Backblaze has released its Q2 2024 Drive Stats report, which presents a thorough analysis of the performance and reliability of HDDs and SSDs used in its data centers.
Backblaze has released its Q2 2024 Drive Stats report, presenting a thorough analysis of the performance and reliability of HDDs and SSDs used in their data centers. As of the end of Q2 2024, Backblaze monitored 288,665 drives in their cloud storage servers worldwide. After excluding 3,789 boot drives, the analysis focused on 284,876 operational data drives. This report is a crucial resource for IT and data center professionals when selecting storage solutions.
The annualized failure rate (AFR) for Q2 2024 was 1.71%, a slight increase from 1.41% in Q1 2024 but a notable decrease from 2.28% in Q2 2023. The analysis included 284,386 drives across 29 models after excluding models with fewer than 100 drives or less than 10,000 drive days. Among the key findings, two drive models, the 14TB AND 16TB Seagate Exos X18 (models ST14000NM000J and ST16000NM002J), had zero failures in Q2 2024, although their success is somewhat skewed due to the relatively small number of drives and drive days.
Backblaze also migrated the last of their 6TB drives in Q2 2024, including all Seagate 6TB drives, which had an impressive lifetime AFR of 0.86%. The oldest HDD or SDD in service is a 4TB HGST drive (model: HMS5C4040ALE640) with nearly ten years of service. However, these older drives are being migrated out. An unexpected discovery was the 12TB HGST drive (model: HUH721212ALN604) showing a high AFR of 7.17% for Q2 2024, raising its lifetime AFR from 0.99% to 1.57% over the past year.
Be sure to check our Podcast #127 – Backblaze Drive Report for a candid conversation on how BackBlaze determines when it’s time to upgrade.
Q2 2024 Annualized Failure Rates
| MFR | Model | Size (TB) | Drive Count | Avg. Age (Months) | Drive Days | Drive Failures | Q2 2024 AFR |
| WDC | WUH722222ALE6L4 | 22 | 13,140 | 3.6 | 878,867 | 33 | 1.37% |
| Seagate | ST16000NM002J | 16 | 462 | 19.7 | 41,202 | 1 | 0.89% |
| WDC | WUH721816ALE6L4 | 16 | 26,467 | 15.3 | 2,407,414 | 26 | 0.39% |
| Seagate | ST16000NM001G | 16 | 33,411 | 22.8 | 2,995,255 | 68 | 0.83% |
| Toshiba | MG08ACA16TA | 16 | 38,803 | 13.7 | 3,517,575 | 114 | 1.18% |
| Toshiba | MG08ACA16TE | 16 | 5,936 | 32.4 | 540,926 | 24 | 1.62% |
| Toshiba | MG08ACA16TEY | 16 | 5,202 | 30.8 | 464,010 | 22 | 1.73% |
| WDC | WUH721816ALE6L0 | 16 | 3,028 | 30.1 | 270,162 | 11 | 1.89% |
| Seagate | ST14000NM000J | 14 | 139 | 6.3 | 11,635 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Toshiba | MG07ACA14TEY | 14 | 710 | 32.1 | 63,896 | 0 | 0.57% |
| WDC | WUH721414ALE6L4 | 14 | 8,486 | 42.2 | 772,171 | 20 | 0.95% |
| Toshiba | MG07ACA14TA | 14 | 37,891 | 43.7 | 3,451,376 | 105 | 1.11% |
| Seagate | ST14000NM001G | 14 | 10,670 | 40.3 | 972,122 | 45 | 1.69% |
| Seagate | ST14000NM0138 | 14 | 1,363 | 42.9 | 124,706 | 16 | 4.68% |
| Seagate | ST12000NM001G | 12 | 13,183 | 41.0 | 1,197,765 | 39 | 1.19% |
| HGST | HUH721212ALE600 | 12 | 2,580 | 56.2 | 232,648 | 11 | 1.73% |
| Seagate | ST12000NM0008 | 12 | 19,300 | 50.4 | 1,758,710 | 122 | 2.53% |
| HGST | HUH721212ALE604 | 12 | 13,115 | 38.8 | 1,195,745 | 34 | 2.87% |
| Seagate | ST12000NM000J | 12 | 473 | 5.2 | 35,204 | 6 | 4.15% |
| HGST | HUH721212ALN604 | 12 | 10,496 | 60.5 | 957,573 | 188 | 7.17% |
| Seagate | ST12000NM0007 | 12 | 1,096 | 55.3 | 101,292 | 33 | 11.89% |
| Seagate | ST10000NM0086 | 10 | 1,073 | 78.4 | 98,280 | 16 | 5.94% |
| HGST | HUH728080ALE600 | 8 | 1,097 | 74.0 | 100,033 | 19 | 6.94% |
| Seagate | ST8000NM000A | 8 | 247 | 17.1 | 21,380 | 1 | 1.71% |
| Seagate | ST8000DM002 | 8 | 9,173 | 92.6 | 836,716 | 41 | 1.79% |
| Seagate | ST8000NM0055 | 8 | 13,726 | 80.5 | 1,215,225 | 95 | 2.76% |
| HGST | HMS5C4040BLE640 | 4 | 9,776 | 92.2 | 898,707 | 2 | 0.28% |
| HGST | HMS5C4040ALE640 | 4 | 767 | 90.4 | 83,549 | 1 | 0.44% |
| Seagate | ST4000DM000 | 4 | 2,576 | 99.5 | 292,534 | 58 | 7.24% |
| Totals | 284,386 | 25,576,690 | 1,197 | 1.71% | |||
For the lifetime analysis, drive models with at least 500 drives and 100,000 drive days were considered, totaling 283,065 drives across 25 models. The report examines the changes in lifetime AFR over time for models with at least one million drive days as of Q2 2024. Drives are categorized into quadrants based on their AFR and age, indicating their performance and reliability over time. Models like the 4TB HGST (HMS5C4040ALE640) and the 6TB Seagate (ST6000DM001) have performed consistently with stable AFRs over time. However, models like the 8TB Seagate (ST800DM002) and the 8TB HGST (HUH728080ALE600) exhibited increasing AFRs as they aged, requiring close monitoring.
The report also discusses the potential of AI and machine learning (ML) in predicting drive failures. While AI/ML can analyze multiple factors to predict failures, the distinct failure profiles of different drive models pose challenges. Backblaze plans to review research on AI/ML applications in drive failure predictions in the coming months.
For more detailed information and to access the complete dataset, visit Backblaze’s Drive Stats page.
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