Western Digital Launches 22 TB HDD for Consumers in Updated My Book Portfolio
by Ganesh T S on February 15, 2023 8:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Western Digital
- Storage
- HDDs
- DAS
- My Book
- My Book Duo
Western Digital's 22 TB hard disk drives hit retail in July 2022, with a trio of products catering to the prosumer and business / enterprise markets. Today, the company is announcing an update to their portfolio of HDD-using direct-attached storage products - the My Book and My Book Duo. These products now come in new SKUs utilizing 22 TB HDDs tweaked for consumer workloads.
The My Book is an external storage solution that comes with a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A interface and utilizes a single hard disk. It requires an external power adapter. On the other hand, the My Book Duo is a dual-drive solution with hardware RAID. By default, the drives are configured in RAID-0. The product also includes hub functionality. It comes with a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C interface and also has two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A downstream ports. Both products come with 256-bit hardware encryption support (requires WD Security software installation on client system to configure and use passwords). The WD Backup software component is also available for both systems in order to enable easy configuration of backups.
Previous WD My Book Duo releases used WD Red hard drives, but the company has not publicly confirmed the nature of the 22 TB HDD used in the new SKUs. No performance numbers were provided, but it is expected to be in the same ballpark as the previous generation SKUs.
| Western Digital's WD My Book (2023) External Storage Devices | ||||||||
| Capacity | Transfer Rate | Interface | Dimensions | Model Number | Price | |||
| 4 TB | Up to 250 MB/s, depends on model |
USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A | Height: 170.6 mm / 6.7” Length: 139.3 mm / 5.5” Width: 49 mm / 1.9" |
WDBBGB0040HBK | $95 | |||
| 6 TB | WDBBGB0060HBK | $119 | ||||||
| 8 TB | WDBBGB0080HBK | $140 | ||||||
| 12 TB | WDBBGB0120HBK | $237 | ||||||
| 14 TB | WDBBGB0140HBK | $280 | ||||||
| 16 TB | WDBBGB0160HBK | $330 | ||||||
| 18 TB | WDBBGB0180HBK | $300 | ||||||
| 22 TB | WDBBGB0220HBK | $600 | ||||||
| Western Digital's WD My Book Duo (2023) External Storage Devices | ||||||||
| Capacity | Transfer Rate | Interface | Dimensions | Model Number | Price | |||
| 16 TB | Up to 360 MB/s?, depends on model |
USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C | Height: 180 mm / 7.09” Length: 160 mm / 6.3” Width: 100 mm / 3.94" |
WDBFBE0160JBK | $440 | |||
| 20 TB | WDBFBE0200JBK | $668 | ||||||
| 24 TB | WDBFBE0240JBK | $900 | ||||||
| 28 TB | WDBFBE0280JBK | $1200 | ||||||
| 36 TB | WDBFBE0360JBK | $1500 | ||||||
| 44 TB | WDBFBE0440JBK | $1500 | ||||||
The company already has the new SKUs available for purchase in the retail market. The 22 TB My Book is priced at $600 (commensurate with the pricing of the bare 22 TB drives introduced last year), while the 44 TB My Book Duo is priced at $1500. A $300 premium for a RAID-0 / RAID-1 controller and a couple of downstream USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports appears very steep, but that is the premium the company expects early adopters to pay (and is par for the course, based on how the previous My Book Duo SKUs were priced at launch). The single HDD My Book looks to be a cost-effective solution for consumers looking for an off-the-shelf backup solution with high capacity requirements.
Source: Western Digital
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Einy0 - Friday, February 24, 2023 - link
I couldn't agree more and the price premium for a RAID controller in a bigger box is borderline criminal to boot. For $300 I could buy a decent 4 bay USB RAID enclosure.The thing is some people here are saying you just need to be smart but a lot of people are going to go to Best Buy and not know any better. They'll pay $1500 for the pleasure of doubling the risk that they lose their entire digital library. Be it movies, audio, maybe a ton of home video that is not replaceable or even important documents like tax returns. Too many consumers are not aware or just plain don't understand.
PeachNCream - Saturday, February 18, 2023 - link
That's quite an optimistic set of prices for what is essentially one or two hard drives in a plastic box.Squeaky'21 - Saturday, March 4, 2023 - link
This idea of 2x 22TB drive in this case is, to be kind, less than sub-optimal. My experience over decades of these styles of drives is that you have zero control over the type of drive installed in the case. You also have heat issues, which is arguably the biggest downside of these things. There's little space inside and the heat builds quickly. Any fans employed in any of them are too small, too slow and simply not up to the task of keeping it down to 42 degrees max, which is where a HDD should operate. My solution years back, which has worked very well, was to but an ICY BOX IB-3640SU3 4-disk case (USB3.2) and fill it with WD GOLD or UltraStar hard drives - the best money can buy. There's no capacity limit. I have it filled with 2x 14TB UltraStars, 1x 18TB GOLD and 1x 22TB UltraStar. Works like a charm. No issues with overheating as has a great fan design, lots of space inside and a front door that opens if the ambient temps get too toasty for the fan to fix. I can swap the drives out any time I need and even take one or two away with me if I choose as backup drives on holidays in a very well packed/insulated soft case with a hard case exterior.