As of 2026, the largest consumer-available hard drives are 24TB, led by the Seagate Exos X24. WD offers up to 22TB with the Ultrastar DC HC570/HC580 series. NAS drives like IronWolf Pro and WD Red Pro are available up to 24TB. Enterprise-only drives may reach higher capacities. Manufacturers continue pushing capacity limits using helium-filling, HAMR, and increased platter density.

20TB+ drives typically have higher $/TB than 14-18TB drives due to their cutting-edge technology. However, they offer maximum storage density per bay — valuable when drive slots are limited. For pure $/TB value, 14-18TB is often the sweet spot. Choose 20TB+ when you need maximum capacity per slot, want the latest technology, or are building a high-density storage system.

It depends on your situation. Choose 20TB+ drives if: you have limited drive bays, want to maximize capacity per slot, or are building a compact high-capacity system. Choose multiple smaller drives if: you want better $/TB value, need RAID redundancy, or want to spread risk across drives. For a 4-bay NAS, four 20TB drives (80TB) vs four 16TB drives (64TB) trades cost efficiency for 25% more capacity.

20TB+ drives from Seagate and WD are highly reliable. These are enterprise-grade drives (Exos, Ultrastar) designed for 24/7 data center operation with 5-year warranties and 550TB/year workload ratings. Newer capacities have less long-term field data, but manufacturers apply proven technologies. For critical data, use RAID and maintain backups regardless of drive size—higher capacity means more data at risk from a single failure.

HAMR (Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording) uses a laser to heat the disk surface during writing, allowing higher data density. Seagate has begun using HAMR in some high-capacity drives (20TB+) to push beyond traditional limits. Most current 20TB-24TB drives still use CMR (Conventional Magnetic Recording) with helium-filling for high capacity. HAMR will become more common as capacities continue increasing beyond 24TB.

Yes, 20TB+ drives work great in home NAS systems. Both enterprise drives (Exos, Ultrastar) and NAS-specific drives (IronWolf Pro, Red Pro) at 20TB+ are compatible with Synology, QNAP, and other NAS devices. Ensure your NAS supports drives of this capacity (most modern NAS do). Consider that with 20TB+ drives, a single drive failure means more data at risk—RAID redundancy becomes even more important at these capacities.

Both are excellent enterprise drives with similar specs: 5-year warranty, 550TB/year workload, 2.5M hour MTBF. Seagate Exos often has better availability and competitive pricing in the US. WD Ultrastar (formerly HGST) has a legendary reputation for lowest failure rates. Performance and reliability are comparable. Choose based on current price and availability — both are top-tier choices for serious storage needs.

24TB drives typically cost $350-500 depending on the model and retailer. This works out to roughly $15-21 per TB — a premium over 16-18TB drives which often achieve $10-14/TB. The Seagate Exos X24 and IronWolf Pro 24TB are primary options at this capacity. Prices drop over time as larger capacities become mainstream. Check our table above for current 24TB pricing.