It gives them the space to store and manage various applications efficiently.
defines the importance of storage technology in our daily lives.
Amidst the expansion of the storage technology industry, it is important to not battle going amongst the top contenders of this market.
The two competitors of this battle are none other than Western Digital and Seagate corporations.
Both corporations play the role of the two sides of the same coin. They both have their unique designs and innovations. The equal potential between both the companies has made the conflicted spark alive.
The Difference between Western Digital and Seagat
1. Western Digital
Western Digital or WD has placed the foundations of the storage technology world. At the time of its establishment, WD was mainly focused on manufacturing ICs.
By the end of the 19th century, Western Digital stretched their compliance to storage devices like floppy disks and other storage.
This was done to replace the heavy TTL logics.
Other achievements of WD include its capability of partnering with other storage devices brands like Sandisk and G-technology.
Some of you will be surprised to know that WD holds a significant share in the analysis of the black hole image. The image processing project required a fast and large amount of data transfer in the range of petabytes.
To make this possible, WD invented HGST HDD that enabled megabytes of data transfer with a power-efficient addon
2. Seagate
Seagate is primarily known for its accomplishment of developing the first-ever 5.25-inch hard disk. Apart from that, they were initially a small team like every other start-up.
But, the dedicated hard work and innovation of the Seagate team have led them to reach this peak of pride.
The journey of Seagate has undoubtedly begun from the point they got attention.
One of the founders of Seagate decided to develop a 5.5-inch Hard disk drive. This motivated them to step into the growing field of storage technology.
With time, Seagate brought many firsts of storage device technologies.
By examining all the products of Seagate, it can be concluded that Seagate focuses more on speed rather than capacity. This is how it became the first team to launch a 7200 rpm HDD.
Seagate vs Western Digital HDD
Users incorporated in gaming and cloud services need a large amount of space to store their data. HDD or Hard Disk drives are the best devices to meet these requirements.
These are dedicated storage units that can hold up to Terabytes of Data. This storage device is manufactured by both Seagate and Western Digital.
1. Seagate
Based on the application of HDD, Seagate has specialized HDDs for each application. Right from personal storage to gaming applications, you can easily find the right product for yourself.
The popular Seagate HDDs available in the market are BarraCuda and BarraCuda Pro. All these storage devices are equipped with the latest MTC(Multi-Tier caching) technology.
This facilitates fast processing that enables the user to transfer a large number of files in less time.
Both BarraCuda and BarraCuda Pro models come in different sizes and capacities. The BarraCuda pro model claims to provide a total of 14TB storage within a dimension of 3.5 inches.
On the other hand, BarraCuda is mostly preferred by normal users for laptop and mobile storage applications.
The 7mm BarraCuda model has a storage range of 500 GB to 2 TB. For external PC storage, the 2.5 inch×15mm BarraCuda model provides a versatile capacity range of 3TB to 5TB.
2. Western Digital
After Seagate, now comes the turn of Western Digital Hard Drives. WD calls their HDDs as My Passport. Its compact size and design resemble the structure of a passport and this is the reason why it is called so.
These HDDs are widely used due to their large backup storage capability. The drive is equipped with AES encryption security filters that protect the data from any theft.
The “My Passport” product comes in the capacity range of 1 TB to 5 TB. Similar to the Seagate BarraCuda range, Western Digital too has a product for PC storage called My Book Duo.
It has a capacity range of 4TB to 28TB. My book Duo comes with a whole set of tools. This package consists of high-speed USB cables of different types that helps in the fast transfer of data.
Final Verdict after analyzing HDD:
In this category, it can be concluded that Western Digital provides a wide range of variety in terms of storage.
On the other hand, Seagate has more portable devices in terms of sizes. However, people who are in the need of large storage capacity can prefer Western Digital due to its wide range capacity.
Seagate vs Western Digital SDD
SSD as compared to HDDs feels handier in situations where high speed is required. They are more portable and easier to use than HDDs.
SSD can be understood as the next-level version of HDD. But, in this fast and hi-tech world people have more gravity towards SSD rather than HDD.
Since the use of SSD is on the rise, customers are confused between the top producers of SSDs i.e. Seagate and Western Digital. To make it clear, let us have a detailed analysis of SSD models of both the brands.
- Seagate
Seagate delivers three products to its customers in the SSD category. All of them are specifically designed for different applications:
- BarraCuda SSD
The BarraCuda SSD range has three versions as BarraCuda 510 SSD, BarraCuda 120 SSD, and BarraCuda Q1 SSD.
The 510 SSD version is even believed to have a six times faster rate than a normal SATA SSD. All of these drives are useful for enhancing the PC computing experience and workstation applications.
Each product of the barracuda series differs from each other in terms of capacity and read or write speed. The capacity ranges of BarraCuda 510 SSD, BarraCuda 120 SSD, and BarraCuda Q1 SSD ranges from 250 GB to 2 TB.>
- Firecuda SSD
Fire in Firecuda signifies the enthusiasm of professional games regarding their gaming experience. The Firecuda SSD is specially designed for gamers to let them increase their gaming speed.
It works on PCIe Gen 4 technology which is 45% faster than its previous version. It consists of two models such as Firecuda 520 and Firecuda 510.
The 520 model is different from the 510 models in terms of capacity and speed. The Firecuda 510 model has a read and write speed of 3450 and 3200 MB/second respectively at a capacity of 2 TB.
Similarly, the 520 model surpasses the high speeds of 510 as it has a read and write speed of 5000 and 4400 MB per second respectively at 4 TB capacity. People who look for large spaces must choose the 520 model over 510.
- Western Digital
All the SSD products of Western Digital provide easy updates and high efficiency. The SSD packages of Western Digital includes:-
- Green SATA SSD
This product focuses on stretching the storage capacity of desktop or laptops without compromising their performance. The fast processing of SATA SSD uplifts the accessibility of data. Gamers highly prefer this product due to its ability to allow smooth gameplay.
Green SATA SSD is also appreciated for its power-saving capability. Due to modern infrastructure, the drive does not consume a large amount of power. This eventually increases the lifetime of the battery.
The drive is highly portable due to its size of 2.5 inches×7mm. Its storage capacity varies from 120 GB to 2 TB.
Like every Western Digital product, the Green SATA SSD also comes with a 3-year warranty. This drive has the unique ability to resist shocks that prevents the data from getting lost.
- BLUE 3D NAND SATA SSD
Passionate gamers usually come across lots of bugs and other problems while playing games due to low space. To improvise their gaming experience, Western digital developed a full-proof solution known as Blue 3D SATA SSD.
This drive comes out to be a great application for users involved in editing and creative designing. It even comes with free software that helps in supervising the status of the drive.
The capacity of drive ranges from 250 GB to 4 TB. This SSD has a sequential read or write speed of 550 to 525 MB per second.
Final Verdict after analyzing SDD:
Both Seagate and Western Digital are winners in this category. The immense storage capacity with high speed is unbeatable in both cases. Seagate’s Firecuda series and WD’s SATA SSD series have the same potential that catches the hearts of gaming fans.
Western digital comes with a 3-year warranty whereas Seagate is highly reliable. In the case of SSD, one can easily pick any of the brands without any bias.
Western Digital vs Seagate: Speed
Compared to the old times, now is the era where all of us need a storage system that is both fast and has a large storage capacity.
This is why the storage technology industry has been developing the technology far above our expectations to meet the present needs.
Now, the time has come when it is possible to store Gigabytes or Terabytes of data in one go. But the problem arises when we want to extract that data quickly.
Storage devices with low performance tend to take hours to transfer the stored data. As a solution to the problem, Western Digital and Seagate have ultra-speed storage devices.
Right from HDD to SSD, they have developed an advanced technology that lets you store maximum data with high speeds. This makes it important to compare which brand provides the fastest speed
- Western Digital
In the HDD genre, the most popular model of Western Digital is “My Passport” that is used in the case of Laptops and PCs. This drive claims to provide large data storage with high-speed transfer.
The “My Passport” model comes with a kit that has a super speed USB cable. This helps its users to transfer files and data on the go at ultrafast speed.
The SSD version of “My Passport” has a wonderful wireless technology. It also has a file transfer rate of 390 MB/s 4 with an additional 3.0 USB port.
You can transfer files from this drive as long as you want. Because it has a long battery life of 10 hours.
- Seagate
Seagate has always been speaking about its speed in terms of sequential read and write rates. One can never ignore the FireCuda SSHDs when talking about the Seagate speeds.
A Read and write speed of 560 and 540 Mbps is enough to do fast processing. Similarly, the barracuda series also has an appreciable read and write rate of 550 and 500 Mbps. This provides a clear understanding of how fast Seagate drives work.
Final Verdict after analyzing Speed
In the column of speed, Seagate ranks above Western digital due to its high read and writes. Most of the Seagate drives are opted by gamers to promote fast gaming.
On the other hand, some people have claimed that Seagate is more prone to hanging. But this is not true in every case.
This genre of people finds Western digital better due to its high durability. To counter this, another con of western digital involves slow speed.
Not all devices are the same in this world. Therefore, it is better to choose the storage product based on your device’s compatibility. Because the functionality of Seagate and WD products varies with the device with which it is used.
The capacity of Seagate and WD
WD was the first to launch a 2TB drive in the market. With such a head start, it has always brought technology beyond expected storage capacities. Seagate on the other hand has also brought attractive storage devices with significant capacities but is not able to match the standards of WD.
WD has the most versatile and large range of storage devices right from normal PC users to international MNCs. Thus, it is better to call WD as the king of capacity without any further arguments.
External Storage
The external storage device section of Seagate and Western Digital and Seagate is filled with products. Therefore, it would be better to compare them based on some basic features.
- Portable
Portability is a very important factor needed to consider while thinking of external hard drives. These drives are an additional bank of storage that stores your backups or other additional data.
Like every other category, Western Digital and Seagate give equal competition to each other. Most of the HDDs and SDDs of the Western digital claim themselves to be highly slim and easy to carry.
To cover this up, Seagate also manufactures drives with portable structures. The barracuda and Firecuda series of Seagate come in multiple dimensions such as a 2.5-inch model, a 3.5-inch model, etc.
This provides a diverse variety to the customers to let them choose their perfect size.
In terms of portability, Western Digital and Seagate rock equally. Both of them have portable storage devices with the latest storage technologies. So, there is no need to get decisive while choosing Seagate or western digital based on the portability factor.
- Desktop Drive
The “My passport” and barracuda series are the desktop drive versions of Western Digital and Seagate respectively. Both of them offer the immense capacity to store a large amount of data.
The SSDs of WD have an additional feature of introducing updates in the existing drives. This enhances the performance of your drives regularly.
But some people make use of desktop drives to facilitate the quick file transfer. In such a case, they must go with Seagate’s Barracuda and Firecuda series which provide high-speed data transfer.
Therefore, it depends upon your priorities of every individual that what they are more concerned about- capacity or speed.
- NAS Devices
NAS stands for Network Attached Storage. It is clear from the acronym that these devices are a digital form of storage. A NAS gives you a restricted space on the internet to store your data.
The NAS devices are on a rise due to its cloud storage technology. Let us compare the NAS devices of Seagate and WD to find out which is better.
Seagate calls its NAS – Ironwolf which is both strong and fast. These devices provide a large amount of storage capacity at high speeds. The Ironwolf range consists of Ironwolf NAS, Ironwolf NAS pro, Ironwolf NAS SSD, etc.
The maximum capacity of the Ironwolf series is 16 TB. Small business enterprises prefer Ironwolf Pro SSD whereas normal PC users find Ironwolf NAS more useful. Similarly, all the models of Ironwolf have been designed for specific applications.
The NAS range of WD has mainly two names- My cloud and WD Red NAS Drive. The maximum capacity of Western digital’s NAS devices goes up to 56 TB. This high capacity is available in the My Cloud Expert Series EX4100 model.
This product was exclusively designed for corporations dealing with lots of data daily. It is important to note that despite such large storage capacity, WD does not compromise with speed. The ultra-fast transfer guarantee will streamline your working process.
The winner tag of NAS devices for data storage capability goes to WD whereas that for speed goes to Seagate.
Seagate has a low storage capacity but guarantees to offer very high data transfer speeds. In contrast to this, WD has allotted very much storage with tradeoff speeds.
Conclusion
To sum up everything, it can be concluded that not any one of the brands is bad. Both have their specialties and hence one cannot be dumped down.
Apart from the normal specifications of the drives and storage devices, the requirements of the system must also be taken into consideration.
Some people negotiate either Western Digital or Seagate due to its poor performance. However, the real reason behind this decline of expectations is the compatibility of the device on which storage technology is being implemented.
Ultimately, both the brands are best in their own space. Based on the storage capacity and speed, one must choose the product wisely.
Frequently Asked Question
Is Seagate better than WD?
Both companies manufacture high-quality storage devices such as HDDs, SDDs, NAS, etc. The working patterns and technological establishments are unique for each of them. Seagate is appreciated by some people due to its high speed whereas WD is better in terms of reliability. Thus, it will be unfair to say that Seagate is better than WD.
What is the best brand of external hard drive?
Gaming freaks and data keepers tend to look for external hard drives for managing their treasure chest of data. External hard drives are easy to carry on the way. In this category, Western digital products are more user friendly due to their portable size. You get a high storage capacity in a compact and slim device.
Is Seagate or Western Digital more reliable?
Western digital is found to be more reliable than Seagate. Seagate has many durable products but is unable to win the trust of majority users. The reason behind this is their lack of device compatibility. Seagate storage devices are unable to provide good quality in all kinds of devices.
How long do external hard drives last?
Hard drive manufacturers usually set a warranty period of 3 to 5 years. Because this is the period for under which a normal hard drive functions properly. Some people use even a 10-year-old hard drive and then struggle in terms of good quality. Hard drives are composed of magnetic components that are responsible for their short period of operation.
Is SSD good for long term storage?
SSDs are the advance of HDDs as they are more durable and versatile. Most of the SSDs available in the market are shock resistant and capable of withstanding harsh conditions. This proves that SSDs are reliable enough. But the problem arises in case of power failures. SSDs are always at a risk of corrupting data due to power failure insecurities.
