I have my hard drive in an external enclosure hooked to my computer via usb-c cable. Should I get this IronWolf Pro? Or should I go with the Barracuda Pro? The enclosure turns off with my computer, has no cooling capabilities, and again it's hooked up via usb-c. I currently have and HGST 3tb drive in there, and I can't help but feel like it's dying slowly, it gets very hot during usage like gaming off it, and it makes subtle noises that I don't think it used to make, so I want to replace it with a Seagate drive. I've already decided what speed and size I want, and I know I want a Pro series drive. I just can't decide if I should get the desktop version or the NAS version for my usage.

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Accepted Answer

I would say NAS drives are intended for RAID/Controller scenarios in an always on circumstance.  Desktop Hard Drives are intended to be turned off for periods of time each day.

I found a great explanation, that I can’t link here that discusses the differences and the value of each.

So the short answer is, in your case, either will work well, with similar read/write performance.  The desktop hard drive will probably handle regular power save mode operations, and even power off cycles better, if that is your scenario.  If you leave it powered on more than off, and are accessing from other devices through your computer, like a NAS works, then possibly a NAS drive built to be always on is better suited.

I don’t think there is a significant heat difference between the two, your enclosure my be where length of runtime per day may be more suited for proper scaling in this situation.

Brand	Seagate
Series	IronWolf Pro
Model	ST2000NE0025
Packaging	Bare Drive

Interface	SATA 6.0Gb/s
Capacity	2TB
RPM	7200 RPM
Cache	128MB
Average Latency	4.16ms

Features	Optimized for NAS with AgileArray. AgileArray is built for dual-plane balancing and RAID optimization in multi-bay environments with the most advanced power management possible. Actively protect your NAS with IronWolf Health Management focusing on prevention, intervention and recovery. High performance means no lag times or downtime for users during high traffic time for the NAS. Seagate leads the competition with the highest performance in NAS-class drives. Seagate Rescue Data Recovery. IronWolf Pro comes with extra peace of mind for any mechanical, accidental or natural disaster. With a 90% success rate of in-house recovery, Seagate has your back with a Rescue Data Recovery plan. Rotational Vibration (RV) mitigation. IronWolf Pro comes standard with RV sensors to maintain high performance in multi-bay NAS enclosures. Range of capacities up to 14TB. More capacity options mean more choices that will fit within the budget. Seagate provides a scalable solution for any NAS use-case scenario. Do more with multi-user technology. Enables user workload rate of 300TB/year. Multiple users can confidently upload and download data to the NAS server, knowing it can handle the workload, whether you're a creative professional or small business. Designed for always on, always accessible 24x7 performance. Access your data on your NAS any time, remotely or on site. 1.2M hours MTBF represents an improved total cost of ownership (TCO) with reduced maintenance costs.
Usage	Enterprise NAS Hard Drives

Form Factor	3.5"
Height (maximum)	26.11mm
Width (maximum)	101.85mm
Length (maximum)	146.99mm

Seagate IronWolf Pro 2TB NAS Hard Drive 7200 RPM 128MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive ST2000NE0025

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Item#: N82E16822179102