WD Ultrastar DC HC550 18TB 3.5-inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM Enterprise Nearline HDD

The WD Ultrastar DC HC550 is an 18TB 3.5-inch enterprise nearline hard drive engineered for demanding datacenter environments requiring high-capacity, high-reliability storage at scale. Built on Western Digital's HelioSeal technology, the drive is hermetically sealed with helium to reduce internal turbulence, enabling nine platters to spin at 7200 RPM with lower power consumption and reduced vibration compared to air-filled designs. The SATA 6Gb/s interface delivers sustained sequential throughput suited to large-scale data ingestion, and the drive carries a 2.5 million hours MTBF rating alongside a 550TB per year workload rating, positioning it among the most durable drives in its class.

The HC550 is purpose-built for nearline storage architectures where bulk capacity, consistent throughput, and multi-drive density are prioritized. It supports rotational vibration (RV) compensation via integrated sensors, making it fully compatible with high-density JBOD enclosures and multi-drive server chassis where cross-drive vibration is a persistent challenge. The drive also incorporates Western Digital's Advanced Format (512e and 4Kn sector options) and includes power management features such as PowerChoice technology for tiered idle-state power reduction, contributing to lower overall datacenter energy expenditure at fleet scale.

Targeted at hyperscale operators, cloud storage providers, enterprise IT infrastructure teams, and AI/ML data lake deployments, the WD Ultrastar DC HC550 (part number WUH721818ALE6L4) delivers the combination of raw capacity, workload endurance, and operational reliability that large-scale read-intensive and mixed-workload environments demand. Its compatibility with leading storage platforms across EMEA and APAC regions makes it a practical choice for organizations building or expanding high-capacity on-premises or colocation storage infrastructure.

Ideal for

• Hyperscale and cloud object storage platforms requiring maximum raw capacity per rack unit
• AI and machine learning data lake storage for large unstructured dataset ingestion and retention
• Video surveillance and media archive repositories demanding sustained sequential write performance
• Enterprise backup and disaster recovery targets in multi-petabyte NAS or JBOD configurations
• High-density cold and warm data tiering in software-defined storage clusters such as Ceph or HDFS
• Colocation and managed service provider storage nodes where per-drive capacity and endurance reduce total drive count and operational overhead

Technical specifications

Available from Omnixon Global. Submit an RFQ and our team will confirm configuration and availability for your order.