Ultrastar DC HC560, 20TB vs Ultrastar DC HC570, 22TB

💡 Which Should You Choose?

✅ Choose HC560 (20TB) if:

You’re looking for slightly lower power draw

You have a large existing fleet of HC550/HC560 drives and want full compatibility

Cost-per-TB is more favorable based on current pricing

✅ Choose HC570 (22TB) if:

You need maximum capacity per drive slot

You're building or upgrading a large-scale storage environment with a focus on efficiency and future-proofing

You want OptiNAND's reliability benefits for critical workloads

📊 Performance

While both drives have similar spindle speeds (~7200 RPM) and interfaces (SATA/SAS), the HC570 might perform slightly better in write-heavy or metadata-intensive scenarios due to OptiNAND and firmware enhancements. However, real-world differences may be marginal for typical NAS/home use.

🧾 Conclusion

Both the Ultrastar DC HC560 and HC570 are excellent for high-capacity, enterprise-grade storage. If you're deploying in environments where every TB counts, the 22TB HC570 offers more space and advanced features like OptiNAND. But for slightly less power usage and possibly better pricing, the 20TB HC560 remains a solid choice — especially for homogeneous NAS setups or expansion of existing deployments.

If you'd like a detailed price-performance comparison based on current listings or want help matching them to your RAID/NAS setup, just let me know!