When selecting a hard drive, you need the best and right kind for your needs. Today, we are writing our WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive Review to discuss everything about this quality product.
The Red NAS Hard Drive is built into a NAS unit to keep, share, and archive data. The available models for purchase include Standard, Plus, and Pro, and we have the Pro version for this review.
Before looking deeper into the product, we will discuss its packaging and the contents WD included.
WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive Packaging
We immediately started working on this WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive Review upon receiving our package. The NAS hard drive shipped in an anti-static moisture barrier bag, which is usual to keep its internal components safe.
Aside from the Red Pro NAS Hard Drive, you will not find anything else in the package.
WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive Review – Design and Functionality
This section of our WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive Review will discuss the design and functions of the product. First, we will explain what makes it different from a desktop drive.
Desktop drives are affordable alternatives to enterprise drives and can deliver excellent performance reliability in desktop PCs. However, their architecture is not suitable for a NAS. When used in a NAS, desktop drives have a higher risk of data loss and failure.
WD addressed these issues by creating the Red Pro NAS Hard Drive, which uses NASware 3.0 and NAS features. NASware 3.0 enhances system performance and reliability while reducing customer downtime for simple integration.
The Red Pro NAS Hard Drive also allows for lower operating temperatures and significant power savings.
For its appearance, the Red Pro NAS Hard Drive is a 3.5-inch hard drive. It has an all-metal enclosure with a silver finish. On top, you will find a red label at the centre.
The label shows the company branding, technical information, firmware identification, and production date.
The colour of the label is a differentiating element from other hard drives of WD. As its name suggests, the Red series is for NAS systems. Other similar products with different colour labels have different purposes.
When you flip the Red Pro NAS Hard Drive, you will see a green printed circuit board. It interfaces between SATA 6Gb/s and physical, mechanical components.
Key Features of the WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive
The product has notable features, which we listed in our WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive Review. Knowing these will help determine if the product is ideal for your needs.
Adequate for Multiple Demands of Big Businesses
Specifically designed for medium/large scale businesses, this product works with NAS systems that have up to 24 bays. The company engineered the product to work efficiently despite high-intensity workloads in 24×7 environments.
The Red Pro NAS Hard Drive is perfect for sharing, archiving, and RAID array-rebuilding on extended systems. The drives add value to the business, allowing employees to share backup folders and files in the NAS solution.
WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive + Exclusive NASware 3.0 Technology
NASwareTM 3.0 is an advanced firmware technology that enables seamless data protection and optimal performance for high-demand NAS. The NASware 3.0 advanced technology integrated into the product helps improve storage performance. It works by increasing compatibility, integration, upgradeability, and reliability.
Designed for Optimum NAS Compatibility
The Red Pro NAS Hard Drive with NASwareTM technology removes the guesswork from drive selection. Its algorithm, optimised for NAS systems, balances performance and reliability in NAS and RAID environments. The product is one of the most compatible drives for NAS enclosures available.
Increased Size of the NAS Bay Shock Protection
The WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive has a multi-axis shock sensor that instantly detects shock. It also uses a dynamic fly height technology to adapt each read-write function to protect data. Combining these two elements ensures the safety and reliability of drives in 24-bay NAS environments.
WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive – 3D Active Balance Plus
The boosted dual-plane balance control technology of WD dramatically improves the overall performance of the hard drive. It helps reduce noise and vibration in a multi-drive system, which usually causes a shorter life span for hard drives.
We also observed the noise and vibration of this drive during our product tests. But of course, we will discuss this later in our WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive Review.
Error Recovery Prevention of the WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive
WD designed the Red Pro NAS Hard Drive for NAS environments and RAID. It has error recovery controls to help prevent drive fallout in RAID applications.
Increased Drive Reliability
A NAS environment with 24 bays is demanding on a hard drive and causes more heat and vibration. WD equipped all Red Pro NAS Hard Drives with extended thermal cycle burn-in testing to fix the issue. This feature ensures the extended reliable operation of the product.
Longer Warranty Coverage
The Red Pro NAS Hard Drive has a five-year limited warranty for your peace of mind. We greatly appreciate WD for including this in the product.
Better than Desktop Drives
The Red Pro NAS Hard Drive is a purpose-built product for NAS. Unlike desktop drives, it has the appropriate elements to deliver optimal performance in a NAS and preserve your data efficiently.
Extensive Compatibility of the WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive
Unlike desktop drives, the Red Pro NAS Hard Drive can withstand the operating pressure of a NAS. As a result, it delivers performance more efficiently.
Highly Reliable
The always-on environment of a NAS or RAID causes heat, which desktop drives cannot handle. The Red Pro NAS Hard Drives can handle these temperatures while delivering excellent performance.
Error Recovery Controls
RAID error recovery controls help reduce failures within the NAS.
Noise and Vibration Protection
Manufacturers design desktop drives for solo use, so they have minimal protection from noise and vibration in multi-drive systems. When used in a NAS, they are prone to damage and have a shorter life span.
The Red Pro NAS Hard Drive thrives in multi-bay NAS environments thanks to its protection from vibration and noise.
Specifications
The product we used for our WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive Review has 16TB and a 512MB cache. Its disk speed is 7200rpm, a transfer rate of up to 259MB/s, and a SATA interface.
Compatibility-wise, the Red Pro NAS Hard Drive has the CMR technology for medium/large scale businesses with RAID-optimised NAS systems. It is compatible with those that have 24 bays.
This product, with CMR recording technology, is ideal for archiving and sharing/handling highly intensive workloads.
The Red Pro NAS Hard Drive measures 147 x 101.6 x 26.1mm (L x W x H).
Hands-on with the WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive
WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive Review Summary
With the busier and more populated NAS HDD market in this decade, WD released the Red Pro NAS Hard Drive. It is another excellent example of WD continuing to invest in the NAS media industry. Also, the company maintains a high standard in its architecture and performance with this product.
After testing it for our WD Red Pro NAS Hard Drive Review, we were impressed with its performance. It performed notably, so we had no issues with the product. And based on our experience, the Red Pro NAS Hard Drive is ideal for a NAS.
WD provides superior long-term performance and reliability when using the Red Pro NAS Hard Drive. Although expensive, it is a worthy investment since it will prevent additional expenses and frequent replacement of hard drives. With its excellent features, performance, and reliability, we highly recommend this product to multi-bay NAS users.
To learn and get more details about the Red Pro NAS Hard Drive, visit the official product page of WD.
