WD Red is designed specifically for small NAS systems that have 1 to 5 drive bays. The drives are designed and extensively tested for compatibility in the unique 24x7 operating environment and for the demanding system requirements of home and small office NAS.

Desktop hard drives are designed for desktop computers. WD Red is for NAS.

Desktop hard drives are designed for optimum performance and reliability in a desktop personal computer. Although they are an affordable alternative to enterprise-class drives, desktop drives have a higher level of risk for potential data loss and failure in an always-on RAID configured NAS system. Specific issues that you may experience using desktop drives in a NAS or RAID environment include:

• Compatibility - Desktop hard drives are not always tested for compatibility in NAS and can present problems during integration.
  
• Reliability - Most desktop drives are not designed for the high operating temperatures or always on, 24x7 operating environments making them less reliable when used in a NAS system.


• Error recovery controls - Desktop drives are not traditionally designed for RAID environments and have controls that prevent the RAID controller from assisting in the event of an error which can cause the hard drive to drop off the RAID after a period of time. Rebuilding a RAID often requires several hours and can have a significant impact on downtime and productivity.


• Noise and vibration - Typically designed for single drive applications, average desktop drives are not optimized for multi-drive systems which have higher noise and vibration levels. When these drives are added to a NAS, the additional vibration can reduce the reliability and life span of the drive.

Beyond the Desktop with NASware 2.0
WD Red drives include WD's exclusive NASware 2.0 technology that addresses many of the challenges a traditional desktop hard drive has in a NAS system. WD works directly with our partners to test compatibility and reduce our customer's guess work as to which drive is right for their NAS system. Designed to deliver a better customer experience in small NAS systems, this innovative firmware finely balances the most important attributes of performance, power, and reliability in multiple drive environments. The unique algorithms in NASware 2.0 optimize power and performance without compromising on the attributes that NAS-system owner's value.

Intelligent error recovery
With built in intelligent error recovery controls, NASware 2.0 also prevents hard drives from being dropped off the RAID due to extended error recovery. This feature provides more availability and less down time when rebuilding the RAID.

Command completion
To further improve reliability, NASware 2.0 minimizes the data corruption or loss in the event of an unexpected power loss by completing the command in process before shutting down.

Save power and money
NASware 2.0 further improves drive reliability and protects your data in the event of a power loss or power disruption. WD Red's optimized power usage results in significant power savings and lower hard drive operating temperatures within a small NAS environment, improving the overall reliability and performance of the drive and reduces the NAS cost of ownership.