Seagate Surveillance 500GB
Enterprise HDD
Part number ST3500320NS · Surveillance series · SATA 3Gb/s (SATA II). If your machine is listed below, this drive is officially supported — not a forum workaround.
Part of the Seagate Surveillance series →
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Specifications are the manufacturer's published ratings for this product series; verify the exact part number before purchase.
Rated CMR (conventional magnetic recording) — the right recording type for a large cold copy. CMR keeps a full-library backup pass fast even at 16–24 TB, which is the whole point of the offline slot in a 3-2-1 plan: rotate two drives monthly, keep one powered off, and the backup tooling (Veeam, Duplicati, Hyper Backup, HBS 3) does the scheduling. Full rule and vendor tool table: 3-2-1 for NAS.
Compatibility verdict
It appears on the official compatibility lists of 80 machines and series — 80 QNAP. This is a Enterprise-class drive: rated for heavier sustained workloads than desktop drives. It is a strong pick for a NAS running 24/7, large-array rebuilds or camera workloads, and enterprise lines are also the drives most widely listed across all five vendors' HCLs. Its series rating is on file as CMR (conventional) — what RAID rebuilds and full-library copies want.
Compatible NAS models
Same-capacity alternatives
Other drives listed at 500 GB capacity, ranked by how many machines list them:
Quick answers
Is the ST3500320NS officially compatible with my NAS?
It appears on the official compatibility lists of 80 machines and series — 80 QNAP. Every machine page linked below shows the vendor's own list entry, refreshed daily.
Is the ST3500320NS CMR or SMR?
As a Seagate Surveillance drive, it is rated CMR. CMR (conventional magnetic recording) is what a RAID array wants: SMR drives slow rebuilds dramatically. See the <a href="/faq/cmr-vs-smr-nas-drives/">CMR vs SMR guide</a> for the full series table.
Is the ST3500320NS a good NAS drive?
This is a Enterprise-class drive: rated for heavier sustained workloads than desktop drives. It is a strong pick for a NAS running 24/7, large-array rebuilds or camera workloads, and enterprise lines are also the drives most widely listed across all five vendors' HCLs. Its series rating is on file as CMR (conventional) — what RAID rebuilds and full-library copies want.
Can I use the ST3500320NS for a 3-2-1 cold backup copy?
Rated CMR (conventional magnetic recording) — the right recording type for a large cold copy. CMR keeps a full-library backup pass fast even at 16–24 TB, which is the whole point of the offline slot in a 3-2-1 plan: rotate two drives monthly, keep one powered off, and the backup tooling (Veeam, Duplicati, Hyper Backup, HBS 3) does the scheduling. Full rule and vendor tool table: 3-2-1 for NAS.
What are alternatives to the ST3500320NS?
At the same capacity, the most widely listed alternatives are Western Digital WD5003ABYZ (236 machines), Western Digital WD05PURX (165 machines), Seagate ST3500514NS (153 machines). The full ranked list is below.