WD® DESIGNS FIRST HARD DRIVES FOR SOHO NAS SYSTEMS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

WD^® DESIGNS FIRST HARD DRIVES FOR SOHO NAS SYSTEMS

New WD Red™ Drives Optimized for Compatibility in Always-on 1- to 5-Bay NAS Systems; Provide Buyers More Choices Tailored to Their Needs

IRVINE, Calif. – July 10, 2012 – WD^® (NASDAQ: WDC), a storage industry leader, today announced the debut of WD Red^™ NAS hard drives, an innovative line of SATA hard drives specifically designed for home and small office NAS (network attached storage) systems with one to five drive bays. Compatibility-tested with top NAS box manufacturers and optimized for power and performance, WD Red hard drives are now shipping in 3.5-inch 1 TB, 2 TB and 3 TB capacities.

     The WD Red line features NASware™ technology, designed to improve reliability and system performance, reduce customer downtime and to simplify the integration process. This new product line addresses the unique environment of NAS and the growing demand for affordable, reliable and compatible storage that reduces customer total cost of ownership. WD Red hard drives also feature 3D Active Balance Plus, an enhanced balance control technology, which significantly improves the overall drive performance and reliability. In an exclusive for WD Red customers, WD is offering free premium 24x7 dedicated support and a three-year limited warranty.

     The addition of WD Red expands WD’s “Power of Choice” client hard drive solutions. WD recognizes that customers and their applications are diverse and they should be empowered to choose the drives that best suit their specific storage needs. With distinguishable colors, the “Power of Choice” storage solutions are clear and easy to identify: WD Blue™ (solid performance and reliability for everyday computing), WD Green™ (cool, quiet, eco-friendly), WD Black™ (maximum performance for power computing) and WD Red (home and small office NAS). The four colors enable quick selection of the best WD drive for customers’ application or usage requirements.

     “The network attached entry level storage market is poised to grow at an 86.2 percent 2011-2016 CAGR[1],” according to John Rydning, IDC's research vice president for hard disk drives. “WD's new WD Red hard disk drives offer a unique combination of product features and customer support for users seeking to expand the capacity of their entry-level network attached storage solutions.”

     “Until now, customers had to choose between using desktop or high-end server drives for their home or small office NAS systems – neither of which were both cost effective for consumer solutions and fully NAS compatible,” said Melyssa Banda, senior director of product marketing for WD. “WD saw this challenge as a perfect opportunity to design a better solution so we developed WD Red drives, an optimized product for this rapidly growing segment.”    

     WD Red hard drives integrate seamlessly with WD NAS solutions and are qualified to work with a wide array of WD OEM partners. An updated list of WD Red-qualified products and manufacturers is available on the WD website at http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=810.

Availability and Pricing

     WD Red hard drives are available now at select resellers and distributors. Manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) for the WD Red 1 TB drive (model #: WD10EFRX) is $109.00 USD, the 2 TB drive (model #: WD20EFRX) is $139.00 USD and the 3 TB drive (model #: WD30EFRX) is $189.00 USD. More information about WD Red hard drives including terms of the limited warranty may be found on the company website at http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=810.

WD Red NAS Hard Drive Launch Partners

WD Branded Products

     “The My Book Live family has received strong reception from consumers and the WD Red drive offers attributes ideal for small NAS systems,” said Scott Vouri, vice president and general manager of WD’s connected home solutions group. “My Book Live customers will benefit from WD Red's NASware features in the future.”

QNAP Systems, Inc.

    “The rapid growth of the global NAS market has led to hard drives optimized specifically for entry-level NAS use,” said Richard Lee, CEO of QNAP Systems, Inc. “The launch of WD Red NAS hard drives offer QNAP^® four-bay NAS products a reliable solution for 24x7 operations. QNAP also provides a broad range of high-end business level NAS solutions well matched with WD RAID level hard drives.”

Synology Inc.

   “Synology^® is thrilled to be teaming up with WD to offer customers a reliable storage solution featuring WD Red NAS hard drives, which are optimized for consumer NAS systems,” said Vic Hsu, CEO of Synology Inc. “The award-winning Synology DiskStation makes it easy for users to build secure private clouds that operate at maximum uptime. By delivering our unique technologies together, Synology and WD will provide users with greater reliability, cooler operation and a higher quality of user experience.”

Thecus Tech., Corp.

   “The compatibility of Thecus^® NAS with the new and dynamic WD Red HDDs is excellent news for all,” said Florence Shih, general manager of Thecus. “To realize this vision, users can experience firsthand true power and performance. Ultimately, the congruency among WD Red hard drives with Thecus NAS brings great opportunities to the storage industry.” 

About WD
     WD, a storage industry pioneer and long-time leader, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company designs and produces reliable, high-performance hard drives and solid state drives that keep users' data accessible and secure from loss. Its storage technologies serve a wide range of host applications including client and enterprise computing, embedded systems and consumer electronics, as well as its own storage systems. Its home entertainment products enable rich engagement with stored digital content.

     Western Digital was founded in 1970. The company's products are marketed to leading OEMs, systems manufacturers, selected resellers and retailers under the Western Digital®, WD® and HGST™ brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company's website (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.