Seagate SkyHawk ST4000VX007 4TB 64MB SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" internal hard drive

Purpose-built surveillance storage

The Seagate SkyHawk ST4000VX007 is a 4TB 3.5-inch internal hard drive engineered for continuous video recording. ImagePerfect firmware is tuned for workloads that write roughly 90 percent of the time and play back the remaining 10 percent, supporting up to 64 HD cameras simultaneously. It connects via a SATA 6.0Gb/s interface and includes 64MB of cache. The bare-drive packaging suits system integrators and NVR builders.

Sustained write endurance

A workload rating of 180TB per year means the drive is rated for heavy, constant streaming rather than burst transfers. ATA streaming support keeps recordings from up to 64 cameras smooth and uninterrupted during 24x7 operation. SkyHawk Health Management adds prevention, intervention and recovery features to protect stored footage. Lower power consumption reduces heat output, helping reliability in multi-bay enclosures where drives run side by side.

Deciding specification

The 180TB annual workload rating is the single figure that tells you whether this drive matches your recording volume. If your surveillance system writes more data than that each year, you need a higher-rated drive. Buyers who need general-purpose desktop storage or random-access performance for applications other than video capture should look elsewhere.