Backblaze drive stats for Q2 2026
Summary
Backblaze's Q2 2026 Drive Stats report analyzes 354,415 hard drives used in their cloud storage fleet, reporting an annualized failure rate (AFR) of 1.73% for the quarter. The post reviews drive model performance, retirements, and the ongoing shift toward higher-capacity drives, while explaining CMR vs SMR and HAMR technologies. It also highlights the absence of SMR drives in their fleet and points readers to the full dataset for independent analysis.