New from Western Digital is its WD Red range of hard drives, built with the company's NASware technology and specifically designed to stand up to the rigours of use in always-on network attached storage.
The company points out that, rather than choosing the enterprise-class drives best used in NAS devices, some users opt for less expensive desktop-type hard drives, which are designed for constant use, and present a greater risk of data loss or complete failure.
The new Red drives are tested for compatibility in NAS units, to run 24-7 in the high temperatures often found inside NAS housings, and with the nosie and vibration found in multi-drive arrays, and to make life as easy as possible for RAiD controllers in the case of a problem, as well as speeding up any recovery required.
They also have optimised power use and temperature control, built-in compatibility with ATA Streaming Feature Set used in AV applications such as Windows Media Center, and the ability to complete any command in process should there be an unexpected power loss, thus minimising data corruption or loss if there's a power failure.
The drives also have 3D Active Balance Plus, an enhanced balance control technology to improves the overall performance and reliability and come with free premium 24x7 dedicated support and a three-year limited warranty.
They cost £70 for the 1TB WD10EFRX version, £90 for the 2TB WD20EFRX, and £130 for the 3TB WD30EFRX, and join a family completed by the WD Blue models for everyday computing, the cool-running, quiet, low-power WD Green, and the maximum-performance WD Black.
