WD Red for secondary desktop storage?

Hello all.

Can WD Red 2TB be used for desktop storage and is it a good idea?

I need a secondary storage drive for photos and work files - Photoshop, Indesign etc., while my OS is on SSD. I really want to avoid having a noisy HDD, therefore I was concidering getting a WD Red.

I have read very mixed opinions online about WD Red for desktop storage. Some say that it works fine, while others say that Reds should only be used for NAS. From what I read one of the downsides on Reds don’t have TLER enabled - is it something that will be a big issue in normal daily use?

Hope you guys can help. :slight_smile:

Hi maxlaks,

Yes, you can use the WD Red drive for desktop storage but we recommend to use the WD Red drive in NAS enclosure. If you are looking for a drive to store your photos and work files then WD Blue is the best recommended drive for you.

Hi. Sorry for reviving an old thread, but I was searching for answers to a similar question and this was among the results I got.

My question is slightly different in that, I’m going to be using the drive as not just a storage drive but also a system drive and everything else a home user uses his PC for. So Windows will reside in it, PC will boot from it, I’ll play games with it, keep my movies, music, Word, Excel etc files on it, surf the internet, basically do everything on it. Can I still use a WD Red drive in this instance?

And if in the future I decide to add a 2nd drive as a backup to the WD Red, can the 2nd drive be a “normal” drive, for eg. WD Blue, and not another NAS drive?

Another question I have is, is there a way to do a real-time auto cloning of my PC as I use it? So that in case my HDD fails suddenly and immediately, I don’t lose anything at all? Right now, I have a warning telling me to replace my HDD so I have the chance to do so. My last HDD fail experience was with another brand’s HDD and that one failed without a warning so I lost everything. I don’t want to be caught out like that again.

Edit: Sorry, forgot to add. My PC will be turned on and off like a typical home PC though sometimes, I do leave it on 24/7 for maybe 3-5 days at a stretch.

Thanks.

Bump.