WD Unveils 26TB Portable Hard Drives and Up to 208TB Storage for $8,300

Western Digital unveiled its largest capacity network attached storage (NAS) hard drive, the 26TB WD Red Pro, as well as several direct storage (DAS) systems aimed at content creators. The new DAS systems use one to eight hard drives and offer up to 208TB of storage capacity.

Image source: Western Digital

The WD Red Pro 26TB (WD260KFGX) hard drive uses 11 magnetic platters with a rotation speed of 7200 rpm, as well as OptiNAND technology. The drive uses the second-generation energy-saving perpendicular magnetic recording platform (ePMR 2). In addition, the new product uses traditional magnetic recording (CMR) technology for predictable performance under any workload. The manufacturer claims a data transfer rate of up to 272 MB/s.

The WD Red Pro series of hard drives is designed for use in high-performance enterprise NAS systems, so the WD Red Pro 26TB model is designed to operate in environments with constant vibration, in 24/7 mode and with a workload of up to 550 TB written per year. The new product is equipped with rotational vibration sensors that anticipate and automatically compensate for turbulence caused by increased vibration. In addition, the HDD is equipped with multi-axis shock sensors that detect impact events and proactively compensate for them using Dynamic Fly Height technology.

The recommended price of WD Red Pro 26TB is $569.99. The manufacturer provides a five-year warranty on the new product.

In addition to the announcement of the WD Red Pro 26TB, Western Digital has announced an expansion of its DAS and NAS storage systems. However, instead of the WD Red Pro 26TB, they are now offering the Ultrastar DC HD590 26TB drives, which are based on the same platform.

Western Digital’s most basic DAS is the G-Drive, which now offers up to 26TB of capacity for $649.99. The device features a USB-C (10Gbps) interface and delivers read and write speeds of up to 260MB/s and 270MB/s, respectively. The product is aimed at content creators and comes in an aluminum case with mounting points for DIT carts, mounting plates, and other equipment.

For those who need more advanced solutions, the company offers the G-Drive Project drive, now also with an HDD capacity of up to 26 TB. This solution has a SanDisk Professional PRO-BLADE SSD slot for optional installation of a solid-state drive. The device is also equipped with two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) interfaces. The cost of the model is $999.99.

For users who need more storage, Western Digital offers the G-RAID Project 2 storage system with two 3.5-inch drives and a maximum capacity of 52TB for $1,699.99. The company also expanded its G-RAID Shuttle 4 storage system lineup by adding models with four 3.5-inch drives and support for up to 104TB of total storage for $4,499.99. The G-RAID Shuttle 8 lineup has been expanded with a model with eight 3.5-inch HDDs and support for up to 208TB of total storage for $8,299.99.

These hardware RAID solutions feature two Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps) ports. By default, the storage systems are configured in RAID 5 mode and deliver up to 1700 MB/s read and 1500 MB/s write speeds.