Western Digital colors indicate product range. Each color has its own characteristics, advantages, disadvantages and purpose.
We are all accustomed to choosing such devices based on two criteria - capacity and price. That is, if we have enough money in our pocket for an element with a certain capacity, we buy it.
In fact, everything is much more complicated and the concept under consideration directly relates to the choice of railway.
Contents:
Classification
Everything is much simpler than it might seem at first glance. The fact is that there are quite a few manufacturers of hard drives and Western Digital is one of them.
But the management of this company decided to take a non-standard approach to the naming of its product lines.
There are no words used here, just different colors. So there are such lines as WD Blue (that is, blue), WD Green (green), WD Black (black) and others.
The physical devices themselves have stickers in corresponding colors.
| Name | Purpose | Peculiarities | Price for 1 TB HDD, US dollars | Average operating speed, rpm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | Universal | Balance between speed and reliability | 70$ | 7200 |
| Green | “Ecological” devices for those who value a clean planet and quiet operation | Reduced energy consumption, noise and vibration levels, low operating speed | 80$ | 5400 |
| Black | for increased loads | Typically, Black series hard drives are used to install an operating system, heavy games and programs | 90$ | 7200 |
| Red | for 24/7 operation mainly in network devices | Improved protection against damage and overheating, reduced energy consumption | 85$ | 5400 (manufacturer claims 7200) |
| Purple | Used in video surveillance systems | Many algorithms and programs are used to process video and improve its quality, vibration protection, while operating at low speed and high volume | 80$ | 5400 maximum (usually much less) |
Just based on these characteristics, you can say a lot about these devices, but we will try to consider them in more detail.
Blue
As stated above, this is a universal category that is suitable for all ordinary users. They are relatively inexpensive and fast.
The speed of work is achieved due to. In this case, options with 16 or more MB of memory are possible (there are also less, but today there is simply no point in such a small amount).
As for noise, it uses WhisperDrive technology to reduce it. They are best suited for simple everyday tasks, perhaps light office work.
For games and, as well as all kinds of computing, it is better to choose something more powerful.
The classic example of this line is WD10EZEX. Such a device costs just 72 dollars and cents. His The characteristics are as follows:
- volume – 1 TB;
- interface – SATA;
- rotation – 7200 rpm;
- buffer volume – 64 MB;
- form factor – 3.5 inches.
Green
The main difference from all others is reduced energy consumption (40% lower according to company representatives).
Users also write that such drives are quite reliable to use.
It’s definitely worth saying that IntelliPower technology is used here, which, in fact, reduces power consumption.
Its purpose is to achieve an ideal ratio of rotation speeds and data transfer.
They are one of the coolest of their kind. This means that their operating temperature is relatively low.
They also have very. But the speed of work often suffers greatly because of all this.
As an example of “green” wheels, we can recall the WD20EZRX. The features of this sample are::
- volume – 2 TB;
- interface – SATA;
- buffer volume – 64 MB;
- form factor – 3.5 inches.
The manufacturer does not indicate the rotation speed and simply writes “IntelliPower”. In practice, it is 5400 rpm.
Black
These devices are quite suitable for performing all sorts of heavy tasks, such as mathematical modeling, and so on.
They can be used at home, but they are even too powerful for working on office tasks. on one of the HDDs WD Black will simply fly, like other similar programs.
7200 rpm is the minimum, sometimes more. In addition, such devices have excellent random access times.
They are also distinguished by low operating temperatures and excellent vibration protection.
Thanks to this and other interesting features, maximum operating speed is achieved.
The volume here can reach 64 MB, which, again, increases performance.
It is also worth paying attention to the dual-drive system for determining the location of the drive heads.
Due to this, very high accuracy of head placement is achieved, which is very important when working with data.
An example of this line is the WD10JPLX model, priced at $95. You can buy it in some stores for $50, but usually more (100 bucks or more). Here its features:
- volume – 1 TB;
- interface – SATA;
- rotation – 7200 rpm;
- buffer volume – 32 MB;
- form factor – 2.5 inches.
WD Black WD10JPLX
Red
Designed to work with even greater loads than “black” ones. They are usually used in large offices, servers and similar devices.
They are unlikely to be suitable for home use, unless we are talking about NAS systems. Then WD Red can be used in small offices.
If you don’t know what systems we are talking about, then you don’t need such devices.
Among the advantages: increased reliability, as well as protection against damage, vibration and excessive temperature. Interestingly, the rotation speed is usually lower than what the manufacturer claims.
Let's take the WD60EFRX model as an example. It is specifically intended for servers or network storage.
Price: $250 (may be more or less depending on the store). Her characteristics:
- volume – 6 TB;
- interface – SATA;
- buffer volume – 64 MB;
- form factor – 3.5 inches.
Here, next to the rotation, it also says “IntelliPower”.
Purple
The main and for some the only feature of the devices from this section is the use of special AllFrame technology.
It provides high reliability in systems and security in premises.
Image decay, which usually leads to loss of quality or complete erasure of recordings, is virtually eliminated on these drives.
This became possible thanks to the use of a large number of software solutions from the manufacturer
They can work around the clock without any interruptions. This is eloquently confirmed by the recently released 100PURZ model, which costs about $500. Here it is peculiarities:
- volume – 10 TB;
- interface – SATA;
- rotation – 5400 rpm;
- buffer volume – 256 MB;
- form factor – 3.5 inches.
SE, RE and VelociRaptor
In addition to the “color” lines of hard drives, there are three more categories. Their characteristics can be seen in Table 2.
Table 2. Characteristics of WD SE, RE and VelociRaptor
WD VelociRaptor WD5000HHTZ 500 GB
Below you can see an overview of two models from the categories described above.
WD is one of the pioneers and long-time leaders in the storage market.
The company designs and manufactures reliable, high-speed hard drives and solid-state drives to help users keep their data close at hand and protect it from loss.
The consumer often faces difficulties when choosing and making the right decision; he has to compare up to two dozen significant characteristics of products of the same class.
Western Digital (WD) has decided to change the name of its popular lines of embedded hard drives for desktops, laptops and mobile devices and assign a specific color to each hard drive family.
Simple color differentiation allows you to clearly link a set of product characteristics to a visual image, minimize the time spent searching for the required product and simplify the selection of hard drives.
The drives are now called WD Blue, WD Green, WD Black and WD Red, each family still has unique characteristics and a corresponding color label.
WD currently offers the following color-coded solutions in the PC storage segment:
WD Blue, versatile drives optimized for everyday tasks;
- WD Green, drives characterized by low operating temperature and noiselessness, which makes these drives ideal for storing archives;
- WD Black, high-performance drives recommended for use in powerful gaming systems and other PCs that require performance;
- WD Red, drives specifically designed to work in NAS systems for home and small offices.
- WD Purple, specially designed for round-the-clock operation in high-definition video surveillance systems.
- WD Gold, drives intended for use in servers and data centers.
At the end of 2015, WD officially announced the unification of the WD Green and WD Blue hard drive lines.
Now WD Blue remains the only family of drives for non-specialty PCs.
There has been no announcement of a change in the labeling and it is currently as follows:
Example: WD20EARX
1.
WD - Western Digital.
2.
2 - 2 terabytes.
From one to three digits, used to determine the disk capacity.
The unit of measurement is determined by clause 4.
3.
0 - parallel.
Recording method.
1 - perpendicular.
4.
E - terabyte/form factor - 3.5".
Unit of measurement and form factor.
A - GB/3.5"
B - GB/3.5" or GB/2.5"
C - 3.5"
F - 10 GB/3.5"
G/H - GB/3.5".
5.
A - Desktop/Caviar.
The market segment for which the drive is intended and the family to which it belongs.
B - Enterprise/RE2 (3-plate)/RE2-GP;
D - Enterprise/Raptor;
E, P - Mobile/Scorpio Blue;
G - Enthusiast/Raptor X;
J - Mobile/Scorpio Black;
L - Enterprise/VelociRaptor;
V - Audio-Video (Audio and Video Equipment);
Y - Enterprise/RE2 (4-plate)/RE2-GP/RE3/RE4.
6.
R - from 5400 rpm to 7200 rpm (IntelliPower - depending on the load on the HDD)/64 MB cache.
Spindle speed and cache size.
B - 7200 rpm and 2 MB cache;
C - from 5400 rpm to 7200 rpm (IntelliPower) and 16 MB cache;
D - from 5400 rpm to 7200 rpm (IntelliPower) and 32 MB cache;
F - 10000 rpm and 16 MB cache;
G - 10000 rpm and 8 MB cache;
H - 10000 rpm and 32 MB cache;
J - 7200 rpm and 8 MB cache;
K - 7200 rpm and 16 MB cache;
L - 7200 rpm and 32 MB cache;
P - from 5400 rpm to 7200 rpm (RE2/RE4-GP GreenPower) and 16 MB-64 MB cache;
Y - 7200 rpm and 16 MB-64 MB cache;
S/E - 7200 rpm and 64 MB cache;
V - 5400 rpm and 8 MB cache.
7.
X - SATA 6 Gb/s.
Interface.
B - PATA-100;
G - SAS 6 Gbit/s;
E - PATA-133;
D - SATA 1.5 Gbit/s;
S - SATA 3 Gb/s.
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Western Digital is a company widely known for its high-quality hard drives that have been produced over the years. The manufacturer creates a specific product for different tasks, and an inexperienced user may have problems choosing a drive from this company. This article will help you understand the classification of Western Digital “color” discs.
There are 5 colors in total, each of which represents its own model range. If you decide to purchase an HDD of this brand, then first familiarize yourself with the functional differences in the classes and make your choice based on personal preferences.
WD Blue
A universal form factor disk drive from this company. It has characteristics averaged over all parameters, such as spindle speed (usually 7200 rpm), noise, read and write speed. In fact, the most common among buyers.
It copes well with everyday tasks, but will not be the best choice for increased computing loads such as games and serious graphic editors, not to mention server and corporate solutions.
Areas of application:
- Home use in a budget multimedia PC.
- Simple work in an office or enterprise.
WD Black
A powerful and more expensive representative of the Western Digital line than the previous one. Boasts impressive read and write speeds, improved reliability and a huge cache size (up to 256 MB in volumes of 4 TB and 6 TB). This line has one drawback - the black series drives are somewhat noisy.
Purchasing for a budget PC may not be entirely reasonable, since these drives reveal their best potential when working with heavy applications, 3D objects (design, modeling) and in modern games. These indicators are achieved due to the built-in dual-core processor, which has, accordingly, twice the computing power.
Areas of application:
- Top gaming computers.
- Professional work that requires complex calculations and instant response from the disk.
WD Green
This representative has a reduced noise level and energy consumption. According to the company, resource savings are 40% compared to their other drives. In addition, they practically cannot overheat due to their technical characteristics. For such indicators you will have to pay with low rotation speeds ( 5400 rpm), writing and reading.
As the main storage device for information, this HDD is not suitable for every user, and is mostly aimed at budget and outdated low-performance solutions. It can also be used as a second drive for long-term storage of files in cases where they are not accessed regularly, for example, archives, documents.
In order to make selection easier, Western Digital abandoned the Green line and transferred all its models to the Blue line. In fact, the technical characteristics of existing HDDs remained the same, only the name and names of the models changed: instead of the letter X Now Z(for example, not WD Green WD60EZR X, and WD Blue WD60EZR Z).
Areas of application:
- The quietest personal computers that do not require huge performance.
- As external hard drives, where power from USB may not be enough for older models.
WD Red
A series of disk drives that are less suitable for home use in the traditional sense. Their powerful characteristics (rotation speed - 7200 rpm, capacity - from 2 TB before 10 TB, interface - SATA 6 Gb/s, cache memory - from 128 MB before 256 MB, technology IntelliPower, slowing down the speed to 5400 rpm when idle) imply working with increased loads, which are typical for large network storages, servers, and offices.
WD Red is configured to work 24/7 on systems NAS or RAID arrays, having all the optimization necessary for this: protection from noise, vibration, which is very important when several HDDs are located close together, control over error elimination and maintaining operating temperature without overheating. Thus, they can be used to form NAS systems with up to 24 bays (depending on the selected subtype - Red or Red Pro).
Areas of application:
- Various file storages, servers, small and medium enterprises.
- PC with constant operation mode.
WD Purple
These models are also not suitable for home and personal use - they are designed specifically for video surveillance systems with up to 64 cameras. The discs are equipped with an error correction function and are equipped with a number of optimizations that reduce image distortion from CCTV cameras and speed up the playback of recordings. Technical characteristics are similar to Red, however there are models with reduced rotation speed 5400 rpm, as well as increased capacity up to 12 TB.
WD Purple are designed for heavy 24/7 workloads (up to 180 TB/year), while working without overheating and with protection from adverse external influences. It is worth noting that these HDDs are quite noisy and relatively slow in general, however, these disadvantages are not fundamental and, rather, are costs of the functional purpose.
Areas of application:
- Organization of video surveillance systems of various configurations.
- Network or digital security systems.
WD Gold
The relatively new line of Gold drives, like the previous two, has business class status. Its devices are aimed at data centers, small and medium-sized servers, and storage. This is what the inscription says "Datacenter" on the body. Models have a capacity from 1 TB before 12 TB, otherwise their characteristics are identical to WD Red.
Among the advantages of “golden” hard drives is the TLER technology for solving errors that occur in RAID arrays, excellent energy efficiency (up to) compared to competitors of previous generations, achieved by the technology HelioSeal. There is no helium in the 8 TB model; instead, it uses NAND memory for the cache. In addition, they can withstand round-the-clock loads (up to 550 TB/year) and are protected from vibration, which inevitably appears in RAID.
Areas of application:
- Data centers (DPC).
- Multi-level information storage systems.
As you already understand, the choice should be made depending on the tasks that the future hard drive will have to work with. We have arranged the WD drive lines in ascending order, starting with standard everyday devices aimed at a wide audience of users, and ending with corporate solutions for general and highly targeted tasks.
What are the differences between Western Digital drive colors? In this short article we will tell you about all the product series of WD hard drives.
Quiet operation with low power consumption. The budget series of WD Green drives is designed for desktop computers. The disks have sufficient volumes and an attractive price; their rotation speed is in the range of 5400-5900 RPM. Now Western Digital has decided to rebrand the green series, combining it with the blue series (WD Blue). WD Green is no longer produced.
Stable performance and reliability for everyday PC use. WD Blue hard drives are available in capacities from 250 GB to 6 TB, with a rotation speed range from 5400 to 7200 RPM and a cache of 16, 32 and 64 MB. One of the most important innovations in this series was 1 TB magnetic platters, which increased the speed of the disk due to a higher recording density. Among the WD Blue series drives is the Blue SSHD (Solid State Hybrid Drive), which combines the large capacity of hard drives with the speed of a solid-state NAND flash drive. Blue SSHD comes in 2.5" format for laptops and 3.5" format for desktop computers. The former have a capacity of 1 TB, and the latter – 4 TB. The drives are equipped with 8GB of NAND flash memory and use a self-learning algorithm that stores frequently accessed data on the solid-state portion of the drive. Blue HDD and Blue SSHD are connected via SATA 6 Gb/s interface. WD Blue 5400 rpm hard drives WD Blue 7200 rpm hard drives WD Blue Hard Drive Tests
WD Black
Maximum desktop performance. The Black Series is Western Digital's high-end family of hard drives. These drives offer capacities from 1 TB to 6 TB. The black series of drives is known for its reliability and is suitable for both casual users and gamers or advanced users. The latest version of the drive of this family, WD Black 6 TB with 128 MB cache, shows much better results compared to the previous version, WD Black 4 TB. The rotation speed of all disks in this product line is 7200 RPM.Black series HDDs are some of the most reliable on the desktop computer market. In our tests, the WD Black demonstrated a data transfer speed of 180 Mb/s and an access time of 8.5 ms.
WD Black Hard Drives WD Black hard drive tests
WD Purple
The purple series is intended for video surveillance systems. IntelliPower RPM technology allows Purple series drives to vary their rotation speed from 5400 to 7200 RPM, thereby reducing power consumption and increasing hard drive life. WD Purple Hard Drives WD Purple hard drive tests
WD Red Pro
Productivity and increased reliability. The WD Red Pro series is designed for network attached storage (NAS) but also works great for your desktop computer. Compared to WD Black, these drives are quieter and more reliable, but also significantly more expensive.According to test results, the WD Red Pro transfers data at a speed of 180 MB/s, and the access time is 8.5 ms - the same results as the Black series, but the Red Pro are much quieter thanks to the built-in vibration damping system.
The highlight of all Western Digital (WD) drives is the free “Acronis True Image WD Edition” program, which allows you to backup your operating system and data. All WD hard drives are divided into series depending on their purpose.
Different series of WD disks have their own characteristics and are designed for different ways of using them, and to distinguish them they came up with color coding, which is quite convenient. The user can only determine the range of tasks for which the disk will be used.
WD Blue
If you use your hard drive to store travel photos, a wedding album, or a collection of your favorite TV series, then WD Blue is exactly what you need. WD Blue drives are designed and tested to suit your needs and come with a 2-year warranty. Enhanced data protection is based on contactless read technology, which ensures the recording head is securely positioned above the drive surface. This is the most popular low-cost series of WD hard drives with a standard spindle speed of 7200 rpm.
W.D. Green
A series of quiet and economical hard drives. They are also low-cost solutions like WD Blue, but have a reduced spindle speed of up to 5400 rpm. This ensures reduced noise and heating levels. Also, hard drives from the green series periodically turn off themselves to reduce power consumption. In general, they are more suitable for file storage that is accessed infrequently. They are not suitable as the main disk for the system or as a second disk for constant work throughout the day, since frequent starts and stops of the disk lead to increased wear.
WD Black
The WD Black line is designed for advanced users and is perfect for photographers, designers and, of course, gamers. Dynamic caching optimally distributes cache memory to achieve maximum performance regardless of disk usage scenario, even in such heavy tasks as video editing and modern cinematic games. High operating speed is also achieved due to the 2-core processor. The WD Black drive keeps your data safe and comes with a 5-year warranty. These drives are fast, reliable and perfect for use as the main or second drive for gaming and professional PCs.
WD Red
For stable operation of a NAS network drive, it is best to use the WD Red line. The scope of their application is very wide - from home storage or small offices to corporate sites. NAS Hard technology reduces power consumption, increases hard drive performance, and is optimized for NAS storage systems. Media in the Red line are designed for 24/7 load and have a 3-year warranty. They also use power-off technology when there is no activity, which is good for file archives in periodically used NAS, but bad for use as part of a PC.
WD Purple
WD Purple is perfect for working with video surveillance systems, with the ability to connect up to 64 HD cameras in some drive models. This type of drive is considered the best in solving problems with video surveillance, since it is designed on the basis of a network video recorder and allows you to simultaneously record a large number of data streams. Reduced power consumption is a huge plus for systems operating 365 days a year, and silence and minimal vibration are ensured thanks to the Intel SIK system. The manufacturer guarantees 3 years of continuous operation of the drive. The high reliability of WD Purple is ensured by its resistance to external factors and the ability to operate at high temperatures.
WD Gold
It is best to build a data center or server on a model from the WD Gold line. They are thoroughly tested for compatibility with all popular server storage systems and are perfect for both small companies and corporate giants. The dual-drive head positioning system provides faster and more accurate data search on the disk. These disks are designed for a huge number of simultaneous requests from the network.
WD Re
WD Re (RAID edition) drives are specially optimized for operation in large RAID arrays with hot-swappable and expandable capabilities. With this in mind, they are equipped with special RAFF vibration prevention technology and STABLETRAC vibration protection technology. They are not designed for use as the main server drive and many simultaneous accesses like drives from the Gold series, but are more suitable for backup data storage. They have an increased rewriting resource and MTBF, which is important for large data centers. They can also operate at high temperatures and do not cut off power.
W.D. Se
WD Se drives are also designed to work together, but in a small array of 6 to 12 drives. They are more focused on small corporate customers and work in the SMB (file access protocol) segment. These disks are not designed for such volumes of rewriting and time resource as disks from the Re series, i.e. are their simplified and cheaper version. However, they are equipped with TLER array error correction technology and come with a 5-year warranty. They have a lower operating temperature threshold, but they also do not use a power cut.
Hard drive WD WD4002FYYZ
WD WD20PURX Hard Drive
HDD WD WD10EZEX