Western Digital closed the gap with industry rival Seagate today in the heated NAS HDD capacity wars.
The new 14TB expansion of the Red series allows users to pack more data into a fewer number of bays. The release also has a domino effect on the previous capacities. We should see the 12TB capacity models get a small price reduction as the new 14TB drives emerge.
| WD Red 14TB | WD Red Pro 14TB | |
| Cache | 512MB | 512MB |
| Interface | SATA 6Gb/s | SATA 6Gb/s |
| Workload | 180TB/Year | 300TB/Year |
| Spindle Speed | 5,400 RPM | 7,200 RPM |
| MTBF | 1M | 1M |
| Use | 1-8 Bay NAS | 1-24 Bay NAS |
| Warranty | 3-Years | 5-Years |
The new 14TB Reds should perform about the same as the 12TB drives and WD didn’t change the guidance on the number of bays for the two legendary series. The Red works best in smaller systems between one and eight bays. The Red Pro with 7,200 RPM platters and more workload endurance is a better fit for larger systems up to 24-bays.
We expect to have samples soon for a detailed look in our server and a full review shortly thereafter.
