Today, Western Digital introduced dual-drive My Book Duo external hard disk drives (HDDs) and larger-capacity My Book models. Some of the roomiest consumer offerings the company has ever made are the new 22TB and 44TB models.
The new external storage devices are made up of one (in the case of the 22TB My Book) or two (in the case of the My Book Duo) 3.5-inch drives and are intended for individuals who require extensive options and place price per GB above speed. The 22TB My Book, according to Western Digital’s announcement today, is the company’s “highest capacity consumer drive ever.” However, as Tom’s Hardware pointed out, the company began selling 22TB network-attached storage (NAS) drives in July for $400 (MSRP as of this writing). The My Book series, on the other hand, has a wider appeal due to the fact that the parts are neatly enclosed and ready to be stored on top of a desk as backup storage.
You can also add ports to your setup with the My Book Duo, which Western Digital had already been selling in capacities ranging from 16TB to 36TB. It has two USB-A ports and a USB-C port that can connect to systems at speeds of up to 5Gbps.
For maximum speeds, the 44TB option is delivered in a RAID 0 configuration. The My Book Duo, on the other hand, lets you use RAID 1 for redundancy or have your system view the storage device as two separate drives through software.
Due to SSDs’ generally faster speeds and longer lifespan, HDDs have lost ground to SSDs in recent years, which is no secret. HDDs, on the other hand, are still a viable option if you need a lot of storage but don’t want to spend a lot of money. HDDs should be used as a secondary option because of their mechanical parts’ tendency to wear out faster than SSDs and their vulnerability to data loss in the event of accidental drops.
Western Digital’s My Book drives are compatible with Windows 10 and later and macOS 11 and later via the NTFS driver, allowing you to work without reformatting on both Microsoft and Apple operating systems.
Despite the fact that hard drives are less expensive than SSDs, Western Digital’s My Book line does not offer the most GB for your money. A quick comparison: The 22TB My Book retails for $600, but the same company sells a 22TB conventional magnetic recording NAS hard drive for $500. Western Digital has also started selling a 22TB Elements external hard drive for $550. However, it doesn’t have backup software, password protection, USB-C, or other features like the My Book does, and it needs to be reformatted for macOS.
In the meantime, the My Book Duo 44TB costs $1,500. Even though you can get a high-end laptop for that amount of money, the drive is still a lot bigger and cheaper than an external SSD. With a jaw-dropping MSRP of $7,500, Western Digital’s largest external SSD for professional use has a maximum capacity of 32TB.