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Western Digital · Data-centre drive · WUH722422ALE6L4

WD Ultrastar DC HC580 22TB

An enterprise drive. Don't let that put you off, as it's the same 3.5in SATA as a NAS drive and fits the same bays.

Capacity
22 TB
Recording
CMR
Speed
7,200 rpm
Warranty
5 years
Workload
550 TB/yr
Failure rate
No failure data

Good for

  • Busy arrays (550 TB a year)
  • Big media libraries
  • RAID, SHR and ZFS rebuilds
  • 5 years' warranty

Not for

  • A desk or bedroom (7,200 rpm is the louder class)

Updated 27 Oct 2026 · Method 2.0

Who the WD Ultrastar DC HC580 22 TB is for

It's at home in a rack or a garage, where 7,200 rpm of spinning rust can whirr away all day without bothering anyone. You also get five years' warranty, two more than the cheapest NAS lines. Recording is CMR, the right kind for RAID and ZFS.

Watch out for

At 7,200 rpm it's from the louder, warmer class. Fine in a cupboard, less fun on a desk.

There's no Backblaze data worth quoting here. On paper it makes 20 dB at idle and 32 dB seeking. WD lists 5.5 W at idle and 8.4 W working, which comes to 48 kWh a year for a drive that idles around the clock. Put four in RAID 5 and you'll have 66 TB to fill (Windows will call it 60.0 TB).

Specifications

Each value links to the Western Digital page or datasheet it came from.

WD Ultrastar DC HC580 22TB specifications
Drive type Data centre source for Drive type (documents.westerndigital.com, opens in new tab)
Capacity 22 TB source for Capacity (documents.westerndigital.com, opens in new tab)
Spindle speed 7,200 rpm source for Spindle speed (documents.westerndigital.com, opens in new tab)
Recording technology CMR source for Recording technology (documents.westerndigital.com, opens in new tab)
Cache 512 MB source for Cache (documents.westerndigital.com, opens in new tab)
Interface SATA 6Gb/s source for Interface (documents.westerndigital.com, opens in new tab)
Form factor 3.5in source for Form factor (documents.westerndigital.com, opens in new tab)
Max sustained transfer 291 MB/s source for Max sustained transfer (documents.westerndigital.com, opens in new tab)
Workload rating 550 TB/yr source for Workload rating (documents.westerndigital.com, opens in new tab)
MTBF / MTTF 2,500,000 hours source for MTBF / MTTF (documents.westerndigital.com, opens in new tab)
Maker's rated AFR 0.35% source for Maker's rated AFR (documents.westerndigital.com, opens in new tab)
Warranty 5 years source for Warranty (documents.westerndigital.com, opens in new tab)
Power at idle 5.5 W source for Power at idle (documents.westerndigital.com, opens in new tab)
Power in use 8.4 W source for Power in use (documents.westerndigital.com, opens in new tab)
Noise at idle 20 dB source for Noise at idle (documents.westerndigital.com, opens in new tab)
Noise when seeking 32 dB source for Noise when seeking (documents.westerndigital.com, opens in new tab)

Sources: documents.westerndigital.com