HDD drives

Although SSDs lead the way today, a well-chosen HDD hard drive is still unbeatable when it comes to storing large amounts of data at a reasonable price. HDD technology is based on magnetic platters, which means a lower price per gigabyte and high capacity – ideal for backups, archiving, or read-intensive systems. Compared to SSDs, platter drives have higher latency and lower IOPS, but they significantly outperform them in terms of long-term cost-effectiveness. That's why server HDD hard drives still reign supreme in servers, NAS arrays, and storage environments – and Hardware Direct offers dozens of them, ready for 24/7 operation.

For environments requiring fast access and low response times, HDD hard drives with a SAS interface and speeds of 10,000 or 15,000 RPM are the ideal solution. Models like the Dell 300 GB 15K SAS 6G or HPE 146 GB 10K SAS 6G offer stable data transfer and high vibration resistance – which is why they are used in VMware clusters, transactional systems, and RAID 10 arrays. Their MTBF reaches 2 million hours, and thanks to dual-porting support, they are well-suited for servers with controller redundancy. These are fast HDDs that prove their worth where SSDs are still overkill, but SATA is not enough.

If you need data storage that won't break the budget, server HDDs with a SATA interface and a speed of 7200 RPM are the solution. Hardware Direct offers models from 500 GB up to 8 TB – such as the Seagate 2TB 7.2K SATA 3.5" or Dell 4TB 7.2K SATA 3.5". These are designs with medium power consumption (5–7 W), good support for NAS systems, and high availability – ideal for backups, archiving, and workstations. Combined with RAID 5 or 6, they allow you to build an inexpensive and capacious data repository – which is what matters for long-term file storage.

When standard SATA isn't up to the task and the budget doesn't allow for full SSDs, it's worth opting for NLSAS (Nearline SAS) server HDDs. These hybrid solutions combine a SAS interface with 7200 RPM speed, offering capacities up to 8 TB and transfer rates around 250 MB/s. For example: the Dell 8TB 7.2K NLSAS 12G or the Seagate 6TB NLSAS 12G ST6000NM0024 – both with hot-swap support and 24/7 certification. They perform excellently in Big Data environments, hybrid clouds, and wherever capacity and reliability are more important than extreme speed. These are HDDs for archival tasks that won't let you down after two months of operation.

Whether you're upgrading an array, expanding a server, or simply looking for economical data storage – at Hardware Direct, you'll find HDDs with all the most popular interfaces: SAS, SATA, NLSAS, and even Fibre Channel and Ultra320 SCSI. Every model is tested, ready to work with Dell, HPE, and IBM controllers, and operates under Windows Server, Linux, TrueNAS, Proxmox, and VMware. And the prices? 30–70% lower than new – that's why one fast HDD costs less than a typical annual backup license. And it lasts much longer.