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22 August 2024  Ashley S. Miller  Specialist of Customer Service Dept.
 

Summary
The article provides a comprehensive guide on selecting the appropriate Western Digital (WD) hard disk for mass storage needs. It emphasizes that choosing a drive based on WD's color-coded product range might not always be the best approach. Key factors to consider include warranty coverage, reliability, and noise levels. The guide also references a previous comparison of Seagate NAS vs. Enterprise drives, noting that Seagate Enterprise drives were found to be a better choice for most use cases. The article aims to help readers make an informed decision by evaluating the pros and cons of various options and comparing their prices.



Table of contents

table iconKey Considerations
table iconWestern Digital (WD) Disk Brands
table iconUpgrade your WD hard drive with Renee Becca
Today, we will dive into a key question that many people ask when buying hard disks for mass storage: Which drive type should I choose? This is especially true for Western Digital (WD), which offers a complex array of products, mostly based on their WD’s color range. Rather than just selecting a drive segmented to your use case (e.g., desktop, surveillance, NAS, or enterprise), let’s explore why this might not always be the best course of action. We will look at all the options, their pros and cons, and compare them for price to determine the best pick.
If you need to upgrade to a new Western Digital(WD) , please refer to How to Use Western Digital Cloning Software For Windows 10/11.

Key Considerations

The main factors to focus on when choosing a WD hard disk are warranty coverage and reliability (which are not the same thing), as well as noise. A previous comparison on Seagate NAS vs. Enterprise disks concluded that Seagate Enterprise drives were a better choice for most use cases, and this remains true six months later. Despite some past issues with WD’s transparency regarding their SMR drives, their reliability is impressive. Having started buying some UltraStars myself, it’s time to give a full comparison of WD’s offerings based on competitive price points.
WD disks AFR
This graph shows the Annualized failure rate (AFR) of different hard disks (Seagate-ST, HGST-HUH, TOSHIBA-MG, Western Digital-WUH).

Western Digital (WD) Disk Brands

WD Blue Range

The WD Blue range comes with a 2-year warranty and lower performance class, meaning lower data throughput. There is a mix of CMR and SMR drives here, with SMR being less ideal for sustained write speeds and RAID setups. WD now discloses which models are SMR. For desktop use, SMR might be okay, but it generally means lower long-term sustained write speeds. Blue disks also have lower spindle speeds (5640 or 5400 RPM) and are not designed for 24×7 operation.
WD Blue disks

WD Black Range

The WD Black range is targeted at gamers and high-performance workstations. However, it is overpriced due to marketing, despite offering similar performance to high-end NAS and enterprise disks. The firmware is optimized for lower noise, making it a quieter option but at a significant price premium.
WD Black range

WD Purple Range

Purple surveillance drives come in either Purple or Purple Pro options. The standard Purple drives are similar to Blue drives but without SMR and come with a 3-year warranty. However, there are concerns about transparency regarding their spindle speeds. Purple Pro drives share specs with Red Pro and enterprise drives, offering a 5-year warranty and similar performance, making price the primary selection criterion.
WD Purple Range

WD Red Range

The WD Red range for NAS is less compelling due to the inclusion of SMR technology. The Red Plus range is essentially the old Red range with CMR drives, offering a mix of spindle speeds and 24×7 operation. They are quieter than higher-grade drives but not necessarily cheaper. Red Pro drives bring enterprise-grade specs, including a 5-year warranty, 7200 RPM, and vibration sensors, making them suitable for large NAS setups.
WD Red Range

WD Enterprise Drives

WD offers two enterprise ranges: UltraStar and Gold. UltraStar drives, from their HGST acquisition, are known for reliability and performance. The Gold range is essentially UltraStar drives with different branding, reinstated due to customer loyalty. Gold drives are available in SATA only, while UltraStars come in various models, including SAS and SATA, and different formats and encryption options.
WD Enterprise Drives

Price Comparisons

To identify the best value options, we compared prices from two big resellers in the US and two in the UK. The UltraStar drives generally offer the best value per terabyte, especially for higher capacities. In the US, Blue drives are cost-effective for smaller capacities, but in the UK, UltraStars are more competitively priced. WD Black drives are consistently the worst value.
WD Black

Upgrade your WD hard drive with Renee Becca

Renee Becca is a tool specifically designed for system and hard disk data backup and restoration. It can back up and restore important data on your computer, including programs, system configuration, emails, photos, videos, documents, and bookmarks. Additionally, it offers disk and system cloning features with three methods: hard disk cloning, partition cloning, and system migration. Choose the most suitable cloning method based on your specific needs.

Clone Function Description

Hard Disk Clone/Clone System Hard Disk: Creates an exact copy of the selected disk, supports adjusting partition size by moving the partition boundary with the mouse, and enables starting the cloned hard disk.
Partition Clone: Creates an exact copy of the selected partition.
System Migration: Support to migrate the Windows system to another hard disk.
Hot Topic - ADsRenee Becca – Safe and Quick System Migration to SSD

Automatic 4K alignment Improves SSD performance during system migration.

Support GPT and MBR Automatically adapt to the suitable partition format.

Support NTFS and FAT32 Redeploy various files in different file systems.

Back up quickly Back up files at up to 3,000MB/min.

Overall backup schedule Support system redeployment/system backup/partition backup/disk backup/disk clone.

Automatic 4K alignment Improve SSD performance

Support GPT and MBR Intelligently adapt to a partition format

Support NTFS and FAT32 Redeploy files in different file systems

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How to Clone a Hard Drive with Renee Becca?

Step 1: Download, install and run Renee Becca, select the option (Hard Disk Clone/Clone System Hard Disk) in the main interface (Clone) column.
use the clone function in renee becca
Step 2: Next, select the original disk to be cloned and the pre-replaced hard disk in the (source) and (target location) pop-up window of “hard disk clone“.
clone the hard disk
Kind Tips: If you just need to clone the system to a new hard drive, you can use the software’s system migration function, the operation is very convenient, and it can save time.
Hot Topic - ADsRenee Becca – Safe and Quick System Migration to SSD

Automatic 4K alignment Improves SSD performance during system migration.

Support GPT and MBR Automatically adapt to the suitable partition format.

Support NTFS and FAT32 Redeploy various files in different file systems.

Back up quickly Back up files at up to 3,000MB/min.

Overall backup schedule Support system redeployment/system backup/partition backup/disk backup/disk clone.

Automatic 4K alignment Improve SSD performance

Support GPT and MBR Intelligently adapt to a partition format

Support NTFS and FAT32 Redeploy files in different file systems

Free TrialFree TrialNow 2000 people have downloaded!