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Do I need NAS drives, or can I use desktop drives?

In short · as of July 22, 2026

You can run desktop drives briefly, but you should use NAS drives. NAS drives are rated for 24/7 operation, tolerate multi-bay vibration, carry higher workload ratings, and use time-limited error recovery so a slow sector does not drop them from the array. Desktop drives lack all of that and age faster in a NAS.

Last verified July 22, 2026 · 2 official sources checked Updated

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Desktop drives will spin up and store data in a NAS, so it is not impossible — but NAS drives exist for good, specific engineering reasons, and in a multi-bay RAID array those reasons matter.

What NAS drives add

When a desktop drive is acceptable

A single-bay NAS used lightly, or a non-RAID backup target, can tolerate a desktop drive. In a RAID array run 24/7 it is a false economy — the drive ages faster and behaves worse exactly when the array is stressed.

For anything you care about, use a CMR NAS drive. The table lists current options by price per terabyte.

Drives that solve this

Live Amazon.ca prices in CAD, ranked by price per terabyte. The Recording column is verified against manufacturer documentation.

ModelCapacityRecordingPricePrice per TB
HGST, a Western Digital Company Ultrastar HE8 8000GB 128MB 7200RPM SATA Ultra 512E ISE 128MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare or OEM Drives 0F23267best price per TB8 TBCMR ✓CA$177CA$22.19/TBOn Amazon.ca
HGST Ultrastar He8 HUH728080AL5204 8 TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive8 TBCMR ✓CA$207CA$25.93/TBOn Amazon.ca
Seagate Exos ST28000NM001C 28TB 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 512e 3.5in Enterprise Hard Drive (Renewed)28 TBCMR ✓CA$1,120CA$40.00/TBOn Amazon.ca
Seagate Exos 26TB Internal Hard Drive HDD - 3.5 in CMR SATA 6Gb/s, 7200 RPM, 512MB Cache, 2.5M MTBF (ST26000NM000C) (Renewed)26 TBCMR ✓CA$1,102CA$42.40/TBOn Amazon.ca
Seagate IronWolf Pro 3.5-inch 16TB Internal Hard Disk HDD CMR 3.5-inch Data Recovery ST16000NT001 PC 6Gb/s 256MB 7200rpm 24-Hour Operation16 TBCMR ✓CA$740CA$46.24/TBOn Amazon.ca
Seagate IronWolf Pro 16TB Enterprise NAS Internal HDD Hard Drive – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache for RAID Network Attached Storage, Rescue Services (ST16000NTZ01/ST16000NT001)16 TBCMR ✓CA$750CA$46.87/TBOn Amazon.ca
Seagate Exos 22TB SATA HDD 6Gb/s 7200RPM 3.5-inch Enterprise Hard Drive (ST22000NM000C) (Renewed)22 TBCMR ✓CA$1,061CA$48.22/TBOn Amazon.ca
Seagate IronWolf Pro 24TB Enterprise NAS Internal HDD Hard Drive – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 512MB Cache for RAID Network Attached Storage, Rescue Services (ST24000NT002)24 TBCMR ✓CA$1,190CA$49.58/TBOn Amazon.ca
Seagate IronWolf Pro 20TB Enterprise NAS Internal HDD Hard Drive – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache for RAID Network Attached Storage, Rescue Services (ST20000NTZ01/ST20000NT001)20 TBCMR ✓CA$995CA$49.75/TBOn Amazon.ca
Seagate IronWolf Pro 32TB Enterprise NAS Internal HDD Hard Drive – CMR 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 512MB Cache for RAID Network Attached Storage, Rescue Services - (ST32000NTZ00)32 TBCMR ✓CA$1,605CA$50.16/TBOn Amazon.ca

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Every technical claim on this page is checked against manufacturer and standards documentation. Dates are when each source was last reviewed.