Western Digital has been a mainstay in the computer storage game for the longest time, and has garnered a reputation for their reliability. Despite the proliferation of Solid State Drives and M.2 drives, they’re still priced out of reach of most consumers. Most consumers can only afford the barest minimum of storage spaces in search of the fastest speed.

So what’s the next best thing if overall space is your major concern? WD seems to believe their latest high-performance multi-drive storage RAID system will answer all your portable, large storage needs.

HEFTY BEAST

If you’re looking for a portable hard disk to toss in your bag when hitting the road, the MyBook Pro may not be for you. With both drive bays filled up, the system can get pretty hefty, and its mainly designed to be placed on a desk for long periods of time. For a multi-bay device, its footprint is pretty small, allowing it to fit virtually anywhere on your desk. Considering the sensitive interior, the chassis of the device is comprised of a solid, metal build, containing multiple dampeners to ensure the hard disks inside remain safe.

As for connectivity, you certainly won’t be left wanting; there are two USB 3.0 ports out front for easy access, while the back houses a further two thunderbolt ports, yet another USB 3.0 port and the power connector. There’s even a Kensington lock thrown in for good measure.

The chassis utilises a convenient plug and play system. To remove any of the 6TB drives included inside, a simple tug of a flap will immediately release it, and you can slot any standard hard disk drive inside.

SPEEDY OPERATION

Western Digital has included its WD Drive Utilities application to manage the device. Within the utility screen, there are various options available, such as the RAID management configurator, sleep timer, system diagnosis and even an option to erase the drive, should the need arise. It should be noted that the setup of the MyBook Pro cannot be done through Thunderbolt. You will need a USB 3.0 connection to your PC for the setup.

Measuring the performance of the device on RAID 0 configuration, it returned pretty decent read/write speeds of 391.2/363.9MB/s, which is about par for the course. Using RAID 1 (which mirrors both drives), read/write speeds dropped to about half of RAID 0, which is still pretty good considering it matches up pretty evenly with other offerings on the market.

So who is the MyBook Pro for? The potential for up to 12TB of data in a single hard disk solution is something that pro users as well as media enthusiasts will appreciate. With Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 connections, there are a multitude of options available as you will be able to connect your mobile devices, drive 4K monitors or even tack on additional storage thanks to Thunderbolt’s ability to daisy chain up to 6 different devices at once. If your storage needs mainly consist of storing games and movies, you might probably want to look for a more portable solution.

Verdict: Very user friendly, but expensive

Value: 7/10

Features: 8/10

Performance: 6/10

Design: 9/10

Usability: 8/10

Total Score: 7.6/10