If you want to get some detailed information about the SAS hard drive, this post is what you need. You can know the definition, speed, capacity, and reliability of it. Besides, here are the 4 best SAS hard drives for you. Now, you can continue to this post from MiniTool.

Overview of SAS Hard Drive

What Is a SAS Hard Drive

What is a SAS drive? SAS stands for Serial Attached SCSI, which is a technology used to transfer data between hard drives. SAS refers to the interface, which is usually used to describe a hard drive.

Tip: SCSI stands for Small Computer System Interface. If you want to learn more information about SCSI, you can refer to this post – Overall Explanation of SCSI Interface.

There are two main types of SAS hard drives: 10K and 15K. K refers to the rotational speed of the hard drive, ie 10,000 and 15,000 RPM respectively. Maybe, you are interested in this post – 10000 RPM HDD VS. SSD – How to Upgrade Your Hard Drive Safely.

SAS drives are important for those enterprises that pursuit high speed and reliability. Now, let’s see the other characteristics of SAS HDDs in the following parts.

SAS hard drive

SAS Hard Drive Speed

In terms of speed, the best measure is IOPS (input and output per second), which measures data throughput. The data throughput defines the rate at which data can be read from or written to the hard disk. 15K SAS hard drives run at approximately 120 IOPS, and typical 10K SAS drives run at 180 IOPS.

SAS Hard Drive Capacity

As for the capacity of SAS drive, it ranges from 300GB to up to 900GB. If you want to increase the hard drive capacity, then this post – Increase Hard Drive Capacity with Free Disk Cloning Software is what you need.

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Western Digital New Enterprise SAS SSD Reaches up to 15TB

Western Digital has released a new enterprise SAS SSD, which can reach up to 15 TB. Here, some detailed information is listed in this news.

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SAS Hard Drive Reliability

SAS HDDs are suitable for demanding applications that are critical to speed and high availability. The MTBF (mean time between failure) of SAS drives is usually about 1.2 million hours.

SAS Hard Drive Power Consumption

When SAS drives idle, they typically consume 5 to 7 watts, and under normal operating conditions, they consume about 10 to 14 watts.

SAS VS SATA

Just now, you have got the basic information about the SAS HDD. Then, let’s see the differences between SAS and SATA. SATA and SAS connectors are used to connect computer components (such as hard drives or media drives) to the motherboard.

Tip: To learn the information on the SATA hard drive, refer to this post – What Does SATA Stand for? What Is SATA Drive.

Types

The main difference between them is that SAS drives are faster and more reliable than SATA drives. Generally, the most popular SATA drive format is 7.2K, and SAS has two main types: 10K and 15K.

Usage

SAS drives are commonly used in enterprise computing, such as bank transactions and e-commerce. SATA drives are commonly used in desktop computers, such as data storage and backup.

Reliability

SAS drives are more reliable than SATA drives. The MTBF of SAS drives is 1.2 million hours, while the MTBF of SATA drives is 700,000 hours.

Cable length

The length of the SATA cable is limited to 1 meter, and the data and power are separated, while the maximum length of the SAS cable is 10 meters, and the power and data can be provided through the same cable.

Capacity

The SATA drive capacity can range from 500 GB to 16 TB, while the maximum capacity of the SAS drive can reach 60GB (Seagate’s SAS drive).

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How to Wipe SAS Hard Drives

If you need to replace failed SAS drives, you need to wipe them before sending the failed drive back to the manufacturer. You cannot just eject them from the USB dock and wipe them from the workstation since these are SAS drives. Thus, here is how to wipe the SAS hard drives.

Step 1: You need to power on the standby server without an operating system.

Step 2: Use the defective disks to create RAID arrays.

Step 3: Then use the Disk Cleanup Tool CD to boot to erase the disk.

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1. Seagate Enterprise Capacity 3.5 Series Hard Drives

The first recommended SAS hard drive is the Seagate Enterprise Capacity 3.5 Series hard drive. Seagate’s enterprise capacity drives are almost identical in appearance to ordinary hard drives. There are two available interfaces for you-SATA (up to 6GBps) or SAS (up to 12GBps). You can choose it based on your needs so that you can easily interface with existing platforms.

Seagate Enterprise Capacity 3.5 Series hard drive

Let’s get more details of the Seagate Enterprise Capacity 3.5 Series hard drive.

  • Size: 3.5 Inch
  • RPM: 7,200 RPM
  • Cache Size: 128MB
  • Interface: SATA 3.0, 6 Gb/Second, SAS 12Gb/Second
  • Warranty: 5 Years
  • Price: Starts from 110$ (1TB)

Also see: How to Diagnose Seagate Hard Drive? Use These Seagate Disk Tools

2. HGST Ultrastar He10 Series Hard Drive

The next recommended SAS hard drive is the HGST Ultrastar He10 Series hard drive. The HelioSeal platform seals the drive to seals the drive hermetically and fills the interior with helium instead of air. This reduces the vibration inside the drive and reduces power consumption. The improved function in He10 can reduce power consumption by 43% on average.

HGST Ultrastar He10 Series hard drive

Let’s get more details of the HGST Ultrastar He10 Series hard drive.

  • Size: 3.5 Inch
  • RPM: 7,200 RPM
  • Cache Size: 256MB
  • Interface: SATA 3.0, 6 Gb/Second, SAS 12Gb/Second
  • Warranty: 5 Years
  • Price: Starts from 372$ (8TB)

3. HGST Ultrastar 15K600 Series Hard Drive

The SAS drive – HGST Ultrastar 15K600 Series has a 128 MB cache buffer, using HGST’s new media cache technology to further increase the speed. Smaller internal dimensions further reduce power consumption. This 15K600 drive also does not have any SATA options to choose from, thus, you can only use it in the SAS interface.

the HGST Ultrastar 15K600 Series hard drive

Let’s get more details of the HGST Ultrastar 15K600 Series hard drive.

  • Size: 3.5 Inch
  • RPM: 15,000 RPM
  • Cache Size: 128MB
  • Interface: SAS 12Gb/Second
  • Warranty: 5 Years
  • Price: Starts from 40$ (300GB)

4. Seagate Constellation ES Hard Drive

Constellation ES is Seagate’s fourth-generation 3.5-inch 7200 RPM enterprise hard drive. The SAS drive has 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities, and supports SATA II and SAS interfaces. Seagate has excellent power management and temperature tolerance in enterprise applications.

By using the driver body itself as a heat sink to protect the circuit board, its design quality is very good. Except for the RAM module, all the chips on the board are in direct contact with the driver’s body.

SeagatConstellation ES hard drive

Let’s get more details of the Seagate Constellation ES hard drive.

  • Size: 3.5 Inch
  • RPM: 7200 RPM
  • Cache Size: 64MB
  • Interface: SAS 12Gb/Second, SATA 3GB/ Second
  • Warranty: 5 Years
  • Price: Starts from 30.39$ (500GB)

You have known the basic information about the SAS hard drive. Besides, there are 4 recommended SAS drives for you. You can share it on Twitter to let more people know.Click to Tweet

Back up Files to the SAS Hard Drive

Now, you should have chosen one SAS hard drive. If you mainly want to create a backup for your computer’s files, this part is helpful for you. After getting the SAS HDD, connect it to your computer and then use a professional file backup software – MiniTool ShadowMaker to back up your important file.

It is an all-around and free backup software designed for Windows 10/8/7, providing you with a data protection & disaster recovery solution.

You can use it to back up system, files, folders as well as the partitions. It is also a clone tool that can help you to clone the system from HDD to SSD without data loss. So, besides creating a system image, you can also choose to clone the OS disk to another hard drive to get the Windows system without reinstalling.

Now you can download and try MiniTool ShadowMaker Trial Edition to do the backup task.

MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Let’s see how to use MiniTool ShadowMaker to back up your files.

Step 1: Decide a Backup Mode

  1. Launch MiniTool ShadowMaker.
  2. Continue to use the trial edition by clicking Keep Trial.
  3. Choose This computer to continue by clicking the Connect button.

click the Connect button

Step 2: Choose the Backup Source

  1. Under the Backup page, click Source to choose the backup type – Folders and Files.
  2. Select the files you need to back up and click OK.

choose the backup type - Folders and Files

Step 3: Choose a Destination Path

  1. Click the Destination tab.
  2. Choose your SAS hard drive as the backup drive and click OK.

Step 4: Start the Backup Process

  1. Go back to the previous interface.
  2. Click Back up Now to start the process immediately or choose Back up Later to delay the backup task.

click Back up Now to start the process immediately

Now, you have backed up your important files to the SAS drive successfully.

Bottom Line

After reading this post, you know what a SAS hard drive is, how to wipe SAS hard drives, as well as how to back up files to the SAS hard drive. You also get some information on SAS vs SATA and the 4 recommended SAS hard drives.

If you have any questions, you can also tell us by leaving a comment below or contacting [email protected].

SAS Hard Drive FAQ

Can I plug a SATA drive into a SAS port?
You can plug the SATA drives into the SAS port but you cannot plug the SAS drive into the SATA port. SAS ports share the same infrastructure and have similar functions, thus SATA hard drives can be used on SAS ports.
Is SAS better than SATA?
Yes, the SAS hard drive is better than the SATA drive. In the aspect of capacity, speed, and capacity, SAS hard drive is better than the SATA drive. Although SATA is the cheapest drive, for servers, it is usually best to use SAS for low-capacity use cases.
Is SSD good for the server?
SSD is the best choice for high-performance servers and applications. Compared to HDD, a typical hard disk uses up to 10W of power, while an SSD will use only around 5W. When idle, an SSD uses around 40mW, while a hard disk uses around 1W. If you want to learn more information about SSD vs HDD, you can refer to this post – SSD VS HDD: What’s Difference? Which One Should You Use in PC.
What is the lifespan of an SSD?
Most SSDs can be used for two to three years. Although the drive may be much longer than that, you need to be prepared for failure after that. To learn more detailed information, this post – How to Know Your SSD’s Lifespan and How to Increase Its Life can help you.
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