Western Digital Reveal First WD Red SSDs and New 14TB HDD

I’ve always been a big fan of Western Digital drives. Personally, I don’t think I’ve built a NAS that didn’t end up housing WD Red drivers or similar. With that in mind, I’m happy to see them expand their range today, with a few new large capacities of WD RED drives. However, we also see the first-ever WD RED SSDs too! They come in both 2.5″ and M.2 form factors. They’re designed for everything from the home user to SMB markets. Plus, big capacities and competitive prices have always helped keep them a popular choice for any consumer. SSD speeds are ideal for high-end NAS systems and caching, while the HDDs are obviously still king for mass storage.

Wester Digital

With the increase in virtualization, 10GbE (10 Gigabit Ethernet) and higher connectivity speeds are becoming an essential feature set in modern NAS systems. To help minimize performance bottlenecks, SSD speeds are crucial. To fully support the requirements of these environments, storage device durability, speed and capacity remain heavily in demand. When utilized as a caching solution in a NAS system, the WD Red SA500 SSD helps to boost performance while the new higher capacity WD Red and WD Red Pro HDDs offer more storage space in the same NAS device.

What Western Digital Had to Say

“A boost in performance for NAS systems can translate to more content in less time, so creators or small businesses can work more efficiently to increase output and, as a result, potential income,” said Ziv Paz, senior director, client computing segment marketing, Western Digital. “Our higher capacities coupled with optimized endurance in the WD Red portfolio are making room for larger files and reducing storage bandwidth-induced stress. For creators working on large projects over time, the latest WD Red SSD solution enables a hybrid NAS environment where the SSD can serve as a caching mechanism for both large and frequently accessed files.”

QNAP

“Working with Western Digital has proved increasingly beneficial in delivering premium storage for our NAS systems,” said Meiji Chang, general manager, QNAP. “With the addition of today’s WD Red SA500 SSD as a storage or caching solution, our customers can now take full advantage of dedicated SSD slots in our systems and benefit from faster network transfer speeds and optimal endurance.”

Synology

“Whether it’s editing video projects, backing up photos or developing software, the right storage platform not only protects your data, but lets you access it faster,” said Patrick Deschere, marketing director, Synology America Corp. “By pairing Synology with Western Digital, you can optimize your NAS experience and get the best of the cloud while maintaining complete ownership of your data.”

Product Details

New products introduced today are:

• WD Red SA500 NAS SATA SSD: Purpose-built for NAS enthusiasts, the latest WD Red SA500 NAS SATA SSD offers capacities from 500 GB up to 4 TB (2.5-inch only) and creates an environment optimized for 10 GbE networks as well as caching in NAS systems to rapidly access frequently used files. With superior endurance for heavy read and write loads demanded by NAS in a 24/7 environment, the drive supports OLTP databases, multi-user environments, photo rendering, 4K and 8K video editing.
• WD Red NAS Hard Drive: Complementary to the WD Red SA500 NAS SATA SSD, the latest WD Red HDD capacity increase to 14TB1 is designed for use in NAS systems with up to 8 bays. Ideal for small-and-home-office 24/7 environments, the drive supports up to a 180 TB/year workload rate.
• WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive: Built like the WD Red HDD with a boost for professional NAS workloads and up to 14TB1 capacity, the WD Red Pro HDD supports up to 24 bays. With 3D Active Balance Plus technology and error recovery controls with NASware 3.0 technology, the drive operates with enhanced reliability.

Pricing and Availability

The WD Red SA500 SSD comes in capacities of 500 GB up to 2 TB for the M.2 form factor and ranges in price from $72.00 up to $297.00 (MSRP USD) in the U.S. The 2.5-inch form factor of the WD Red SA500 SSD comes in capacities of 500 GB up to 4 TB and ranges in price from $75.00 to $600.00 (MSRP USD) in the U.S. Both form factors of WD Red SA500 SSDs are currently available in limited quantities at the WD store in the U.S. and will be available globally in November at select Western Digital retailers, e-tailers, resellers, and system integrators. The WD Red NAS HDD in 14 TB capacity is priced at $450.00 (MSRP USD) in the U.S. and the WD Red NAS Pro HDD in 14 TB capacity is priced at $525.00 (MSRP USD) in the U.S. These 14 TB HDD products will be available globally in November at select Western Digital retailers, e-tailers, resellers, system integrators and at the WD store.