Western Digital 16TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD161KFGX

This review is for the Western Digital 20TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 512 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD202KFGX. The products arrived on time and in great condition. I bought these to install them into a UGREEN interface. I wanted to use them as RAID drives. The UGREEN device supplied mounting hardware for these drives and everything lined up correctly. I installed the drives and formatted them using the UGREEN interface. Please realize that when you format two 20 TB drives as RAID drives, formatting can take up over a day to complete. So, don't be in a hurry and don't think there is something wrong when it just doesn't happen in a flash. Both drives worked perfectly and I am very pleased with how the UGREEN interface uses them. The reason that I got the interface was because I had recently lost a USB hard drive that was connected to my computer. Not sure what made the drive go bad, but all attempts to recover the data from the drive were futile. I could send the drive off to some places that recover data, but that can cost into the thousands. I was looking for a replacement hard drive like the one I had and then I read a review from someone who lost the information off of his hard drive and he made a great point. The manufacture of the hard drive will stand by their warranty, but you must send your old drive back to them before they will send the new one out. He was not comfortable with letting a hard drive company have his old disk with all of its data. The company could easily fix what was wrong with the drive and possibly collect all of the data that is on it. That might seem paranoid, but I have had too many hackers take over some of my accounts online and I don't want anyone having access to my data. So, instead of just buying a new hard drive that could one day fail again and lose all the data, he suggested buying this UGREEN interface with two to several hard drives set up in a RAID configuration. In this configuration, if only one hard drive fails, you still have all of you data on the other hard drive. This way, if you need to send the hard drive back to take advantage of the warrantee, you might be able to just reformat the old drive if it works at all and then send it back for the replacement. However, if the drive is too far gone to reformat it, you just forget about the warrantee and order a new hard drive. Since you data is safe on the other drive, you don't have to worry about losing it. You get the new drive and put it into the interface and the interface automatically syncs the new drive to all the data. You at least have a chance this way to take advantage of the warrantee and you maintain your data in a safe place. If you can't take advantage of the warrantee on the hard drive, then you can take a sledge hammer to the drive to destroy its ability to impart the data to anyone. This just made more sense to me. And the added benefit of this UGREEN interface is that you don't need to connect it to a computer through the USB. You connect it to your home network using an ethernet cable. Then with the UGREEN app, you can store and retrieve your data from any of your devices on your network. This is like having your own cloud storage, but it is in you house instead of being out there in the ether. And you can reach the drive remotely when you are away from home as long as you have internet access. I have a DROPBOX account, but I am thinking of backing up my DROPBOX data onto this drive. Then, if I am home and there is no internet, but my home network is still working, I can get to all the information that has been stored on DROPBOX because it is also on my home network drive. I have been using the UGREEN interface for several weeks and it and the two hard drives have been functioning great. So, this is something to consider.

So, here it is: the Western Digital 18TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive — aka the “Big Boy” of data storage. What can I say? It’s a hard drive. It’s quite big. Like, “I could bench press this if I really wanted to” big. But please don’t — it’s expensive. 18 terabytes of space means I could theoretically store every embarrassing photo, weird Spotify playlist, and downloaded PDF I’ve ever made. The digital equivalent of a hoarder’s dream garage. Installation was straightforward: slot it in, screw it down, pray to the tech gods it spins up on the first try. Spoiler alert: it did. No strange noises, no smoke, just pure, reliable mechanical magic. Pros: So much space, I could hoard cat videos for decades. Designed for NAS, which means it’s the responsible adult of hard drives — steady, dependable, and ready to work overtime. Quiet enough that I almost forget it’s humming away, plotting how to store my entire digital life. Cons: It’s heavy. Not “drop on your foot” heavy, but “maybe I should use two hands” heavy. No flashy lights or cool holograms, just good old-fashioned spinning platters. Does not come with a personal assistant to organize your files or delete your bad decisions. Final Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – 5 stars. It stores data. It’s big. It doesn’t complain. Honestly, what more do you want from a hard drive?

I bought two of WD Red PRO 18TB in October when they were on sale to replace the current disks in my Home Backup NAS. I bought 2 because I need two identical drives for the NAS. Disk 1 arrived a few days later and disk 2 arrived a few days later. And now the problems begun: Disk 2 which was sent to me wasn't an 18TB drive, it was only 6TB! A harmless mistake? Fraud? Who knows... Very annoying anyways... Now I tried to get disk 2 exchanged, but Amazon could only offer a refund, because the drives were out of stock with unknown restock date. Too bad because I didn't want a refund, since I got the drives for a good price and now they were more than 25% more expensive... So I had to wait about 3 weeks for the disk to be back in stock and be able to have it exchanged instead of just getting a refund. Today the exchanged drive finally arrived. This time it was as ordered 18TB. I installed both drives in my NAS. One drive was GOOD the other was recognized as BAD during the drive self test. The temperature reading was off and caused a S.M.A.R.T error. In fact there was no temperature reading at all for 1 drive. So I let the drive warm up for a few hours and tried it again. Same thing. SMART could no be read and there was no temperature shown for 1 of the 2 drives. I took both drives out of the NAS and tried to see what's going on by installing them in a Windows PC. One drive is fine. SMART is OK. No errors. The other drives just makes a weird repetitive noise and doesn't spin up. It's not recognized by windows. It's DOA (Dead On Arrival)! I checked which drive it was and it was the 2nd drive. The one I received as replacement today! So after the long wait and the whole odyssey of exchanging the drive the drive arrived DOA. Was it bad luck? Maybe. Do I trust these drives? No, not anymore. Never had a drive DOA. This was by far my worst experience buying Western Digital drives on Amazon! And I have quite a lot of them (in total probably about 16 different WD Elements and MyBooks). Since these 2 drives were supposed to be used in a NAS which should hold the backups of my personal and work PCs I thought I'd buy the more expensive "real" WD Red Pro drives, which are designed for 24/7 operation, but what did I get? Just a way too long frustrating experience overall. Maybe I was just unlucky in this case, but I never had a problem with a shucked drive. So back to shucking external drives... I CANNOT recommend the WD Red Pro 18TB drives at this point. PS: the HDD came in the original Western Digital box which then was packed in one of the thin Amazon air bubble envelopes. Maybe it's an issue that the drives aren't shipped better protected? Not sure. The delivery driver dropped it off quite carefully, though. No idea what happened to the drive in between...

I recently added the Western Digital 14TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive to my home NAS system, and it has proven to be a stellar addition to my storage setup. The drive lives up to the "Pro" in its name, providing reliable performance and ample storage capacity for my needs. First and foremost, the drive itself operates quietly, a feature that is appreciated in any home setup. While the housing I chose for the drive could use a bit of improvement, the internal workings of the WD Red Pro drive are where it truly shines. It seamlessly integrates into my NAS system, delivering consistent and efficient performance. Setting up a home NAS system with these drives was a breeze, even for someone with basic knowledge of storage systems. The user-friendly nature of the WD Red Pro series makes it accessible for those looking to establish emergency backups for crucial family information or simply expand their storage capabilities. Having opted for a total of 4 drives for my NAS, the storage capacity has proven more than sufficient for my data needs. The reliability and consistency of WD drives have been a constant in all my systems over the years, and the WD Red Pro series is no exception. It's a trusted brand that excels in the field of storage solutions. In conclusion, the Western Digital 14TB WD Red Pro NAS Internal Hard Drive is an excellent choice for anyone seeking a high-capacity, reliable storage solution. With the ease of setup and the brand's proven track record for quality products, it's a solid investment for both enthusiasts and those looking to secure their family's crucial information. I highly recommend WD Red Pro drives for anyone in need of professional-grade storage performance.

WOW. Great product. I was able to increase my drive size from 4tb (x2) to 16tb (x2) last month. Now I need to order 2 more. Oops-price increase. Should have ordered all 4 at the same time.

Amazing performer, very quiet and easy to set up. I use it for backing up photos and videos and it’s working very well.

I had one of my Seagate Exos X24 go bad on me after just 6 months, the other 3 are still functioning, but I didn't want to invest on another Seagate drive, so I went with Western Digital this time. It took about a week to deliver, packaging had one of the corners indented, the plastic shells don't really do much in terms of dampening vibrations. This drive is pretty hefty, so I'm always afraid it will be the damaged during transit. I went with the largest NAS drive I could find. Kind of sad I missed the 24TB for 440 bucks last week. Went with this 26TB instead for 500 bucks, shipped and sold by Amazon. Storage capacity and dependability is a must considering my NAS only holds up to 4 drives. This was easy to install and took a little over a day to rebuild my RAID 5 up to healthy status. Connectivity / bandwidth / noise levels / speed is very similar to my current Exos drives. I really hope this drive lasts me a good few years, hopefully much longer than the 5 year warranty. So, durability is still uncertain at this point. I can't say these drives offer great value for money simply because currently prices have only risen, which is sad. The main reason why I deducted one star is because I could not find a way to update the firmware on this drive. Unlike my Exos drives, which I successfully (but quite painfully did so on Windows 11, because of horrible command lines and poorly written instructions) updated from version 05 to 06 just a few days ago. I have no idea how to update the firmware on this WD drive. It would be nice if WD would make a tool to detect and flash a new firmware on these drives on Windows 11 automatically. Why is it so difficult for them to do something like that? I would tentatively recommend this drive for anyone looking for a nice and quiet drive for their NAS. Cheers!

I purchased a pair of these on Black Friday 2021 well in advance of when I would actually need to use them. They sat on my shelf unopened in their original boxes for over 3 months. When I went to install and use them, one drive was OK. (I have a pair of media servers with 24 large drives in them) The other drive was riddled with errors, would not format and made any machine it was connected to unstable. This is a BRAND NEW DRIVE WITH ZERO HOURS ON IT!!! Because of my own stupidity I did not test them when I got them. Now for that mistake I can only get my new drive replaced with a used refurbished drive. It gets worse. I have had TREMENDOUS trouble getting into my Western Digital account and receiving information from Western Digital. I guess Western Digital is an Indian or Pakistan company. I cannot understand these people. I have spent days and days and more days on the phone just trying to get an RMA. I sent the drive to California where it was received and has sat for 4 weeks. Western Digital does not even show they received my drive yet and that they are still waiting for it. I called them on the phone and they looked it up and promised to update things. Nothing has happened in a further 2 weeks. It is my conclusion that Western Digital warranties are worthless. I wasted $400 on one of drives and the alternative drive company is even worst than this. Update: Nov 9 2025 I just received 2 more 26TB drives November 9, 2025. They look used!!! They did not even have boxes, just bare drives thrown in a shipping box with ZERO packing materials. NONE!!!! Of course they were D.O.A. 🤬 These were thrown in the box like junk to travel 2500 miles from Washington State to N.C. Just bare drives with a printed white label saying "NEW". Are you kidding me? I don't think I have ever been this angry to get Eleven hundred dollars of used Dead drives. What are you people thinking Amazon/Western Digital. I fault both equally. Update to the UPDATE: Nov 12 2025 I just received 2 replacements to the 2 bare drives above with no packing materials. The second set also from Seatac, WA (also no packing materials) arrived with one drive alive and the other dying. The first is still formatting after 15 hours (long format). The second drive took over a minute to come online, vibrates like crazy and is clicking and internally seeking and calibrating a lot. I am trying to do a format but it won't be done for at least 24 hours. The 2nd drive is going back for sure. All these 26TB drives are OEM bare drives in just a static bag, no box or packing AT ALL!!! I am shocked these work at all banging around for 2500 miles to NC. I ordered 3 more Gold Enterprise drives from somewhere else. I no longer trust Amazon for mechanical hard drives. I am done.

Excelente duración, poco ruido .

Ho voluto provare la versione PRO , che ha una rotazione superiore rispetto al solito . Per quel che riguarda il prodotto in generale non ho nulla da dire .. gli hdd WD Red sono una sicurezza. Devo però esprimere un giudizio negativo sulla rumorosità , dovuta alla rotazione superiore . Ho il Nas sotto il mobile TV chiuso e nonostante tutto si percepisce il ronzio continuo del hdd....è parecchio fastidioso . Penso che in futuro acquisterò un Seagate che gira a 5900 per vedere se risolvo il problema rumorosità.

Excellent NAS drive, and great price! Bought four to upgrade a client's Synology NAS server. After days of drives swapping, storage pool repairing and data scrubbing, all four drives installed without any hiccup. System ran well for over a month now without any issue with many updates and modification. Heat performance is outstanding! No matter the load, drives kept at around 33 degrees Celius, compared to the Seagate 8GB NAS drive routinely ran at over 40 degrees Celius. Even the client mentioned that the Synology NAS enclosure is noticeably cooler to touch, and also quieter. R/W speed is also satisfactory. Highly recommended!

Good

Excellent as described