Backblaze's 13th annual Drive Stats report shows annualized failure rates dropped to 1.36% in 2025, with new high-capacity drives performing well despite isolated trouble spots.
Thirteen Years of Drive Reliability Data Shows Steady Improvement
For 13 consecutive years, Backblaze has tracked the performance of hundreds of thousands of consumer hard drives in its data centers. This longitudinal study provides invaluable insights for both enterprise buyers and individual users about real-world drive reliability. The 2025 year-end report reveals notable improvements in failure rates alongside emerging patterns in high-capacity storage.
Quarterly Performance Highlights
In Q4 2025, Backblaze monitored 337,192 data drives after excluding boot drives and units not meeting analysis criteria. The quarter introduced significant newcomers:
- Seagate ST16000NM000J 16TB: 112 drives added
- WDC WUH722626ALE6L4 26TB: First 26TB drives in the fleet (1,201 units)
Top performers with near-zero failures included:
- Seagate ST8000NM000A 8TB: 0 failures
- Seagate ST16000NM002J 16TB: 0 failures
- WDC 26TB: Only 1 failure
However, three models raised concerns:
- HGST HUH728080ALE600 8TB: 10.29% failure rate
- Seagate ST10000NM0086 10TB: 5.23%
- Toshiba MG08ACA16TEY 16TB: 4.14%
The HGST 8TB drives (average age: 7.5 years) showed unusual volatility. Investigation ruled out temperature issues, with vibration sensitivity being the leading theory. These drives are now prioritized for migration.
The Toshiba 16TB drives improved significantly after firmware updates. Their 16.95% failure rate in Q3 dropped to 4.14% in Q4, indicating successful remediation.
Annual Failure Rates Decline
The 2025 annualized failure rate fell to 1.36% across 344,196 drives—down from 1.55% in 2024 and matching 2022's low. This continues a positive trend despite quarterly fluctuations.
Key annual observations:
- Zero models had perfect records
- Most reliable drives averaged <2 failures per quarter
- High performers included:
- HGST HMS5C4040BLE640 4TB (5 failures)
- Seagate ST12000NM000J 12TB (4 failures)
- Toshiba MG09ACA16TE 16TB (3 failures)
Drive capacity distribution shifted substantially:
- 0–12TB: 25.13%
- 14–16TB: 52.06%
- 20TB+: 22.81%
This migration toward higher-capacity drives influences overall failure metrics, as newer models generally incorporate improved engineering.
Lifetime Reliability Remains Steady
The lifetime failure rate across all qualifying drives held firm at 1.30%, unchanged for several quarters. Notably, Toshiba's MG11ACA24TE 24TB joined the lifetime analysis cohort with 4,806 drives now in service.
Why This Data Matters
Backblaze's transparent reporting helps organizations:
- Predict hardware lifespans: Older drives like the HGST 8TB show how environmental factors compound over time
- Evaluate new technologies: The successful debut of 26TB drives demonstrates rapid high-capacity adoption
- Identify firmware impacts: Toshiba's recovery highlights how vendor collaboration resolves issues
The full dataset remains freely available on Backblaze's Drive Stats page, inviting further independent analysis.
All drive images and statistics sourced from Backblaze's Q4 2025 Drive Stats Report.
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