WD Dishes Out Pricey My Book Thunderbolt Drive

By Kevin Parrish
published

WD is shipping the My Book Thunderbolt Duo external storage system, but it doesn't come cheap.

Western Digital said on Thursday that it is now shipping the My Book Thunderbolt Duo, an external dual-drive storage system with an ultra-fast data transfer rate thanks to Intel's Thunderbolt technology. It arrives in both 4 TB and 6 GB capacities, costing a hefty $599.99 and $699.99 respectively.

WD reports that the My Book Thunderbolt Duo can be configured by the end-user in three ways: RAID 0 for speed (striping), RAID 1 for data protection (mirroring), and JBOD for using the two drives individually (Just a Bunch Of Disks) in HFS+J or ExFAT.

The My Book is also user-serviceable, meaning consumers can simply open the casing and replace the existing drive(s) when needed -- there's no need for a screwdriver. The external drive even sports dual Thunderbolt ports for daisy-chaining multiple My Book Thunderbolt Duo devices or other peripherals.

"The intelligent Thunderbolt connector provides two channels of up to 10 Gb/s transfer rate in both directions," WD states. "This means data can travel both ways without compromising bandwidth. Add to that the power of multiple drives processing data and you get amazing speed."

Obviously the only platform that can presently use the My Book Thunderbolt Duo is Mac OS X Snow Leopard or Lion, but at least Windows platform users will have a Thunderbolt-based storage solution when compatible desktops and laptops arrive this year. Unfortunately, despite the price, consumers will still need to buy a Thunderbolt cable on top of the external drive purchase, as the cable is not included.

"Offering lightning-fast throughput in both directions, the new WD Thunderbolt Duo storage systems are just what I need for organizing, editing, and archiving complex High Definition video projects," said Bruce Dorn, DGA (Director's Guild of America). "These new WD Thunderbolt Duo systems are the perfect solution for video filmmakers who are desperate for an uber-fast time sensitive project management solution."

For more information about the My Book Thunderbolt Duo, head here. The My Book Thunderbolt Duo is available now at select U.S. retailers and online at www.wdstore.com starting at $599.99 USD (4 TB) and $699.99 (6 TB).

Kevin Parrish
17 Comments Comment from the forums
  • shin0bi272
    Hitachi's 4tb 3.5" single drive is 369.00 on newegg.

    a WD black 2tb is 219 (so 2 of those would be 438)

    So adding the external shell for another 50-75 bucks and the thunderbolt interface is adding about a hundred bucks to the price... not really a "pricey" drive for the 10gb per channel speed you get IMHO.
    Reply
  • If you need this fast of storage. I think you will not look at the price very hard. For most consumers backing up pictures, music and video. I think USB 3 is plenty fast. People need to realize that Thunderbolt is not priced for everyone yet.
    Reply
  • posteris
    perfect for apple users, they are used to buy overpriced hardware
    it's a smart move from wd
    Reply
  • house70
    "It arrives in both 4 TB and 6 GB capacities, costing a hefty $599.99 and $699.99 respectively."
    That's the most expensive 6 GB you can find...

    Proofread, anyone?
    Reply
  • samuelspark
    6GB for $699.99! $116.67 per GB. Speed better be worth it...
    Reply
  • zaznet
    house70"It arrives in both 4 TB and 6 GB capacities, costing a hefty $599.99 and $699.99 respectively."That's the most expensive 6 GB you can find...
    Yeah I was thinking $100 per GB seemed a bit pricey too.
    Reply
  • besus
    What's the point of 10 Gb/s when spinning disks will still only yield about 150 Mb/s in a RAID 0 stripe?
    Reply
  • zaznet
    shin0bi272not really a "pricey" drive for the 10gb per channel speed you get IMHO.
    Given the capacity and performance relative to other storage products available the price may not be unreasonable. The problem is that the price point is high for an average consumer. This product however is not aimed to the average consumer and currently has a fairly small market of potential customers due to hardware requirements.
    Reply
  • rantoc
    besusWhat's the point of 10 Gb/s when spinning disks will still only yield about 150 Mb/s in a RAID 0 stripe?
    Mac users won't understand that anyway, they think they have to purchase the thunderbolt as its the latest from their deity! eSata2 would have sufficed nicely (about 300mb/sec after encode) and so would Usb3.0. I dont mind WD earning money from the iSheeps thoo. Congrats!
    Reply
  • nukemaster
    besusWhat's the point of 10 Gb/s when spinning disks will still only yield about 150 Mb/s in a RAID 0 stripe?It has been a long time since 2 spinning disks only got 150 mb/sec

    After PMR was released and pater densities got better, single disks will in fact push 150megabytes/sec(not for the full drive clearly).

    Even Seagates newer baseline drive pushes over 150 peak and averages 140. That is a single disk.

    Don't get me wrong, USB3 would do the trick, but if they are WD Blacks the price of a enclosure ect, the overprice may be less then it appears at first glance. Then again, before the floods, a 2TB drive was cheap.
    Reply