Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC550 0F38462 16 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA

The Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC550 0F38462 16 TB Hard Drive is engineered for today’s data centers, delivering the perfect blend of colossal storage capacity, enterprise-grade reliability, and efficient performance. Built for continuous operation in demanding environments, this 3.5-inch internal HDD combines cutting-edge technology with rugged design to support virtualization, analytics, backups, and archival workloads. With a focus on scalable storage density and data integrity, the DC HC550 is designed to help organizations optimize their data infrastructure, reduce overall footprint, and lower operating costs without compromising performance.

• Massive 16 TB capacity for dense, scalable storage. This Ultrastar drive centers on high-capacity storage to consolidate large datasets, multimedia libraries, and backup repositories in a single, reliable unit. It enables organizations to expand their on-premises storage footprint efficiently while minimizing the number of drives needed in racks and enclosures.
• Enterprise-grade reliability for 24x7 operations. Built to endure continuous workloads, this drive prioritizes durability and consistent performance. Its design includes safeguards and data integrity features that help minimize the risk of data loss during sustained reads and writes in data centers, virtualized environments, and cloud-backed infrastructures.
• SATA interface for broad compatibility. Featuring a standard SATA connection, it integrates smoothly with existing servers, NAS devices, JBOD enclosures, and storage arrays. The 3.5-inch form factor makes it easy to drop into most enterprise-grade backplanes and drive bays without adapters or complex configurations.
• Optimized for mixed workloads in modern data centers. Whether serving up frequently accessed data, streaming large files, or handling backup and archival tasks, the DC HC550 is designed to deliver steady throughput and predictable performance across varied workloads while maintaining responsive I/O for apps and users.
• Efficient design reduces total cost of ownership. Beyond raw capacity, this drive emphasizes energy efficiency and cooling compatibility, helping data centers manage power and cooling budgets. The result is a more economical storage solution over time, with lower incremental operating costs as storage needs grow.

Technical Details of Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC550 0F38462 16 TB Hard Drive - 3.5" Internal - SATA

• Model: 0F38462
• Capacity: 16 TB
• Form Factor: 3.5-inch internal hard disk drive
• Interface: SATA 6.0 Gb/s
• Drive Type: Enterprise-class hard disk drive (HDD) suitable for data center workloads
• Designed for: 24x7 operation with sustained performance and data integrity in demanding environments
• Reliability features: Built for long-term endurance, advanced error detection and correction, and compatibility with enterprise storage backplanes
• Applications: Ideal for data centers, virtualization, cloud storage, backups, archiving, and large scale storage pools

How to install Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC550 0F38462 16 TB Hard Drive

Installing the Ultrastar DC HC550 is straightforward in any standard enterprise server, NAS, or storage enclosure that supports 3.5-inch SATA drives. Follow these general steps to ensure a safe, proper installation and initial setup:

1) Power down and unplug the system. Ground yourself to prevent static discharge and handle the drive with care to avoid damage to connectors or the drive’s external casing.

2) Remove the appropriate drive bay or backplane access panel. Depending on your chassis, you may need to slide out a hot-swap tray or unscrew a mounting bracket to access the drive bay.

3) Install the drive into the bay or hot-swap tray. Align the drive with the connectors and secure the mounting screws or latch the hot-swap tray into place, ensuring firm, vibration-free seating.

4) connect the SATA data and power cables to the drive backplane or motherboard/SATA controller. Ensure the connections are snug and that the backplane is properly seated to support reliable data transfer.

5) Reassemble the chassis, reconnect power, and boot the system. In your server or storage OS, the drive should be detected as a new cold storage device. Use your preferred management utility to initialize, format, and integrate the drive into your storage pools, RAID array, or JBOD configuration as needed. If you’re building a RAID array, follow your controller’s guidelines for array creation and redundancy levels.

6) Verify operation and performance. Run a quick health check, monitor SMART attributes, and perform a test read/write to confirm that the drive is functioning correctly within the expected latency and throughput parameters for your workload. Maintain regular monitoring to catch any early signs of failure and to ensure ongoing reliability.

Note: Always consult your system’s hardware compatibility list (HCL) and your storage management software’s documentation before installing new drives in a production environment. Enterprise deployments may require initialization steps or RAID configuration specific to your controller model and firmware.

Frequently asked questions

• What is the capacity of this drive? This model provides 16 TB of storage, making it suitable for consolidating large datasets, backups, and archival content in data center environments.
• Which interface does it use? It uses a standard SATA 6.0 Gb/s interface, ensuring compatibility with most servers, storage arrays, and backplanes that support 3.5-inch drives.
• Is it appropriate for 24x7 enterprise workloads? Yes. The Ultrastar DC HC550 is designed for enterprise workloads, offering reliability and sustained performance for always-on data center operations.
• Where can I install this drive? It fits in 3.5-inch drive bays found in servers, NAS units, JBOD enclosures, and storage arrays that support SATA HDDs.
• What steps are needed after installation? Initialize the drive in your operating system or storage controller, format or add it to a storage pool or RAID array, and monitor health indicators through your management tools to maintain optimal performance and reliability.