Western Digital unveils the large capacity WD Red Pro 26TB

Western Digital has unveiled its most capacious hard disk drive yet for network-attached storage (NAS) systems—the WD Red Pro 26TB. Additionally, the company has introduced several direct-attached storage (DAS) solutions tailored for creative professionals, offering capacities as high as 208TB and supporting configurations with one to eight hard drives.

While many photographers prefer SSD drives for processing their work due to their superior speed, SSD prices remain high at around $135 to $175 per TB. Consumer SSD's also cap-out at sizes of up to 8TB per unit.

In contrast, traditional hard drives (HDs), especially those with large capacities like the WD Red Pro 24TB model are priced at $1,200 – which equates to $50 per TB. Smaller, more readily available sizes, such as 4TB HDs, can be found for around $40 per TB.

This makes traditional HD's the choice for backup and archiving, whether they be stand-alone drives (JBOD a.k.a just a bunch of disks), or in multi-disk RAID or NAS systems. 

The WD Red Pro 26TB (model WD260KFGX) is built on Western Digital's cutting-edge 11-platter helium-sealed platform. With a spindle speed of 7200 RPM and enhanced by OptiNAND technology, this drive leverages the second generation of energy-assisted perpendicular magnetic recording (ePMR 2) and employs conventional magnetic recording (CMR) for consistent performance across all workloads. The drive delivers an impressive transfer rate of 272 MB/s – which is way faster than many standard drives that are 120 - 160 MB/s. 

Engineered for high-performance and enterprise-grade NAS environments, the WD Red Pro 26TB is designed to handle demanding, multi-user settings with continuous 24/7 operation. It boasts a workload rating of 550TB per year. To ensure stability and reliability, the drive features rotation vibration sensors that predict and counteract turbulence from vibration, along with multi-axis shock sensors that detect and mitigate shock events through fly height technology.

No prices have been revealed for Australian users, but they retail for US $569 which is approximately $900 (+GST). Also, there is no release date, though it has been rumoured to be mid-April.

You can find out more on the Western Digital website.