WD Red Plus 8TB deal: Our pick for

Mechanical hard drives (HDDs) still make the most sense when you need huge amounts of dependable storage, especially in a NAS that runs around the clock. If you're looking to expand your setup without overspending, I've found a terrific deal for you at Amazon.

The 8TB WD Red Plus NAS is currently down to $259 (was $355) at Amazon - a solid $96 off the usual asking price. Considering the 4TB version we tested is a little under $200 right now, that's a very welcome discount.

That's a great price, then, for a drive built specifically for always-on network storage, making it a great opportunity to add capacity to an existing NAS or form the basis of a brand new one.

Built for NAS systems, this 8TB hard drive uses CMR technology, a 256MB cache, and SATA 6Gb/s connectivity to deliver dependable storage, reliable performance, and smooth operation for always-on workloads.

Reviewing the 4TB WD Red Plus, our drive expert Mark even noted that the 8TB and 10TB models "offer the best value."

8TB of storage is plenty of room for family photos, videos, backups, documents, and media libraries.

Unlike desktop hard drives, this model is built for RAID-optimized NAS systems and uses NASware firmware to improve compatibility with supported enclosures.

It's intended for small and medium business environments, although it's just as useful for home users.

The drive spins at 5640RPM and combines SATA 6Gb/s connectivity with a generous 256MB cache to deliver dependable performance for file transfers, backups, and media streaming.

It also uses CMR recording technology, which many NAS owners prefer because it delivers more consistent write performance than SMR drives during heavier workloads.

Western Digital rates the drive for workloads of up to 180TB per year, making it suitable for systems that see regular activity not just occasional backups.

Support for NAS systems with up to eight drive bays also gives you flexibility if your storage needs is likely to grow over time.

Although SSDs dominate for operating systems and applications, traditional hard drives offer far better capacity for the money and saving almost $96 makes this one of the better prices I've seen recently.

For more picks, take a look at guides to the best NAS devices, best NAS hard drives (including the WD Red Pro) and best NAS and media server distros.

Wayne Williams is a freelancer writing news for TechRadar Pro. He has been writing about computers, technology, and the web for 30 years. In that time he wrote for most of the UK’s PC magazines, and launched, edited and published a number of them too.

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