- Western Digital Unveils 26TB Red Pro NAS Drive, Price for $ 569.99
- Built for Raid-Optimized Systems It promises 6 GB/S and 287 MB/S Transfer Rates
- Supports 550 TB/Year Work Load and has a 5-year warranty
Although some companies believe the ending is close to hard disk drives, manufacturers like Seagate and Western Digital disagree. In February 2025, we reported on WD’s roadmap to the future of HDD technology, which includes targeting over 100 TB of capabilities in the not so distant future.
Western Digital says that by 2026 its HDD capacity will reach 36TB -44TB thanks to Hamr, but before we see these drives arriving, the company has launched a new 26TB model at a surprisingly affordable price.
The 26 TB WD Red Pro HDD is designed to meet the growing storage requirements of NAS environments and promise improved performance, scalability and reliability in multi-bay raid optimized systems. The company is pricing the new NAS drive for $ 569.99 -for context, the same as it charges for the 26TB WD Gold Enterprise Class model.
Capacity and reliability
“At Western Digital, we are constantly redefining what is possible to meet the developing storage requirements of creative and professionals, from 4K and 8K video production to AI analysis and critical storage of workload,” said Nitin Kachhwaha, Director of Product Management at Western Digital.
“With the introduction of our extended 26 TB-based professional lineup and WD Red Pro HDDs, we offer the capacity and reliability that today’s consumers and businesses need to remain in an increasingly data-driven world. These solutions represent our ongoing obligation to provide innovative storage solutions that provide creativity and drive digital transformation. “
The 26TB WD Red Pro HDD (WD260KFGX) Helium-based CMR drive is designed specifically for NAS environments and promises a maximum interface transfer rate of 6 GB/s and an internal transfer rate of 287 MB/s. It has been estimated at up to 550 TB/year workload and boasts 2.5 million hours MTBF.
The drive comes with Optinand technology (which uses integrated inand-covered flash to perform key attitudes) for improved data tracking and efficiency, and WD says the new model is built for 24/7 Multi-Ruser environments that support everything from creative workflows to enterprise level NAS systems.
It comes with a huge five-year warranty, but still no free data recovery, unfortunately.
