Western Digital Red Pro Drives

The popularity of Network-Attached Storage (NAS) devices is rapidly ramping up in both small businesses and homes, fueled by their usefulness and their increasing affordability. This surge in interest has led Western Digital to add a NAS-specific family of hard disk drives - the WD Red family of NAS hard disk drives.

They have since extended that to a new line of NAS hard disk drives - the Western Digital Red Pro. Targeted at larger NAS systems that support 8-16 drives, the Red Pro drives are a refinement of the work Western Digital had previously done on their Red drives. Western Digital currently offers three Red Pro models, which differ only in their storage capacities :

Today, we are going to take a look at the top-of-the-line 4 TB Western Digital Red Pro (WD4001FFSX) model. Here are its key features :

• Exclusive NASware 3.0 Technology - NASware 3.0 enables seamless integration, robust data protection and optimal performance for systems operating in the demanding NAS environment.

• Extensive NAS Testing - WD Red is a reflection of the most extensive NAS partner compatibility-testing list that is available on the market. That means when you buy a NAS enclosure, you can trust that WD Red will be the most compatible drive available.

• 3D Active Balance Plus - This enhanced dual-plane balance control technology significantly improves the overall drive performance and reliability. Hard drives that are not properly balanced may cause excessive vibration and noise in a multidrive system, reduce the hard drive life span, and degrade the performance over time.

• Vibration Protection -In combination with 3D Active Balance Plus, WD Red Pro also features hardware vibration compensation technology which monitors the drive to correct both linear and rotational vibration in real time, further increasing drive reliability.

• Enhanced Reliability - With a 35% MTBF improvement over standard desktop drives, the WD Red Pro drive is designed and manufactured to be a more reliable and robust solution.

• Enhanced Shock Protection - WD Red Pro is equipped with a multiaxis shock sensor that automatically detects subtle shock events and dynamic fly height technology which adjusts each read-write function to compensate and protect the data. This combination of technology further protects the drives in large 8 to 16 bay NAS environments and increases drive reliability.

• Extended Drive Testing - Every WD Red Pro drive is shipped with extended thermal cycle burn-in testing which ensure each drive for extended reliable operation.

• Premium Support - Every WD Red Pro hard drive comes with our world-class professional support services including a premium dedicated 24/7 support line (available in English, other regional support hours vary).

• Longer Warranty Coverage - Complimenting WD Red at a 3-year limited warranty, WD Red Pro offers longer warranty coverage with a 5-year limited warranty for an even greater peace of mind.

Now, let's take a closer look at the big daddy of the WD Red Pro family of hard disk drives!

Specifications

Packaging

Western Digital sent us the 4 TB Red Pro in a generic retail cardboard box. Inside, you will find the drive wrapped in a bubble wrap packet which provides some shock protection, but that's not good enough if you intend to mail it. The drive itself is sealed within an anti-static plastic packet, with a sachet of dessicants inside to keep it dry.

Just cut open the plastic packet and slide out the drive. Be sure to ground yourself before removing and handling the hard disk drive as static can damage it. In particular, you should try to avoid touching the exposed PCB located on the lower underside of the drive.

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