-Pacific Western Digital provided a very insightful presentation of what Western Digital has to offer.

This time, Western Digital has expanded it's line of NAS which stands for "Network Attached Storage" with two new series each offering two new products. The Expert Series of My Cloud NAS offers the EX2100 and EX4100 which is a two-bay and four-bay NAS respectively. Powered by the latest dual-core Marvell ARMADA processors, these NAS's are designed for prosumers and creative professionals to reliably save, share, back up and manage large amount of data.

Next up was the Business Series which includes the DL2100 and DL4100 which is yet again, two-bay and four-bay respectively. These two, powered by a different processor, Intel Atom dual-cores, are built to provide reliability, security and scalability for growing businesses which need a central storage system. These models even come with upgradable ram and hotswap bays to make sure that small businesses have the performance and scalability to meet and fulfill their requirements.

Now what these four have in common is that they're both designed from the ground up using Western Digital's red drives in mind to ensure the reliability needed to maintain daily usage. With reliability in mind, these products can run in multiple raid options (model dependant) ranging from RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 JBOD and spanning modes.The Business models even include AES 256-bit volume encryption to protect the data of small businesses. They are also designed for ease of use and accessibility. The products have a short setup time of 5 to 10 minutes to get everything up and running and is also fitted with all types of bells and whistles. They all have a one touch button to copy files from USB devices at a touch of a button. 

They also come with a very well designed and intuitive User Interface making it smooth and easy for users to access, from basic settings to the highly specific ones for users who like to get down and dirty, they seemed to have thought of it all and manage to pack it into a very attractive dashboard program. This paired up with mobile apps on both Android and iOS makes the accessibility to said NAS's almost second to none.

After the very detailed and in-depth presentation by Simon, last but not least, local blogger and entrepreneur Vernon Chan shared his personal experience while using said NAS. He also shared some of his opinions on the problems faced with storage and the backing up of it, and how NAS will be a major game changer and potentially solve all of this.

The My Cloud Expert and Business Series come with a 3-year warranty for the populated products and a 2-year warranty for the diskless products. The MSRP for said products are listed as below.

My Cloud EX2100

• Diskless unit MSRP RM 1,099.00
• 4 TB unit MSRP RM 1,919.00
• 8 TB unit MSRP RM 2,529.00
• 12 TB unit MSRP RM 3,289.00

My Cloud EX4100

• Diskless unit MSRP RM 1,769.00
• 8 TB unit MSRP RM 3,339.00
• 16 TB unit MSRP RM 4,739.00
• 24 TB unit MSRP RM 6,559.00

My Cloud DL2100

• Diskless unit MSRP RM 1,549.00
• 4 TB unit MSRP RM 2,359.00
• 8 TB unit MSRP RM 2,849.00
• 12 TB unit MSRP RM 3,829.00

My Cloud DL4100

• Diskless unit MSRP RM 2,359.00
• 8 TB unit MSRP RM 3,799.00
• 16 TB unit MSRP RM 5,229.00
• 24 TB unit MSRP RM 6,899.00

Overall, we hope that this move towards NAS by Western Digital will change how the average household manages their data and storage methods for the better. Once again this has been Jack bringing you event coverage of the Western Digital My Cloud NAS Launch Event, stay tuned for anything and everything tech related right here at Tech-Critter. Thank you for reading and I hope you have a nice day!