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Silver rectangular 3.5-inch enterprise hard drive with label showing capacity and model details

Western Digital

Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC550 16TB 3.5" 7200 RPM 512MB SATA 0F38462

SKU CH-XMDA-DP33T MPN 0F38462

Enterprise-grade 3.5-inch hard drive stores 16TB at 7200 RPM with 512MB cache over SATA 6.0Gb/s

  • Total capacity16 TB
  • Interface typeSATA 6.0Gb/s
  • Form factor3.5 in (8.89 cm)
  • Rotational speed7,200 RPM
  • Cache memory512 MB
  • Max height26.1 mm

Capacity 16TB

  • 16TB capacity fits dense enterprise storage in a standard 3.5-inch form factor
  • CMR technology supports all capacity enterprise applications and environments
  • 7200 RPM with 512MB cache delivers consistent performance for heavy workloads
  • HelioSeal design provides outstanding power efficiency in data-centre deployments
  • 5M hours projected MTBF rating backs long-term reliability

Enterprise 16 TB SATA drive

The Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC550 is a 16 TB hard drive built for enterprise storage arrays and servers. It uses a standard 3.5-inch form factor and spins at 7200 RPM with a 512 MB cache. The drive employs conventional magnetic recording technology for broad compatibility with existing capacity-focused applications. It is suited for data centres that need high-density bulk storage on a proven platform.

SATA 6.0 Gb/s interface limits

The drive connects through a SATA 6.0 Gb/s interface, which caps sustained throughput well below the media transfer rate of the platters. Sequential reads and writes will saturate the link before the mechanical subsystem reaches its peak. Random I/O performance is constrained by rotational latency and the command overhead of the AHCI protocol. Systems that require higher queue depths or lower latency should evaluate a different interface technology.

16 TB capacity and headroom

Sixteen terabytes provides substantial space for archival workloads, backup targets and cold-tier object stores. The HelioSeal helium-filled design and energy-assisted magnetic recording help maintain reliability at this density. Workloads that demand sustained write bandwidth beyond the SATA bottleneck or sub-millisecond access times will exceed the practical limits of this drive class. Applications needing more capacity per slot must wait for higher-density models.

How it compares

Measured against everything we stock in 3.5-Inch Internal Desktop HDDs, at today’s prices. Recalculated every night.

Price $232.99
Pricier than about 74% of the 4,938 comparable items (median $107.99).
Total capacity 16 TB
Higher than about 92% of the 2,372 comparable items (median 2 TB).
Price per TB $14.56 per TB
Cheaper than about 95% of the 2,365 comparable items (median $62.21 per TB).

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Specifications

Product
Brand nameWD
Product lineUltrastar DC HC550
Model name0F38462 (WUH721816ALE6L4)
Total capacity16 TB
Recommended useFor Enterprise Storage
Performance
Rotational speed7,200 RPM
Storage
Cache memory512 MB
Ports & slots
Interface typeSATA 6.0Gb/s
Size & build
Form factor3.5 in (8.89 cm)
Max height26.1 mm
Maximum width101.6 mm
Maximum length147 mm
Shipping weight0.81 kg
Package size224 × 152 × 74 mm

Other versions of this model

2 more in the same range

Questions about this item

Should I choose the 16TB or 18TB version of the Ultrastar DC HC550?

The 16TB model provides ample capacity for enterprise storage while using the same CMR technology and HelioSeal design as the 18TB variant.

What does the 7200 RPM speed deliver in an actual server?

The 7200 RPM spindle combined with 512MB cache sustains high sequential throughput for RAID arrays and heavy read-write workloads.

How does the SATA 6.0Gb/s interface limit real-world performance?

The SATA 6.0Gb/s link caps maximum transfer at the interface ceiling, so sustained rates depend on the drive's internal media speed rather than the bus.

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