For those whose internet access isn’t reliable enough to stick everything on the cloud, or for those who simply don’t trust their data to live anywhere but on their desk, Western Digital has updated its My Book and My Book Duo external drives with significant storage boosts so users may never have to delete a file again.
The 22TB, 3.5-inch hard drives used in each of these products have been available standalone since last year and still sell for $US500 ($694), so it makes sense that you’re going to be paying a little more for this external solution that wraps the drives in a subtly-branded Western Digital enclosure. Both the 22TB My Book, and the 44TB My Book Duo, also feature a pair of USB 3 ports on the back (one USB 3.2 Gen 1, and one USB 3.0) so you can daisy chain other drives, or connect other accessories to a PC or a laptop through just one of its own USB ports.
Just keep in mind that putting this much data onto a single drive is risky, and it’s still a good idea to have all your data backed up in multiple locations. Redundancy is peace of mind. The 44TB My Book Duo arrives in a RAID 0 configuration out of the box, so you get full use of all that storage. But since individual files are often spread across both drives witht hat config, if one of them dies, there’s a good chance you’re going to lose everything, or be shelling out for some pricey professional data recovery. The My Book Duo can also be switched to a RAID 1 configuration, which brings the storage back down to 22TB, but with all of the data mirrored for redundancy. Using included software, both drives in the 44TB My Book Duo can also be accessed independently, if users prefer.
The 22TB version of the Western Digital My Book is now available through the company’s online store, and at select retailers, for $US600 ($833). The 44TB version of the WD MyBook Duo is also available now, and is a slightly better deal at $US1,100 ($1,527), or $US100 ($139) cheaper than buying a pair of the 22TB models.
Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.