WD has announced the expansion of its WD Red line of SATA drives, specifically designed for home and small office NAS (network attached storage) systems with one- to five-drive bays. The new WD Red hard drives are available in 2.5-inch (1TB and 750GB capacities) and a new 3.5-inch 4TB capacity.
According to latest data from IDC research, the NAS segment represents one of the fastest-growing segments of the worldwide SOHO storage systems market, and will continue to experience strong growth through to 2015. This growth is supported by a major shift in storage deployments toward IP-connected systems.
“WD defined the NAS drive category by leading the development of hard drives specifically built for small NAS environments,” said Matt Rutledge, vice president 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 4 TB offering. We also wanted to deliver a highly reliable and compatible 2.5-inch hard drive built specifically for small NAS. This small form factor enables our customers to use high capacity NAS hard drives 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.”
Shipping with the next generation of WD Red hard drives is a new version of NASware 2.0 firmware that further improves hard drive reliability and protects customer data in event of power loss or disruption. To improve overall drive performance and reliability, WD Red drives also feature 3D Active Balance Plus for enhanced balance control technology.
WD offers free premium 24×7 dedicated phone support and a three-year limited warranty for all WD Red customers.
WD Red hard drives are qualified to work with a wide array of WD OEM partners. A growing list of WD Red-qualified products and manufactures can be found here – http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=810.
“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 of Synology Inc.
Pricing and Availability
WD Red hard drives are available now through WD distributors in Malaysia – Amble Action Sdn Bhd,Achieva Technology Sdn Bhd and Eternal Asia (M) Sdn Bhd, and selected resellers. WD Red hard drives are covered by a three-year limited warranty. The new 2.5-inch WD Red 1 TB, model #: (WD10JFCX) is priced at RM349 (SRP); the 750 GB, model #: (WD750BFCX) is RM269 (SRP) and the 3.5-inch 4 TB, model #: (WD40EFRX) is RM699 (SRP).
