SMR is a relatively new technology that some of the leading manufacturers of hard drives, such as Western Digital and Seagate, have introduced. CMR is an old technology that was first used in the early 90s by many hard drive manufacturers, such as Maxtor and Quantum (now known as Hitachi).
For our full breakdown of CMR drive recommendations by use case, see our guide to the best internal hard drives.
Both SMR and CMR technologies have their pros and cons, meaning that to choose between them, you need to have a goal and match the technology that best fulfills it.
For speed, CMR is the clear winner. It stores data in separate tracks on a CMR hard drive, which allows for much higher data densities. This results in faster data transfer rates and shorter access times. In contrast, data on an SMR hard drive is stored in overlapping tracks. This means that it can have more data stored in an area, but it also slows down data transfer rates and increases access times.
SMR drives are more reliable than CMR drives. Since it stores data in overlapping tracks, there is a lower risk of interruption when reading or writing data. In comparison, this might be an issue with CMR hard drives where the magnetic head can easily hit the edge of the disk and cause damage to it and interrupt the process. This increased reliability is one of the main reasons SMR technology has become popular among enterprise users who require high levels of data integrity and uptime.
If you have a limited budget and price is a big aspect of your decision, the CMR is at the top of your choice list.
SMRs are more expensive than CMR, since they have different manufacturing costs.
SMR hard drive stores the data in overlapping tracks. This increases the real density of the disk - the amount of data that can be stored in an area. In contrast, it can easily decrease speed and overflow the cache as you constantly write and rewrite it.
With constant writing and rewriting, SMR can have cache overflow. Meanwhile, CMR supports large amounts of data transfer at a high speed. If you have to use constantly your drive or need to change data and access it fast, CMR is then your best choice.
Which Hard Drives are CMR compatible and which are SMR compatible? Seagate, Toshiba, and WD hard drives have models for each technology.
Here's a complete list that compiles the manufacturers, the HDD's models, and capacities in one place.
When it comes to data storage, it is important to always have a data recovery plan.
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<th>Manufacturer</th>
<th>CMR Models</th>
<th>SMR Models</th>
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<tr class="manufacturer-row">
<td>Western Digital (WD)</td>
<td>
<ul class="model-list">
<li>AV-GP Surveillance: 2TB, 3TB</li>
<li>Black: 250GB, 320GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 5TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB</li>
<li>Blue: 320GB, 640GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB</li>
<li>DC HC520: 12TB</li>
<li>DC HC550: 2TB</li>
<li>EasyStore: 10TB</li>
<li>Elements: 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, 18TB</li>
<li>Gold: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, 18TB, 20TB</li>
<li>Green: 1TB, 1.5TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 5TB, 6TB</li>
<li>HC310: 4TB</li>
<li>HC530: 14TB</li>
<li>MyBook: 8TB, 12TB, 14TB, 18TB</li>
<li>Purple: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 18TB</li>
<li>Purple PRO: 8TB</li>
<li>RE: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 6TB</li>
<li>Red: 750GB, 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 5TB, 6TB, 10TB</li>
<li>Red Plus: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB</li>
<li>Red PRO: 2TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, 18TB, 20TB</li>
<li>SE: 320GB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB</li>
<li>Surveillance: 4TB</li>
<li>Ultrastar: 4TB, 6TB, 8TB</li>
<li>White: 4TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, 18TB, 20TB</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td>
<ul class="model-list">
<li>Black: 500GB, 1TB</li>
<li>Blue: 900GB, 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB</li>
<li>Elements: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB</li>
<li>My Passport: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 5TB</li>
<li>My Passport Ultra: 4TB</li>
<li>MyBook: 3TB, 4TB, 6TB</li>
<li>Passport: 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 5TB</li>
<li>Portable: 1TB, 2TB</li>
<li>RE: 3TB</li>
<li>Red: 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB</li>
<li>White: 6TB</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="manufacturer-row">
<td>Toshiba</td>
<td>
<ul class="model-list">
<li>DT01: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB</li>
<li>Enterprise: 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, 18TB</li>
<li>Enterprise X300: 6TB</li>
<li>MD04: 4TB</li>
<li>MG03: 4TB</li>
<li>MG04: 4TB, 6TB</li>
<li>N300: 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 16TB</li>
<li>P300: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 6TB</li>
<li>Performance: 6TB</li>
<li>Surveillance: 1TB, 4TB, 8TB</li>
<li>V300: 2TB</li>
<li>White: 500GB</li>
<li>X300: 4TB, 5TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td>
<ul class="model-list">
<li>Canvio: 2TB, 3TB, 4TB</li>
<li>Desktop: 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 8TB</li>
<li>Desktop SSHD: 4TB</li>
<li>Enterprise Capacity 3.5: 6TB</li>
<li>Exos: 1TB, 2TB, 2.4TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 16TB, 18TB, 20TB</li>
<li>Exos 7E8: 2TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB</li>
<li>Expansion: 10TB, 14TB</li>
<li>Firecuda: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB</li>
<li>Ironwolf: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB</li>
<li>Ironwolf PRO: 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, 18TB, 20TB</li>
<li>NAS: 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB</li>
<li>One Touch: 5TB</li>
<li>Skyhawk: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB</li>
<li>Skyhawk AI: 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, 18TB</li>
<li>Surveillance: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 5TB, 6TB, 8TB</li>
<li>SV35 Surveillance: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB</li>
<li>Terascale: 4TB</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="manufacturer-row">
<td>Seagate</td>
<td>
<ul class="model-list">
<li>Barracuda: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB</li>
<li>Barracuda PRO: 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB</li>
<li>Constellation: 2TB, 1TB, 3TB, 3TB, 6TB</li>
<li>Desktop: 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 8TB</li>
<li>Desktop SSHD: 4TB</li>
<li>Enterprise Capacity 3.5: 6TB</li>
<li>Exos: 1TB, 2TB, 2.4TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 16TB, 18TB, 20TB</li>
<li>Exos 7E8: 2TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB</li>
<li>Expansion: 10TB, 14TB</li>
<li>Firecuda: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 8TB</li>
<li>Ironwolf: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB</li>
<li>Ironwolf PRO: 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, 18TB, 20TB</li>
<li>NAS: 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB</li>
<li>One Touch: 5TB</li>
<li>Skyhawk: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB</li>
<li>Skyhawk AI: 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, 18TB</li>
<li>Surveillance: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 5TB, 6TB, 8TB</li>
<li>SV35 Surveillance: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB</li>
<li>Terascale: 4TB</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td>
<ul class="model-list">
<li>Archive: 5TB, 6TB, 8TB</li>
<li>Barracuda: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 5TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB</li>
<li>Barracuda PRO: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 5TB, 6TB, 8TB, 10TB, 12TB, 14TB, 16TB, 18TB, 20TB</li>
<li>Desktop: 5TB, 8TB</li>
<li>Exos: 8TB</li>
<li>Expansion: 8TB</li>
<li>Game Drive: 2TB, 4TB</li>
<li>Mobile: 1TB, 2TB</li>
<li>Momentus: 1TB</li>
<li>Skyhawk Lite/Mini: 1TB, 2TB</li>
<li>Ultra Touch: 1TB</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr class="manufacturer-row">
<td>Dell</td>
<td>Enterprise: 8TB</td>
<td>N/A</td>
</tr>
<tr class="manufacturer-row">
<td>Samsung</td>
<td>EcoGreen: 1TB</td>
<td>N/A</td>
</tr>
<tr class="manufacturer-row">
<td>Hitachi GST</td>
<td>
<ul class="model-list">
<li>Deskstar NAS: 4TB</li>
<li>Ultrastar: 600GB, 2TB, 4TB, 12TB</li>
</ul>
</td>
<td>Travelstar: 500GB</td>
</tr>
<tr class="manufacturer-row">
<td>Hewlett Packard Enterprise HPE</td>
<td>Midline: 3TB</td>
<td>N/A</td>
</tr>
<tr class="manufacturer-row">
<td>LaCie</td>
<td>N/A</td>
<td>Mobile: 5TB</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Keep regular backup of your important files to guarantee you can always have access to them. If anything happens to your data, contact one of the SalvageData experts that will promptly help you get your data back.
