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nas-drive-data/README.md

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NAS drive dataset

An open dataset of NAS hard drives: full specs, CMR vs SMR, and real-world Backblaze annualized failure rates (AFR). 140+ drives, with a measured failure rate for the models Backblaze tracks. Our drive specs and CMR/SMR data are free to use - including commercially - under CC BY 4.0 with credit; the Backblaze failure-rate fields stay under Backblaze's own terms (cite Backblaze; don't sell the data itself).

Maintained at nasdisks.com, where the same data powers a NAS drive price comparison across seven Amazon regions.

These files are a dated snapshot and may be out of date. The current, always-up-to-date dataset lives at nasdisks.com/data/ - download the latest there, or call the CORS-enabled endpoints below. Each file in data/ carries its export date in the filename so you always know how old your copy is.

What's inside

File Rows What it is
data/drives-2026-06-17.csv 140+ The headline file: one flat row per drive, specs joined to failure rate.
data/drives-2026-06-17.json 140+ The same rows as JSON (mirror of the live API).
data/cmr-reference-2026-06-17.csv 140+ Source of truth for specs + CMR/SMR classification (now including idle/seek noise and helium fill), with a per-row confidence flag.
data/backblaze-afr-2026-06-17.csv 36 Full-year 2025 Backblaze failure rates per model (the models Backblaze runs at scale).
data/series-reliability-2026-06-17.csv - Manufacturer series specs (warranty, rated workload, MTBF) used as context where Backblaze has no data.

Quick start

The files in data/ are ready to use as-is. If you'd rather hit a live endpoint (CORS-enabled, cached, no key, no rate limit):

# JSON: { source, license, attribution, count, drives: [...] }
curl -s https://www.nasdisks.com/data/drives.json | jq '.drives[0]'

# Flat CSV
curl -s https://www.nasdisks.com/data/drives.csv

Columns (drives-2026-06-17.csv / drives-2026-06-17.json)

Column Meaning
model Manufacturer model number (e.g. WD80EFPX).
brand WD, Seagate, Toshiba, HGST.
line Product line (Red Plus, IronWolf Pro, N300, Exos, Ultrastar, etc.).
capacity_tb Capacity in TB.
rpm Rotational speed.
cache_mb DRAM cache in MB.
interface SATA or SAS.
form_factor 3.5 or 2.5.
recording_tech cmr or smr - the field that matters most for RAID/NAS use.
acoustic_idle_db / acoustic_seek_db Idle / seek noise as A-weighted sound power (dB), from manufacturer datasheets. Null where the maker doesn't publish it.
is_helium Whether the drive is helium-sealed (true/false); null if unconfirmed. Helium is standard on high-capacity enterprise/NAS drives.
drive_class NAS, NAS-Pro, Enterprise, Surveillance, Desktop, etc.
in_production Whether the drive is currently sold new.
afr_pct Backblaze annualized failure rate, full-year 2025 (null where Backblaze doesn't track the model).
reliability_drive_count / reliability_drive_days / reliability_failures The raw figures behind afr_pct.
reliability_source Provenance of the failure rate.

Methodology

  • CMR vs SMR is classified from manufacturer datasheets and model-number decoding. SMR drives shingle their tracks, which cripples random-write and RAID-rebuild performance, so the distinction is the single most important spec for a NAS - and manufacturers do not always advertise it. The confidence column in cmr-reference-2026-06-17.csv flags how certain each call is.
  • Noise and helium are read from manufacturer datasheets (idle/seek A-weighted sound power; helium-seal designation) and are licensed CC BY 4.0 alongside the other specs.
  • Failure rates are computed from Backblaze's raw 2025 quarterly Drive Stats, aggregated to a full-year annualized rate and validated against Backblaze's own published fleet figure (~1.36% for 2025). Only the catalog models that exactly match a Backblaze-tracked model carry an afr_pct; the rest are left null rather than guessed.
  • series-reliability-2026-06-17.csv gives manufacturer-rated context (warranty years, workload TB/year, MTBF) for lines Backblaze doesn't run, so you have something to reason about beyond a blank cell.

Licence & attribution

Short version: the specs are fully open; the failure rates are free to use but must credit Backblaze and can't be resold on their own.

1. Drive specs + CMR/SMR classification - CC BY 4.0

Our own work (every field except the failure-rate ones). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0); full text in LICENSE.

  • You can: copy, modify, redistribute and build on it - including commercially.
  • You must: credit the source, e.g. 
    Drive specs & CMR/SMR by nasdisks.com, CC BY 4.0
    A link back to https://www.nasdisks.com/ is enough.

2. Failure-rate data - Backblaze's terms (NOT CC BY 4.0)

The fields afr_pct, reliability_drive_count, reliability_drive_days, reliability_failures (in drives-2026-06-17.csv / drives-2026-06-17.json) and all of backblaze-afr-2026-06-17.csv come from Backblaze Drive Stats.

  • You can: use it for free, and build (and even sell) derivative works from it.
  • You must: credit Backblaze as the source.
  • You can't: sell the raw data itself.
  • Backblaze does not endorse this project. Details in NOTICE.

Updates

This repo is a point-in-time snapshot; the date in each filename is its export date and it can fall behind. For current data use nasdisks.com/data/ or the endpoints above, which always reflect the latest catalogue and Backblaze figures.