Backblaze’s 2025 Drive Stats show why “enterprise” is not a reliability ranking: exact hard-drive models recorded sharply different failure rates in the same reporting period. The figures come from Backblaze’s production data-center fleet, not a controlled consumer test, so they describe observed cohorts—not the odds that any one drive will fail.
Which enterprise hard drives failed most often in Backblaze’s Q4 2025 data?
Backblaze’s report, published February 12, 2026, gives these examples of high quarterly annualized failure rates in Q4 2025:
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| Drive model | Capacity | Q4 2025 annualized failure rate | Context reported by Backblaze |
|---|---|---|---|
| HGST HUH728080ALE600 | 8TB | 10.29% | 1,073 drives; Backblaze said the cohort was located together. It had ruled out temperature and was investigating vibration as a possible factor. |
| Seagate ST10000NM0086 | 10TB | 5.23% | Q4 cohort result; the cited report example does not establish a universal cause. |
| Toshiba MG08ACA16TEY | 16TB | 4.14% | Backblaze said a previous quarter’s 16.95% rate was associated with firmware work and was normalizing as that work rolled out. |
These are rates observed in Backblaze’s eligible cohorts and annualized from one quarter; they are not controlled head-to-head tests. Backblaze’s explanation of the HGST cohort and Toshiba firmware work provides context, not proof that the same factors explain results in other deployments. Backblaze’s 2025 Drive Stats report includes the period details.
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Backblaze’s annual cohort covered 344,196 drives across 30 models. Its fleet-wide annualized failure rate (AFR) was 1.36% in 2025, down from 1.55% in 2024. The Q4 2025 quarterly AFR was 1.13%, while lifetime AFR was 1.30%. These are aggregate figures: a low fleet average can coexist with much higher observed rates for particular model cohorts.
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Some models had zero or one failure in Q4. For example, the Seagate ST16000NM002J 16TB had zero Q4 failures. The report records one failure among 112 drives for this model in Q4, and one failure in its annual data. A small count in a particular period is not proof that a model will keep performing that way, nor does it establish the best drive to buy.
What does annualized failure rate measure?
Backblaze defines a drive-day as one drive operating for one day. It calculates AFR by dividing drive failures by drive-days divided by 365. Because the denominator reflects how many days drives were actually in the fleet, it accounts for drives entering or leaving during the period. AFR is a normalized fleet statistic, not a direct measurement of an individual drive’s lifespan or a guarantee about its future reliability. See Backblaze’s methodology explainer.
Why can’t you rank enterprise drives from one quarter?
Backblaze publishes tables only when a model meets the relevant period’s minimum thresholds. The rules differ by reporting period:
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| Reporting period | Minimum model cohort | Minimum drive-days |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | More than 100 drives | More than 10,000 |
| Annual | More than 250 drives | More than 50,000 |
| Lifetime | More than 500 drives | More than 100,000 lifetime drive-days |
Those thresholds make the published comparisons more substantial than a handful of drives, but cohorts still differ in size, age, history and deployment. A model’s quarterly rate may also move as failures, drive-days and operating conditions change. For a useful comparison, keep the exact model and capacity attached to the rate, and check the period, eligible drive count, drive-days, cohort age and deployment context rather than treating a single number as a stable ranking.
Are Backblaze drive stats a good guide for choosing a hard drive?
They are useful evidence about how specific models have performed in Backblaze’s continuously operating production data centers. They are not a direct forecast for a home PC or a guarantee for a particular unit. Backblaze notes that fleet operators monitor drives and replace them according to operational needs, while consumer usage and replacement practices differ. The report’s rates should therefore inform—not decide—a purchase.
Backblaze has published drive statistics quarterly since 2013, and its public dataset includes daily drive records, model and failure information, and SMART attributes. The report’s tables are not the only way to investigate: the dataset can help readers explore models that do not meet table thresholds, subject to Backblaze’s stated attribution and use conditions. Details are in its dataset overview.
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For a purchase, verify the exact model number, capacity, interface and listing specifications; a product family name or “enterprise” label alone is not enough to match a drive to a report entry. Backblaze’s data can show a model’s observed fleet history, but it does not establish current retail availability or identify a universally best choice.
What Backblaze’s data can—and cannot—show
The report supports a narrow but practical conclusion: reliability varies among exact hard-drive models and across reporting periods, even within enterprise-branded products. It does not establish a brand-wide failure ranking, a controlled comparison under identical conditions, or an individual drive’s expected lifespan. Backblaze’s investor-relations release quoted Chief Technical Evangelist Pat Patterson: “For 13 years, Drive Stats has given us and the broader storage community a clear view of how drives perform at scale,” (February 12, 2026 release).
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