14 DAY TRIAL // Western Digital has several series of HDDs, called Black, Blue and Green. Red is a bit younger, and it's intended mostly for network-attached storage devices. The latest addition to this collection has now debuted.
Said addition is called WD Red 6 TB because, obviously, it has a capacity of 6 TB. Technically, Western Digital has released both 5 TB and 6 TB HDDs, but the latter is the most remarkable, because unless something is missing from the press release, the newcomer reaches that capacity despite not being a helium-filled unit.
It was previously established that, to add an extra platter and enable capacities of 5-6TB on an HDD, the insides had to be sealed and filled with helium, a gas of far lower density than air. It prevented warping of the disks.
The WD Red does not seem to use helium, which suggests that the capacity was attained just by boosting the per-disk density instead.
At any rate, the new WD Red, like the WD Red Pro, boasts 3D Active Balance Plus technology, for better overall drive performance and reliability. The two series can be used in NAS devices with up to 8 and 16 bays, respectively, making for some truly massive storage capacities.
The WD Red and WD Red Pro have prices of $249 / €249 (WD Red 5 TB), $299 / €299 (WD Red 6 TB), and $159 - $259 / €159 – 259 (WD Red Pro 2 TB – 4 TB).