Western Digital Introduces New NAS Storage Solutions
Western Digital Corp. today introduced an array of purpose-built storage solutions for small businesses and home offices leveraging NAS environments.
The solutions include the first WD Red SSDs, which enhance performance and caching abilities in a hybrid NAS environment, as well as a 14TB capacity for the WD Red and WD Red Pro HDDs.
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 a performance bottleneck, SSD speeds are crucial.
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.
Purpose-built for NAS enthusiasts, the latest WD Red SA500 NAS SATA SSD offers capacities from 500GB up to 4TB (2.5-inch only) and creates an environment optimized for 10GbE networks as well as caching in NAS systems to access frequently used files. The drive supports OLTP databases, multi-user environments, photo rendering, 4K and 8K video editing.
Complementary to the WD Red SA500 NAS SATA SSD, the latest WD Red HDD capacity increase to 14TB is designed for use in NAS systems with up to 8 bays. Designed for small-and-home-office 24/7 environments, the drive supports up to a 180 TB/year workload rate.
Built like the WD Red HDD with a boost for professional NAS workloads and up to 14TB 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.
The WD Red SA500 SSD comes in capacities of 500GB up to 2TB 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 500GB up to 4TB 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 14TB capacity is priced at $450.00 (MSRP USD) in the U.S. and the WD Red NAS Pro HDD in 14TB capacity is priced at $525.00 (MSRP USD) in the U.S. These 14TB HDD products will be available globally in November.
For enterprise customers, Western Digital recently enhanced its WD Gold Enterprise Class HDD storage solution, now available in capacities up to 14TB.