Western Digital 20TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD201KFGX

I bought two units of the 20TB version of this WD Red Pro drive for my new storage system. I particularly went with the 20TB version, because - according to the datasheet on Western Digital's website - it is less noisy than some of the lower capacity models. I tested one of the units, not in my storage system, but in my open bench USB 3.0 to SATA Adapter (with a max transfer rate of over 500MBps). It performed well, the sequential read and write speeds as high as ca. 270 MBps and ca. 130 MBps on the low-side. This is typical of all HDDs: on the outside of the drive they can pack more data on one track than on the inside, so on each rotation they can write and read more data on the outside area of each disk platter. The write and read tests were also successful, no bad blocks were reported. For some performance figures, please see the attached screenshots (which have the serial number removed/redacted). Please note that the CrystalDiskMark results are performed on an empty HDD, so they seem to be executed in the "fast" section of the drive. The other graphs were taken from HDSentinel, relevant there are the bottom graphs, which show transfer rates across the surface of the drive. The sound of my test unit was also pleasant enough, the clicking wasn't too bothersome. But since I will move this drive into the case of my storage system very soon, the clicking will be a lot less noticeable than it is already. One action I always perform, BEFORE opening the product box of an HDD or SDD is to check the serial number on the box against the manufacturer's warranty website to ensure that the item is covered by the manufacturer's warranty. I do this both when amazon is the seller and when a 3rd party is the seller and amazon is just the fulfillment party. (I do not buy HDDs from a 3rd party seller that does not have fulfillment with amazon.) This is to avoid OEM/gray-market units that aren't covered by the manufacturer's warranty. A store warranty by a 3rd party seller is of no use to me, since these sellers come and go and I also don't want the hassle of dealing with them. Since the Red Pro series offers a manufacturer's warranty of 5 years, and HDDs fail frequently enough to make such a warranty very valuable, I always insist getting the manufacturer's warranty and even will query 3rd party sellers, if their stock with amazon is covered by such a warranty. As it turned out, the serial number of second 20TB HDD that I ordered (from a 3rd party seller, since amazon themselves were out of stock) did not show up in the manufacturer's database for U.S. warranty, so I can only assume that it is a gray-market unit and I immediately returned it. (I can only hope that the 3rd party seller will have to bear the full cost of this return, since I emailed them and asked about the manufacturer's warranty, before the item ever shipped, but they didn't answer my question.) One more tip: There has been some research that failure rates of HDDs from the same batch are somewhat correlated, so I always try to space out my purchases (either in time or by using different vendors) to increase the chance that I will be getting units from different batches. That's why I bought from two different 3rd party sellers on amazon (one of which apparently sold a grey-market unit), without disclosing that fact ahead of time.

TL;DR: Western Digital 20TB WD Red Pro: A whisper-quiet, storage powerhouse for home NAS systems, effortlessly reliable. Imagine finding the holy grail of storage solutions for your home NAS setup. Enter the Western Digital 20TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive. This behemoth of a drive isn't just about its massive 20TB capacity; it's a symphony of quiet efficiency and steadfast performance. The drive hums along like a silent ninja, a much-appreciated trait for any home system. Its insides are where the magic happens, integrating into my NAS setup like a dream, showcasing its prowess with every task thrown at it. Setting this up was a walk in the park, user-friendly enough for even the most tech-averse. It's like having a friendly storage wizard guiding you through the process, whether you're aiming to safeguard precious family data or just giving your digital library room to grow. With five of these titans in my NAS, I'm swimming in a sea of storage space. It's like having your own digital Fort Knox, reliable and unflinching. WD has been a constant companion in my tech journey, and the Red Pro series upholds that legacy with aplomb. In short, the Western Digital 20TB WD Red Pro is like the Rolls Royce of NAS hard drives – luxurious in capacity, whisper-quiet in operation, and reliable to its core. For anyone seeking the pinnacle of storage solutions, this is it. WD Red Pro doesn't just meet expectations; it sails right past them into the stratosphere.

Waiting to see if Western Digital tries to pull another fast one. WD knows what I'm talking about. This review could very well change. Update: Purchased 2 of these in late 2024. So far one has failed. WD says they will cover it under the warranty. If they honor that warranty the 5 stars will remain. If they don't there may be a revision to the review. We'll see what happens.

Quiet operation and rock solid reliability so far.

My entire A/V collection fits on this drive alone leaving plenty of space for database backups, source code and documents

I kind of hate this. Apparently these drives all make a clicking noise every 5 seconds. It's a feature, not a bug: "PWL" Preventive Wear Leveling. It's done to increase the lifetime of the hard drive. This really is unsatisfactory, which is why I'm rating it a 1 star. There's no way to turn it off in any settings. You can't upgrade the firmware to fix it. Even when the drive is idle, it will make a clicking noise every 5 seconds. This was part of a multi-disk NAS, so they all make that clicking noise at the same time. As a result, I can't keep that box anywhere where there are people. So it has to go in a closet, but closets are not ventilated and require routing an ethernet cable into. So that's a real burdensome issue that just got dropped on me out of the blue. I'm going to have to waste so much time to deal with it. I really wish I had a warning on it before I bought it. I heard Seagate drives also have this issue, but check the reviews to find out.

Great drive once I received one that worked. Origninal drive shipped in packaging meant for 2.5" SAS type drives so the the HDD was basically banging around for 5 days during shipping and arrived dead on arrival. Took almost a month to go through the entire process of returning the drive and receiving a working drive. Orignal drive shipped from WD in CA, was basically shipped loose in a small cardboard box, the plastic insulators were for the smaller 2.5" drive sizes and were essentially useless in protecting the drive during shipping. Be carefull when ordering. If at all possible ensure the drive is packed with the proper 3.5" drive plastic spacers.

Data transfer is fast and the drives give all indications that they will be as reliable as can be expected from Western Digital.

Keeps making scrubbing sounds at all time. Won't be suitable for use in a home NAS device, if noise is a concern.

Great Product and really fast. 512 MB cache its a plus. I can recommend. Best for large NAS projects

Perfect, product was as described and delivered on time.

I’ve purchased this item 6 times, unfortunately three of them get failed without any warning signs. I’ve lost bulk of my important data. Reaching to WD support, simply replied they can’t support for replacement or provide any support to retrieve my lost Data even my HD’s warranty still valid. I’m totally disappointed and didn’t expect such kind of response. I don’t recommend to purchase as there is high risk of losing your data.

I installed this drive in a 4-bay QNAP NAS 4 months ago. I have over a half dozen of these WD Red Pro drives installed, and the previous (smaller capacity) versions of these drives have been in operation - and continue to run - reliably 24/7/365 for over 5 years.