Western Digital reveals large 20TB WD Red Pro NAS hard drive with 64GB of NAND flash memory

Uploading private data on severs of cloud storage providers like Amazon or Microsoft might not be the best solution for very sensitive files, which is why many enthusiasts and business choose to operate their own NAS servers. This exact target group may now purchase a brand-new gigantic NAS hard drive made by the reputable American storage manufacturer Western Digital.

The 20TB WD Red Pro is one of the most spacious 3.5-inch NAS HDDs currently on the market as it can hold ten times as much data as the smallest hard drive in this product line. This 7,200 rpm SATA hard drive can reach transfer speeds of up to 268 MB/s, which should be held constantly since the 20TB WD Red Pro uses the traditional CMR instead of the rather unpopular SMR technology which enables higher storage densities but sometimes causes slow writing speeds during long transfers.

Even though this detail is not yet mentioned on the official product page of the new HDD, the 20TB WD Red Pro is apparently equipped with 64GB of NAND flash memory, which according to the German tech website Heise contributed to a 2TB increase in capacity in combination with Western Digital's OptiNAND technology. The WD Red Pro is further covered by a five-year manufacturer warranty and is designed for workloads of up to 300TB per year. This hard drive can already be ordered, but the slightly smaller 18TB WD Red Pro for US$399 on Amazon might be the more cost-effective storage solution for owners of NAS servers for the time being.