Price and Availability
The WD Red Pro 6TB NAS hard drive together with the 5TB variant are now available at selected retailers and resellers and are distributed by Iontech, Inc. and Ubertech Technologies, Inc. The WD Red Pro NAS hard drives are covered by a five-year limited warranty. Manufacturer’s suggested retail price or MSRP for WD Red Pro 5TB (model #: WD5001FFWX) is Php 14,200 and Php 15,800 for 6TB (model #: WD6001FFWX).
In the US, the Red Pro 6TB retails for around $279.99, while in UK it’s around £270. The prices I mentioned are true at the time this review was published.
WD Red Pro 6TB HDD Review: Conclusion
After spending a good amount of time with the WD Red Pro 6TB (WD6001FFWX), the performance closely reminds of the WD Black 6TB WD6001FZWX. Even the physical aspects of the drive itself and the PCB layout of the Red Pro 6TB are very similar to the WD Black 6TB. Compared to the previous generation WD NAS drives, specially the non-Pro like the WD Red 4TB WD40EFRX and WD Red 5TB WD50EFRX, the Red Pro 6TB offers better and faster performance, making data transfer and (re)building RAID arrays faster than ever. This drive is even faster than the WD Velociraptor 1TB capacity despite the Velociraptor having a 10,000 rpm. To be fair with the Velociraptor the WD Red Pro 6TB features newer technology and engineering design. I’m not sure if WD would make the Velociraptor extinct, or they’ll make a new one. But for now, the high performance drive that they can offer is the WD Black 6TB drive.
Comparing it with the HGST Deskstar NAS 6TB drive we recently reviewed, the performance between the two drives are actually very close. The WD Black 6TB and WD Red Pro 6TB are just a tiny bit generally faster than the HGST Deskstar NAS 6TB drive. I can’t even tell any difference between these three drives in real world performance / actual use. However, the WD Red Pro 6TB NAS drive runs cooler and is loaded with more features compared to the Deskstar NAS 6TB, like NASware 3.0 and longer 5 year warranty. The only advantage of the HGST Deskstar NAS 6TB is it is cheaper.
Finally, the WD Red Pro 6TB NAS Drive WD6001FFWX is like the WD Black 6TB with more features like vibration and shock protection (up to 16 bay), improved compatibility and reliability and NASware 3.0. It offers strong performance, like the WD Black 6TB, in a NAS environment. If this is the kind of NAS drive you are looking for with these specific set of features, by all means put the WD Red Pro 6TB on the top of your list.
