List of Toshiba model number codes

This is a list of model number schemes used by Toshiba.

2011 - present OEM model numbers

An example of a model number following this format is TOSHIBA DT01ACA100.

First letter: Primary developer/HDA type

The first letter defines the developer of the HDA that is used by the drive. Although all drives made by Toshiba are manufactured by a Toshiba-owned factory, some drives do use a HDA that was made by Hitachi, either their one- or two-/three- platter HDA at the time of their 2012 takeover. Drives using Hitachi HDAs may use either Hitachi or Toshiba firmware, depending on the family.

Code	Developer
M	Toshiba
D	Hitachi

Second letter: Business unit

The second letter denotes the business unit of Toshiba that the drive is designed for.

Code	Business unit	Notes
A	External drives	Only used on the rare Toshiba MA04 family. Not much is known about it.
C	Low-duty storage servers
D	Desktop/Surveillance (native Toshiba)	Used by both desktop drives and by surveillance binned drives.
G	Enterprise
N	NAS
Q	Mobile
T	Desktop/surveillance (Hitachi HDA)	This is currently the only business unit used with the D first letter prefix.

Third and fourth digits: Generation

The third and fourth digits define the generation. There are three different generation number schemes; one for mobile drives, one for Hitachi HDAs and one for 3.5" Toshiba HDAs.

Fifth letter: Interface

The second letter denotes the interface of the drive.

Code	Interface
A	SATA
S	SAS
U	USB 3.0

Sixth letter: Spindle speed

The sixth letter in the model number defines the spindle speed of the drive.

Code	Spindle speed (RPM)
A	4,200
B	5,400 (follows Hitachi CoolSpin rules for DT01 drives, where 3 platters = 5,940 RPM, less than 3 = 5,700 RPM)
C	7,200
D	7,200 (used to disambiguate air-filled drives within a generation code originally launched as helium)

Seventh letter: Form factor

The seventh letter defines the form factor and also whether the drive supports self-encryption. A struckthrough letter indicates a hypothetical letter based on previous trends.

Code	SED code	Form factor
A	P	3.5"
B	Q	2.5" 15 mm
C	R	2.5" 12.5 mm
D	S	2.5" 9.5 mm
E	T	Unused
F	U	2.5" 7 mm

Eighth, ninth and tenth digits: Capacity

These digits indicate capacity. By default, the capacity is equal to these numbers multiplied by 10 and then measured in GB (so, for example, TOSHIBA MQ01ABD100 would mean 1,000 GB = 1 TB), but the last digit may be replaced by one of the following letters, which will change how the capacity is measured.

Code	Capacity equals	Meaning
D	GB x 100	Drive uses the 6-platter Tomcat-R HDA even though it requires 5 platters or less (and can be used with vanilla Tomcat, therefore).
E	GB x 100	SAS-1200 interface support (non-E models under this generation only support SAS-600)
T	TB	Drive is 10 TB or more.

Suffixes: Options

Suffixes denote optional features or more nuanced meanings of this model. Any number (but in practice not more than two) of these options can be appended to a model number to add that option's feature, although some options are incompatible with some business units or other options (for example, E, N and A are mutually exclusive).

Code	Meaning	Notes
A	Advanced Format (4Kn)
B	FIPS 140 encryption
C	Industrial/vehicle	Observed only on Toshiba MQ01AAD drives.
E	Advanced Format (512e)	Only required on enterprise drives. Out of all other business units, only the Toshiba MN08-D family uses this code, and even then, only for 4 TB models.
F	Free-fall sensor
H	Solid state hybrid drive	Prior to 2021.
	Doubled cache memory	Since 2021. Observed only on Toshiba DT02-V drives.
K	Unknown	Observed only on the elusive Toshiba MA04 family. Exact meaning is unknown.
M	New revision/SATA 3.0	Exact meaning of this code is unknown, but it may or may not add SATA 3.0 support on Toshiba MQ01ABD family drives.
	Marshal-branded drive	On TOSHIBA MA04ABA800AM only, denotes a drive that has a unique Marshal top label with a unique serial number, KCC code and model number (MAL38000SA-T54).
N	512n (no Advanced Format)
S	STB DRM authentication support
V	Video (surveillance/DVRs)	Designates drives binned for this purpose.
W	Toshiba Wipe Technology support	Toshiba Wipe Technology erases data when the drive is accessed by an unregistered system.
Y	Sanitize Instant Erase support

Retail model numbers

An example of a model following this format is TOSHIBA HDWR480.

Prefix

All retail models begin with HDW.

Fourth letter: Family

The fourth letter consists of a letter specific to a retail family.

Fifth letter: Generation

When combined with the family digit, this digit reveals what OEM family the drive belongs to.

Family digit	Retail family	Gen digit	OEM equivalent
A	Toshiba E300	1	Toshiba DT01ABA
D	Toshiba P300	1	Toshiba DT01ACA
		2	Toshiba DT02
E	Toshiba X300	1	Toshiba MD04
F		1	Toshiba MD05
G	Toshiba N300	1	Toshiba MN06
		2	Toshiba MN07
		3	Toshiba MN08
		4	Toshiba MN08-D
		5	Toshiba MN09
J	Toshiba L200	1	Toshiba MQ01ABD
K		1	Toshiba MQ01ABF
L		1	Toshiba MQ04
M	Toshiba H200	1	Toshiba MQ02-H
N	Toshiba N300	1	Toshiba MN05
Q		1	Toshiba MN04
R	Toshiba X300	1	Toshiba MD06
		2	Toshiba MD07
		3	Toshiba MG08 (desktop binned)
		4	Toshiba MG08-D (desktop binned)
		5	Toshiba MG09 (desktop binned)
T	Toshiba S300	1	Toshiba MD04-V
		3	Toshiba MD06-V
		7	Toshiba DT02-V
		8	Toshiba DT02-VH
U	Toshiba V300	1	Toshiba DT01-V
V	Toshiba S300	1	Toshiba DT01-V

Sixth and seventh letters: Capacity

For capacities less than 10 TB, these two digits indicate capacity. The true capacity is equal to the value of these digits multiplied by 100.

For capacities 10 TB and above, it is instead equal to the value of the sixth digit multiplied by 10, plus the letter index (A = 0 up to Z = 24, skipping I), in TB. For example, TOSHIBA HDWR11A represents a 10 TB drive ($(1\times 10)+0=10$ TB), TOSHIBA HDWG21E represents a 14 TB drive ($(1\times 10)+4=14$ TB) and TOSHIBA HDWR51J represents 18 TB ($(1\times 10)+8=18$ TB).

See also

• List of Toshiba drive revision codes