Question 1

Does it connect directly to router via cat5?

Accepted Answer

This is an internal hard drive that connects via sata cable to the controller (usually embedded on the system board.  However, if you add an external drive case, (USB 3.0 recommended) this would make a good external storage device.  Western Digital has four primary types of drives with red being targeted for Network Attached Storage ), NAS devices, Blue designed fro desktop computers, Black designed for high performance, and Green designed for lower cost high capacity storage.

Question 2

Are these "NAS" drives because of reliability? Is there any reason they cannot or should not be used in a standard desktop computer?

Accepted Answer

NAS stands for Network Attached Storage. These systems are typically run on servers that operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in data centers (the cloud). The NAS drives are built to tighter specifications so as to run under these conditions. Because of this, they typically cost a little more than the usual desktop variety but there is no reason that they cannot be used in a standard desktop.

Question 3

Why do the specs not show rpm?

Accepted Answer

Ask Newegg or WD. I think red drives are 5400 rpm.

Question 4

I am looking for a new desktop drive where there will be one drive in the box.  The drive says it is for a NAS setup.  Can I still use it in a non NAS setup?  I.E. stick it into my desktop as a single drive.  I think I can but the movies only talk about using it a NAS setup.

Accepted Answer

CPA here --- have used this drive in a stand-alone Dell 980 with no problems for the past couple of years in my office.   Pulled it about a month ago and took it home --- using it now in USB docking station as a redundancy backup drive for my home computer where all my home pictures/slides/video's are --- have had zero problems with this drive and it's fast.....

Question 5

Is there any reason not to just connect this as a data storage drive via SATA cable, and use just like I would a Black or Green drive?

Accepted Answer

No reason.  NAS drives are designed to operate in high density enclosures and be subjected to harmonic vibration from neighboring drives.

Absent the design characteristics like how fast seek operations are done, vibrations from neighboring drives doing the exact same activities can cause increases in the time a head takes to settle down into position on a given cylinder.  There may also be different cache algorithms.

Apples to apples though you might be sacrificing performance to save money.  WD Black have higher spindle speed so sector latency will be lower, but they consume more power and may produce more noise in relation to the slower rotation Red and lower power consumption Green models.

Question 6

I have a home server and belong to a news group and I have any program one can imagine and the server holds 9 SATA drives and people can download from my server whenever they want to. I was looking to upgrade from 7001.5 TB to possibly 18 or 32 TB, would WD Red be the drive for me?

Accepted Answer

In my experience any of the IntelliPower drives are very robust and ideal for a RAID array.  These drives are especially nice if your needs require high availability but not continuously accessed (to take full advantage of the power saving features); you should analyze your usage statistics to determine this.   You should check to see if your RAID controller supports 6.0 Gbps SATA and supports at least RAID level 5.  Other than that, these drives are just plug and play.

Question 7

Im a gamer is it better to get the WD red drive or a WD black drive?

Accepted Answer

If this is where your program is located or where data is read/written frequently (random access speed needed), then get the black for superior performance.  It gets warmer and uses more power, but will be faster on quick R/W and seeks.  The Red is best for NAS, as is described.  For streaming, and storage of videos, Red is the best.

Question 8

how many rpms?

Accepted Answer

It is variable between 5400 and 7200 RPMs, depending on the need.  That is what Intellipower means (intelligently manipulates the speed and power draw of the drive).

Question 9

can this be used as a regular hard drive that's not part of a NAS system?

Accepted Answer

Yes this drive can be used as a desktop hard drive. The Red is a more robust version of the desktop versions to withstand the constant access that a NAS system would put on it, but physical hookup are the same.

Question 10

Hi,

If I buy 3 of this hard drive, my plan is to use 
1st HD to partition two files, 
2nd HD to mirror the first 1st HD,
3rd HD to be backup.

do you guys think this can be achieved with these 3 HD? 
I am newbie to this. thanks

Accepted Answer

if you are looking for data retention, this is not very efficient. I would recommend a raid 5 with 3 drives (you can lose 1 drive) and backup to an external USB drive.

Brand	WD
Series	Red Plus
Model	WD20EFRX
Packaging	Bare Drive

Interface	SATA 6.0Gb/s
Capacity	2TB
NAND Flash Memory Type	Hard Drive
RPM	5400 RPM
Cache	64MB

Features	Available in capacities ranging from 1-14TB with support for up to 8 bays 5400 RPM performance class Supports up to 180 TB/yr workload rate NASware firmware for compatibility Small or medium business NAS systems in a 24x7 environment
Usage	For NAS systems

Form Factor	3.5"
Height (maximum)	26.10mm
Width (maximum)	101.60mm
Length (maximum)	147.00mm

WD Red Plus 2TB NAS Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6Gb/s, CMR, 64MB Cache, 3.5 Inch - WD20EFRX

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Item#: N82E16822236343