Western Digital 2TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" -WD20EFPX

This is an excellent NAS hard drive with 8 TB of storage, specifically designed for home or small business NAS systems. Its stable performance, low noise level, and good energy efficiency make it ideal for backups, multimedia storage, or RAID configurations. Many users highlight its reliability and ample capacity for large amounts of data. Some mention that it can be a bit noisy during intense data transfers, but overall, it offers great value for money and reliable 24/7 operation.

I ordered the 26TB Western Digital Red Pro NAS internal hard drive, and it exceeded expectations right from the start. It arrived fast, was packaged securely, and installed without any issues. Once up and running, the drive performed exactly as expected—quiet, cool, and incredibly reliable. Transfer speeds are smooth, and it integrated seamlessly into my NAS setup. For large storage needs, backups, or expanding a home server, this drive is a powerhouse. If you’re looking for top-tier performance, huge capacity, and dependable WD Red Pro quality, this 26TB model is a fantastic choice. Would absolutely purchase again.

I replaced 8 six year old 4T drives with 4 of these 16T drives in my NAS. The drives went right in and worked like a charm. I noticed no notable sound increase and the speed was no different than my last ZFS array. I’ve always had good luck with these drives from a durability and mass storage perspective. Their reliability is generally solid and they do what I need. They easily integrated. They are slightly heavier than my 4T drives.

I built a small TrueNAS box with four WD Red Plus 4TB drives. Within the first year, one drive began throwing SMART errors. Because past RMAs with WD had taken a month or more, I bought a fifth drive out-of-pocket to keep the NAS healthy while I waited on support. Things went downhill from there. Eventually two drives started failing around the same time—the point where this whole troubleshooting saga began. I tried to use a “white-label” WD replacement they’d sent me the year before (kept sealed as a cold spare), but it was dead on arrival. That pushed me to buy a sixth drive to stay afloat and RMA the DOA unit. When the RMA replacement finally arrived, it lasted about two weeks before it started logging read errors and then disappeared entirely from the system. I opened another RMA. As of now, I’ve purchased or received a total of 8 WD Red Plus drives and 5 of them have failed in some way (including the DOA spare and the two-week wonder). I’m still waiting on two outstanding RMA replacements, and I’ve just added another drive to the RMA queue. This round, I cut my losses and bought a Seagate IronWolf Pro 4TB to replace the latest failure. What went well When they work, performance and acoustics are fine for a home NAS. WD does honor RMAs. What didn’t Reliability (for me) was poor: 5/8 drives failed within ~2 years. RMA speed: turnarounds often stretched to a month or more. Confidence hit: receiving a DOA replacement and a replacement that died in ~2 weeks eroded trust. Verdict Based on my experience, I can’t recommend WD Red Plus 4TB drives. The failure rate, DOA spare, and slow RMA cycle created too much risk for my data and too much hassle for me. I’ve moved to Seagate IronWolf Pro to restore some confidence in the array. Tips I learned the hard way Test every spare immediately (SMART short + long) so you can RMA within the seller’s return window. Monitor SMART weekly and schedule ZFS scrubs; act on “pending sector” or read-failure alerts right away. Keep a known-good spare on hand to minimize downtime while RMAs drag on. Your mileage may vary, but this was my honest, first-hand experience with WD Red Plus 4TBs.

Upon opening the box, I ran SMART extended drive test using Linux GParted. SMART reported no errors. I then formatted with NTFS 64kB with whole-drive Bitlocker. Then I ran another extended drive test. Then 6TB of backup data was transferred to the drive and a hash manifest was generated for each directory. At this point, the drive had been operating continuously for days, sweeping the entire surface multiple times with tests, reads, and writes. No errors (yet). This will be a cold storage drive in a ruggedized USB-C enclosure, accessed only a few times per year.

Works well, just very noisey on boot, coming out of sleep and when reading. Didn't notice my 8TB, but this one I definitely notice every time it's in use.

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?

A nice addition to my NAS. Have a set that has been running continuously for over a year and a second set for several months now. If I had to complain about something, it would be that they seem a little on the loud side. The NAS is in the back room, so it is no bother. These WD Red drives are good for the price. The speed is good, storage capacity is ample. I expect many years of performance out of these drives.