Surveillance drives

Seagate SkyHawk 6 TB (ST6000VXZ09)

Fifty percent more retention than the 4 TB drive, in the same family and for the same workload. In this category capacity is bought once and regretted rarely.

Seagate SkyHawk 6 TB surveillance hard drive

Seagate SkyHawk 6 TB (ST6000VXZ09)

Fifty percent more retention than the 4 TB drive, in the same family and for the same workload. In this category capacity is bought once and regretted rarely.

Capacity: 6 TB
Format: 3.5-inch, SATA 6 Gb/s
Cache: 256 MB
Workload: Up to 180 TB/year, stated by Seagate
Camera support: Up to 64 simultaneous HD streams, stated by Seagate
Multi-bay: Built-in rotational vibration (RV) sensors, stated
Reliability: 1M hours MTBF, stated
Warranty: 3-year limited warranty plus 3 years of Seagate Rescue data recovery, per the US listing
Designed for: DVR and NVR security systems
Amazon reference: B0BLT1WXKC
EAN: 0763649178065

Half again the retention of the 4 TB drive
Same 180 TB/year workload rating as the rest of the SkyHawk line
More expensive outright

Best for: A system where the 4 TB drive's retention has already proved too short.

≈ $215

Check price on Amazon

Specifications

Capacity: 6 TB
Format: 3.5-inch, SATA 6 Gb/s
Cache: 256 MB
Workload: Up to 180 TB/year, stated by Seagate
Camera support: Up to 64 simultaneous HD streams, stated by Seagate
Multi-bay: Built-in rotational vibration (RV) sensors, stated
Reliability: 1M hours MTBF, stated
Warranty: 3-year limited warranty plus 3 years of Seagate Rescue data recovery, per the US listing
Designed for: DVR and NVR security systems
Amazon reference: B0BLT1WXKC
EAN: 0763649178065

The 4 TB SkyHawk with fifty percent more retention, which in this category is usually the right purchase.

Why capacity is bought once

Retention is the specification people run out of. The pattern is consistent: a system is installed, two weeks of history seems ample, and then something happens that you want to look back at from three weeks ago — and it is gone.

Nobody has ever regretted having more days. The cost of the extra capacity is paid once and the shortage is discovered at the worst possible moment.

Check the recorder

Recorders publish a maximum supported drive size, and older ones cap lower than you would expect. Fitting a larger drive than supported usually means the recorder sees part of it and silently ignores the rest.

The trade-off worth naming

More footage behind one mechanical failure. A surveillance drive is rated for this workload and it is still a spinning disk with a finite life. Seagate’s three years of in-house Rescue data recovery softens that, but if the footage matters beyond reassurance, a second destination is what survives its failure.

Availability

$214.99 on Amazon.com at our check on October 23, 2026.

On the surveillance hard drives shelf, the 4 TB SkyHawk sold for $159.99 the same day, and the WD Purple 2 TB for $154.99 — the 6 TB costs $55 more than the 4 TB for half again the retention.

Figures from the day this page was last revised; offers and prices shift without warning.

Prices quoted in this text were read on October 23, 2026. The live price is at the top of the page.

The questions we are asked

Will my recorder take 6 TB?

Many recent recorders will, and older ones sometimes cap lower. The limit is published in the recorder's specification, and fitting a larger drive than it supports usually results in the recorder seeing only part of it.

Is bigger always better here?

Nearly. Retention is the thing people run out of, and nobody has ever wished for fewer days of history. The two arguments against are cost and that a single larger drive concentrates more footage behind one mechanical failure.

How much does the 6 TB SkyHawk cost in the US?

$214.99 on Amazon.com at our check on October 23, 2026 — about $36 per terabyte. The 4 TB SkyHawk was $159.99 the same day, about $40 per terabyte.