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Standard 3.5-inch enterprise hard drive with silver aluminium casing

Western Digital

Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC550 18TB SATA 3.5" internal hard drive

SKU CH-BSTY-22FWQ

An 18 TB SATA 3.5" enterprise drive with Energy-Assisted Magnetic Recording and helium sealing that delivers 29 % more capacity per rack than a 14 TB model while using 21 % less power per TB at idle

  • 18TB capacity reduces rack count by 22% versus 14TB drives
  • Helium-sealed design cuts idle power per TB by 21%
  • Energy-Assisted Magnetic Recording enables highest areal density
  • Triple Stage Actuator improves head positioning accuracy
  • Five generations of field-proven enterprise reliability

18TB Enterprise SATA Drive

The Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC550 is an 18TB 3.5-inch internal hard drive built for data-centre workloads. It uses Energy-Assisted Magnetic Recording and a Triple Stage Actuator to reach this capacity in the standard form factor. HelioSeal helium sealing reduces friction and power draw. The drive targets operators who need maximum density per rack unit.

Suits High-Density Storage Arrays

This drive suits storage architects who want to consolidate capacity and lower total cost of ownership. The 18TB model delivers 29% more space than a 14TB drive while using 21% less power per terabyte at idle. Buyers who need a smaller physical footprint or a different interface should look at other form factors. It is not designed for portable or laptop installations.

SATA 6Gb/s Interface

The drive connects through a SATA 6Gb/s interface, which determines host compatibility and maximum throughput. This single specification decides whether the drive fits into existing backplanes and controllers. Verify that your chassis and controller support 3.5-inch SATA drives before purchase.

Highlights

  • 18TB capacity reduces rack count by 22% versus 14TB drives
  • Helium-sealed design cuts idle power per TB by 21%
  • Energy-Assisted Magnetic Recording enables highest areal density
  • Triple Stage Actuator improves head positioning accuracy
  • Five generations of field-proven enterprise reliability

Specifications

No published specifications for this item yet.

Questions about this item

Does the 18TB Ultrastar DC HC550 ship with cables or mounting hardware, or must they be purchased separately?

The drive is supplied in retail or OEM packing that may vary; SATA data and power cables plus 3.5-inch mounting screws are not included and should be sourced separately.

How does the 18TB model compare to the 14TB version for a storage upgrade?

The 18TB drive delivers 29% more capacity in the same 3.5-inch form factor, allowing 22% fewer racks and 21% less idle power per TB, which lowers both CapEx and OpEx.

What does the 18TB headline capacity mean for usable space once the drive is formatted in a server?

Formatting overhead and file-system structures reduce the visible capacity below 18TB; the exact usable amount depends on the operating system and RAID configuration chosen.

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