Most external hard drives we've seen so far respond to specific situations. For example, the WD My Passport Wireless Pro is designed for travel, while the Silicon Power Armor A80 is an all-terrain drive that withstands rough treatment quite well. But what alternatives are there when all we want is pure and simple space? One of the most recommended is the WD My Book Pro, with three available configuration modes and a dual Thunderbolt 2 and USB 3.0 interface that guarantees maximum transfer speeds in all cases.
The latest SSD news tells us that Samsung will launch a unit with four terabytes of capacity. Although everything will depend on the official price and general availability, there's no doubt that SSDs are about to invade a privileged territory belonging to hard drives: density. But until that happens, if we need a lot of space at the best price, the solution is to follow a more traditional path. Now, while nothing stops you from paying around 200 euros on average and installing a 6 TB internal hard drive in your computer, there are occasions when the user requires a broader storage strategy that combines Mac and PC support without sacrificing performance. That's when the WD My Book Pro steps in.
WD My Book Pro: Speed or redundancy, as you prefer
The WD My Book Pro uses two of the popular WD Black hard drives with 7,200 rpm, both protected by a tool-free quick extraction system. The company presents this product as a "professional RAID unit", and that is one of the first things users need to configure. The WD My Book Pro comes from the factory in RAID 0 mode for maximum capacity and performance, but it is also possible to activate a redundant RAID 1 mode (if one drive fails, the other comes to the rescue), or JBOD mode which activates the hard drives as independent units. The WD My Book Pro's enclosure is equipped with two front USB 3.0 ports (that function as a hub for other devices), one rear USB 3.0 port, two Thunderbolt 2 ports, a reset button, and a Kensington lock.
It's worth remembering that with the presence of two Thunderbolt 2 ports, the WD My Book Pro supports a daisy chain of up to six devices, so in the future you can add more hard drives (even from other companies) without losing speed. The unit is sold in 6, 8, 10, 12, and 16 terabyte options. The 6 TB model costs around 560 euros. The premium is justified thanks to its secondary functions, but if it's too pricey for you for now, don't forget to check our guide to cheaper external hard drives.
