Specifications and Feature Set Comparison

Prior to getting into the performance evaluation, we will take a look at the specifications of the WD Red Pro 6 TB and see how it compares against the other NAS-specific hard drives that we have looked at before.

The WD Red Pro 6 TB sports a SATA III (6 Gbps) interface. As is customary for the high capacity drives in this market segment, it can only emulate 512-byte sectors (natively 4K). The interesting aspect is the presence of a 128 MB cache similar to the Seagate and HGST drives, and unlike the WD Red. The obvious selling point for its price target is the 7200 RPM speed, which should easily give it the lead in most benchmarks over the WD Red. The other aspects (such as the URE ratings, MTBF, warranty etc.) are as expected for a drive targeting SMBs and SMEs. The table below presents the data for the drive against the others in our evaluation database.

Comparative HDD Specifications
Aspect
Model NumberWD6001FFWXWD6001FFWX
InterfaceSATA 6 GbpsSATA 6 Gbps
Sector Size / AF512E512E
Rotational Speed7200 RPM7200 RPM
Cache128 MB128 MB
Rated Load / Unload Cycles600 K600 K
Non-Recoverable Read Errors / Bits Read< 1 in 1014< 1 in 1014
MTBF1 M1 M
Rated Workload~ 180 TB/yr~ 180 TB/yr
Operating Temperature Range5 to 60 C5 to 60 C
Acoustics (Seek Average - dBA)34 dBA34 dBA
Physical Parameters14.7 x 10.16 x 2.61 cm; 750 g14.7 x 10.16 x 2.61 cm; 750 g
Warranty5 years5 years
Price (in USD, as-on-date)$299$299

A high level overview of the various supported SATA features is provided by HD Tune Pro.

We get a better idea of the supported features using FinalWire's AIDA64 system report. The table below summarizes the extra information generated by AIDA64 (that is not already provided by HD Tune Pro).

Comparative HDD Features
Aspect
DMA Setup Auto-ActivateSupported; DisabledSupported; Disabled
Extended Power ConditionsSupported; DisabledSupported; Disabled
Free-Fall ControlNot SupportedNot Supported
General Purpose LoggingSupported; EnabledSupported; Enabled
In-Order Data DeliveryNot SupportedNot Supported
NCQ Priority InformationSupportedSupported
Phy Event CountersSupportedSupported
Release InterruptNot SupportedNot Supported
Sense Data ReportingNot SupportedNot Supported
Software Settings PreservationSupported; EnabledSupported; Enabled
StreamingNot SupportedNot Supported
Tagged Command QueuingNot SupportedNot Supported

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7orrAp5utnZOde6S7zGiqoaenZIZ3fJVorp1lopqxbrzRqGRvZaSXerOx1aKcsGWRYruiv4yhm51llqS%2FbsDHnmSpnaKbvLO5wKeanmWTpLu0r8iorKxnYg%3D%3D