Western Digital Introduces Next-Level Storage Solutions For NAS Environments

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-ever 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.

SSD Performance to Support High-Speed Connectivity

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.

To fully support the requirements of these environments, storage device durability, speed and capacity remain heavily in demand. Building on the proven reliability of Western Digital’s WD Red product portfolio, the solutions are built to transform pain points to profits for the end user. 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.

“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.”

“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.”

“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 500GB up to 4TB1 (2.5-inch only) and creates an environment optimized for 10GbE 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.