What is the difference between ST3500320AS and ST3500320NS

[DX]

What is the difference between a Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS and a Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3500320NS?

Is there anything to the ES series and lasting longer?

[bubba]

The AS model has a faster seek time and lower failure rate, per Seagate.

AS http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?l ... Page=Model

NS http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?v ... cale=en-US

[SteveLong]

In actuality, the AS is part of Seagate's 7200.11 line aimed at high-end desktops (the .11 signifies that this is the 11th generation of the Barracuda line). The NS is also part of the Barracuda line, but it is considered an "Enterprise" drive, aimed more at servers, and business applications.

Depending upon the capacity, the AS drives may have a smaller (16MB) buffer size. The performance numbers are nearly identical. The AS version is touted as being environmentally friendly (using less power), but I don't see that the NS version is any different in this regard. One would think that the noise factor would be less crucial for the NS (Enterprise) version versus the AS (Desktop) version, but again I see no evidence of this.

The primary distinguishing factor as far as I can tell is that the NS has a significantly longer MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) of 1.2 million hours versus the 750 thousand hours of the AS, perhaps justifying the slightly higher cost for some folks. Both have a 5yr warranty.

[DX]

I'm looking to get the greatest reliability. I have never been all that keen to sending in a drive for a warranty exchange with personal information issues these days. I could see it being a logic board issue have them "recondition" the drive and send it back out with a cursory wipe. Then the next thing you know I'm broke. So I intend to get a drive with the greatest reliability possible. I could care less about the length of warranty as the drive will never be returned. I'll be going with the NS then. I'll pay more for a drive that can go the distance.