Our next test shifts focus from a pure 8K sequential 100% read/write scenario to a mixed 8K 70/30 workload, where we will show how performance scales in a setting from 2T/2Q up to 16T/16Q. With CIFS, the Exos X16 was on top from beginning to end, finishing at 1,302 IOPS. iSCSI saw the other end where the drive was at the bottom throughout. Standard deviation saw the Exos hit 53.6ms read in CIFS and the best score overall, along with a read score in iSCSI with 656.1ms near the highest. With write the Exos was in last with 1,910.2ms for CIFS and 2,180.7ms for iSCSI. The submission goes smoothly until it asks you outright if you want the data from the drive that you are returning. (I would imagine many people do not want to lose their data.)

In the following section of this review, we will show the 16TB Seagate Exos’s performance in both iSCSI and CIFS configurations compared to the 14TB and 14TB Ironwolf models as well as the 14TB Pro model. Seagate supplied StorageReview with 8 samples of their new NAS HDDs, which we configured in RAID6. All the drives were tested in our NETGEAR ReadyNas 628X. The same performance placement can be seen in 8K 70/30 Standard Deviation where the Exos was last in both CIFS and iSCSI. I've tried dampening the sound by putting it on top of silicone which helps but it's still craziness.

The 1TB to 4TB IronWolf models use 5,900-RPM platter rotation, but the 6TB and larger capacities shifted to 7,200 RPMs just like all capacities of the IronWolf Pros series. The IronWolf base model competes head to head with Western Digital's Red (base series) that still uses the 5,900-RPM spindle speed. The IronWolf Pro is the direct competitor to the Red Pro series with 7,200-RPM speed. The advantage becomes very clear in the user experience and performance. I will, however, leave the original review intact below, as this outlines the original product and the experience.

For 8K 70/30 average latency, again the CIFS configuration of the Exos drive came in second with a maximum of only 196ms about 1,000ms less than most of the other drives tested. The iSCSI configuration was again in last but only by a bit.I thought this was impressive that over 15 hours the drive did not suffer any speed slow down on the big files.