NAS storage can quickly become very expensive once you start looking at higher-capacity drives designed to run around the clock. But I've found a terrific deal on the 12TB Toshiba N300 Pro NAS hard drive, which is now $430 (was $530) at Newegg.
The 3.5-inch drive includes CMR recording technology, a 7,200 RPM rotational speed, 512MB cache, and a SATA 6Gb/s interface. It's designed specifically for NAS use and comes with a five-year warranty.
Why we recommend it
The 12TB capacity gives you plenty of room for backups, media libraries, business files, surveillance footage, and other data, while also making it possible to build a high-capacity NAS without filling every available drive bay.
Toshiba uses conventional magnetic recording (CMR), which is great for NAS devices because it avoids the write-performance compromises associated with shingled magnetic recording (SMR). The 7,200 RPM speed and 512MB cache makes it a better fit than slower 5,400 RPM NAS drives.
Toshiba's N300 Pro range is intended for enterprise NAS use rather than ordinary desktop storage. The five-year warranty is a big advantage if you're buying a drive that you want to use for a number of years.
For other options, take a look at roundups of the best NAS hard drives, and the best NAS devices.
Price context & historical value
Newegg has cut the price of the 12TB Toshiba N300 Pro HDD from $529.99 to $429.99, saving you $100, or almost 19%, which is the cheapest I've seen it there.
At roughly $35.83 per TB, you're paying a premium over general-purpose hard drives, but this is a 7,200 RPM CMR model designed for NAS use and backed by a long warranty.
Should you buy it?
✅ Buy the Toshiba N300 Pro NAS drive if...
You need a high-capacity hard drive for a NAS that will be running continuously. Its CMR technology and 7,200 RPM speed, makes it well suited to demanding home, small-business, and enterprise storage setups.
❌ Skip the Toshiba N300 Pro NAS drive if...
You're simply looking for the cheapest way to add a large amount of storage to a desktop PC. A less expensive general-purpose hard drive makes more sense if you don't need a NAS-focused design.
The Catch: What to know before you buy
This is a traditional 3.5-inch mechanical hard drive, so don't expect SSD-like transfer speeds, near-silent operation, or the low power consumption of flash storage. It's primarily about providing a large amount of dependable NAS storage than speed.
You'll also need to consider the total cost if you're building a multi-bay NAS. Buying four of these drives, for example, would cost you around $1,720 at the current price. The usable capacity will be lower if you configure the system with RAID redundancy.
English (US) ·