nas-drive-data/README.md
nettrust cb5e1c2ae3 Initial dataset: 138 NAS drives with specs, CMR/SMR, and Backblaze AFR
Open NAS hard-drive dataset (CC BY 4.0): merged drives.csv/json plus raw
source files (CMR/SMR reference, full-year 2025 Backblaze failure rates,
manufacturer series specs). Maintained at nasdisks.com.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-06-15 23:17:06 +02:00

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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)**. 138 drives, 13 with a measured failure rate. Free for any use - including commercially - under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), provided you credit the source.
Maintained at [nasdisks.com](https://www.nasdisks.com), where the same data drives a live price comparison across seven Amazon regions. This repo is the raw data on its own, with no strings beyond attribution.
## What's inside
| File | Rows | What it is |
|------|------|------------|
| [`data/drives.csv`](data/drives.csv) | 138 | The headline file: one flat row per drive, specs joined to failure rate. |
| [`data/drives.json`](data/drives.json) | 138 | The same rows as JSON (mirror of the live API). |
| [`data/cmr-reference.csv`](data/cmr-reference.csv) | 138 | Source of truth for specs + CMR/SMR classification, with a per-row `confidence` flag. |
| [`data/backblaze-afr.csv`](data/backblaze-afr.csv) | 36 | Full-year 2025 Backblaze failure rates per model (the models Backblaze runs at scale). |
| [`data/series-reliability.csv`](data/series-reliability.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):
```bash
# 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.csv` / `drives.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. |
| `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.csv` flags how certain each call is.
- **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 13 catalog models that exactly match a Backblaze-tracked model carry an `afr_pct`; the rest are left null rather than guessed.
- **`series-reliability.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
Released under [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Full legal code in [`LICENSE`](LICENSE).
You may copy, remix and redistribute the data, even commercially, as long as you credit the source. The required attribution:
```
NAS drive dataset by nasdisks.com, CC BY 4.0
```
A link back to https://www.nasdisks.com satisfies it.
## Updates
The dataset is refreshed as the catalogue and Backblaze data change. The live endpoints above always reflect the current state; this repo is re-exported periodically.