Skip to content

Seagate · Desktop drive · ST12000DM003

Seagate BarraCuda 12TB

A desktop drive for a PC case, rated by Seagate for 120 TB of reads and writes a year.

Capacity
12 TB
Recording
CMR
Speed
7,200 rpm
Warranty
2 years
Workload
120 TB/yr
Failure rate
No failure data

Good for

  • A PC, or a backup copy you plug in now and then

Not for

  • A NAS (Seagate gives it no NAS rating)
  • A desk or bedroom (7,200 rpm is the louder class)
  • Heavy daily writes (120 TB a year rating)

Updated 27 Oct 2026 · Method 2.0

Should you buy the BarraCuda 12 TB?

Fine as the data drive in a desktop, or a backup copy that sits on a shelf. Either way that's light work for a 120 TB a year rating.

Watch out for

Seagate doesn't rate it for NAS use at all, which rules it out for an array as far as we're concerned. At 7,200 rpm it's from the louder, warmer class. Fine in a cupboard, less fun on a desk.

Backblaze doesn't run enough of these for a failure rate we'd publish. Seagate's datasheet puts it at 28 dB idle and 32 dB seeking. Power draw is 6.7 W idle and 8.9 W working on Seagate's figures, or 59 kWh a year if it spends the whole year idling.