WD Red 6Gb SATA HDDs for NAS With More Capacity

WD announced the expansion of its WD Red line of SATA HDDs specifically designed for home and small office NAS systems with one- to five-drive bays.

WD Red HDDs are now available in a 2.5-inch form factor offering 1TB and 750GB capacities and a new 3.5-inch 4TB capacity.

Powered by NASware 2.0 technology, WD Red is compatibility-tested with top NAS system manufacturers and optimized for performance and reduced power consumption.

"WD defined the NAS drive category by leading the development of HDDs specifically built for small NAS environments," said Matt Rutledge, VP of client storage for WD. "The WD Red product line serves the unique environment of NAS and meets the growing demand for affordable, reliable, and compatible storage. Through dialogue with our NAS partners and customer advocacy for WD Red, we saw the need for additional capacity in the 3.5-inch form factor and delivered our new 4TB offering. We also wanted to deliver a highly reliable and compatible 2.5-inch HDD built specifically for small NAS. This small form factor enables our customers to use high capacity NAS HDDs with high performance, quiet operation and low power consumption in compact NAS enclosures. We also see an opportunity in smaller-footprint NAS systems, media players and other industrial applications. Our pride in our product and our vision is shared with our customers."

Industry analysts see NAS continuing to represent one of the fastest-growing segments of the worldwide SOHO storage systems market. From both revenue and terabyte perspectives, NAS will continue to experience strong growth through the forecast period (to 2015), driven by a major shift of storage deployments toward IP-connected systems (Worldwide Personal and Entry Level Storage Tracker IDC 2013).

The next generation of WD Red HDDs deliver the NAS experience for customers with a new version of NASware 2.0, which improves drive reliability and protects customer data in the event of a power loss or disruption. They also feature 3D Active Balance Plus, an balance control technology, which improves drive performance and reliability.

For WD Red customers, WD offers free 24×7 dedicated phone support and a three-year limited warranty.

Integrating with WD NAS solutions, WD Red HDDs are qualified to work with an array of OEM partners.

Price and Availability
Shipping through select distributors and resellers, WD Red HDDs are covered by a three-year limited warranty. MSRP for the new 2.5-inch WD Red 1TB, model #: (WD10JFCX) is $99 (€78); the 750GB, model #: (WD750BFCX) is $79 and the 3.5-inch 4TB, model #: (WD40EFRX) is $229 (€182).

"WD Branded Product customers now have the ability to harness the power of WD Red HDDs and utilize the many advantages of storage designed and tested uniquely for (SOHO NAS devices) WD products," said Scott Vouri, VP, WD consumer marketing. "We look forward to delivering the advantages of the latest WD Red drives to our branded product customers."

"I-O Data has exclusively selected WD Red as our preferred storage partner because it has a 3 year warranty and the vibration level is half of previous NAS models," said Tomomi Tsuchida, executive officer and GM of business strategy dept., I-O Data Device, Inc. "And, cooler operation has been reduced by 6 degrees Celsius compare to previous NAS. WD Red is also eco-friendly drive and cut power consumption on our devices by up to 25%."

"Fueled by the continuing growth of the global NAS market, WD Red NAS HDDs have been delivering QNAP one to five-bay NAS products a reliable solution for 24/7 operation for more than a year now," said Richard Lee, CEO, QNAP Systems, Inc. "With WD’s new larger capacity 3.5-inch and small form factor 2.5-inch WD Red NAS HDDs, the next generation of storage optimized specifically for entry-level NAS is here."

"The WD Red drives are already popular among NAS owners. The Synology and WD Red duo is an ideal storage solution that offers unparalleled value in the NAS market. The combination provides peace of mind with great reliability, cool operation, and consistent high quality, while taking advantage of the award-winning DiskStation Manager OS. Now with 4TB and 2.5" 1TB Reds, this will provide even more flexibility," said Vic Hsu, CEO, Synology Inc.

"As the new WD Red drives are ideal to work with Thecus’s SMB NAS systems, this also ensures that our users will have a broader selection of trusted HDDs for their specific needs – which is exactly in line with our philosophy of customer satisfaction," says Florence Shih, GM at Thecus Technology Corp.