AV Hard Drives
WD AV-GP

Capacity:
160 GB - 3 TB
Interface:
SATA 6 Gb/s, SATA 3 Gb/s

24x7 reliability.
These drives are designed to last in always-on, streaming digital audio/video environments such as PVRs, DVRs and surveillance video recorders.

Reduced power consumption.
With the combination of WD's IntelliSeek, IntelliPark, and IntelliPower technologies, WD has reduced power consumption by up to 40 percent compared to competitors' drives.

Whisper quiet.
Noise levels have been minimized to less than one sone – virtually below the threshold of human hearing.
Compatible.
Tested for compatibility in a broad range of AV products including set top boxes, DVD recorders, and mainstream surveillance systems.
SilkStream.
Optimized for smooth, continuous digital video playback of up to twelve simultaneous HD streams. SilkStream is compatible with the ATA streaming command set so CE customers can use standard streaming management and error recovery options.
IntelliSeek.
Calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption, noise and vibration.
View demo
* A sone is a subjective unit of loudness as perceived by a person with normal hearing.
IntelliPark.
Delivers lower power consumption by automatically unloading the heads during idle to reduce aerodynamic drag.
Preemptive Wear Leveling (PWL).
The drive arm frequently sweeps across the disk to reduce uneven wear on the drive surface common to audio video streaming applications.
Advanced Format Technology (AF).
Technology being adopted by WD and other drive manufacturers as one of multiple ways to continue growing hard drive capacities. AF is a more efficient media format that enables increased areal densities.
(EURS models only)
Long-Term Reliability.
These drives are designed to last in high temperature always-on streaming digital audio/video environments such as PVR/DVR, DVR recorders and surveillance video recorders.
Ideal for:
PVRs, DVRs, set-top boxes (STBs), and surveillance video recording.


Large Capacity Drives

Meeting the technological challenges of 3 TB SATA
hard drive implementation.

WD led the way in offering a massive 3 TBs of storage capacity on a single drive. In a typical PC configuration, a drive may be connected as a primary boot drive, or as a secondary drive. Large capacity drives are no different, however, it is important to verify your system can support a large capacity drive before attempting to install it.

When installed as a boot drive, put simply, the operating system boots off of the drive, (an operating system is required to start the computer). When installed as a secondary drive will solely be used to house data, (the drive will not contain an operating system). While newer systems are set up to handle large capacity drives, older legacy systems require updating and still may not support booting of older operating systems.

To understand if your system will support a hard drive with greater than 2.19 TB, consult your OS, Motherboard and USB bridge device solution providers from the list below before you attempt to install in your system.

System Requirements:

  • 3.5-inch internal drive bay


    		•
    AV Applications

    Considerations for Audio-Video (AV) Devices Learn more

    It is important to verify whether specific AV products can support a large capacity drive before attempting installation. Most products that use storage have some type of operating system and system start up software that needs to take into account the size and the impact that size may have on the different layers of software contained within their products. Older systems using legacy operating systems and BIOSs that utilize the Master Boot Record (MBR) partition table scheme encounter a barrier at 2.19 TB.

    To understand if your specific AV product will support a hard drive with greater than 2.19 TB click here



    Desktop Applications

    Operating System support for drives with greater than 2.19 TB capacity. Learn more

    Motherboard Partners

    WD has partnered with motherboard and system solution providers that now offer system solutions supporting Large Drives. Please consult the solution provider for their solution availability and solution requirements. Refer to links below for details.

  • ASUS
  • GIGABYTE
  • INTEL
  • MSI
  • SUPERMICRO

    • External Applications

    USB bridge devices

    USB attached storage solution providers have solved many of the issues associated with Large Drives within the USB Bridge firmware. Some present large capacity drives as single drive using larger sector sizes while others present the large capacity drive as more than one or more smaller drives to the host. Please consult the solution provider for their solution availability and implementation details.

  • ASMedia Technology
  • Freescale Semiconductor
  • Fujitsu
  • Initio Corporation
  • JMicron Technology
  • Lucidport Technology
  • Silicon Image
    		•
  • Sunplus Technology
  • PLX Technology/Oxford Semiconductor
  • Skymedi Corporation
  • Symwave
  • Texas Instruments
  • VIA Technologies
    		•

     

     

    Surveillance Storage from WD.


    Increasing security concerns have caused governments and businesses of all sizes to invest significantly in digital video surveillance systems. Created initially as a means of security for banks in the 1940s, video surveillance systems have evolved to become one of the most popular safety and security systems today.

    Thanks to rapid advancement in technology, video surveillance systems have experienced exponential growth since their introduction. In recent years, video surveillance has undergone a shift from analog to digital format and away from primarily tape-based systems.

    This transition has resulted in advancements in many complementary technologies. Whether it's software to aid in the recording and analysis of high resolution images, networking systems to more efficiently mirror and archive, or the emergence of technologies such as smart sensors and biometrics, today's surveillance systems demand the best performing and most reliable hard drives and solid state drives (SSD) available.

     

    WD's surveillance drives enable digital video surveillance systems to deliver a comprehensive range of features and capabilities such as high resolution image quality, streaming video from multiple cameras, video archiving with ultra-fast data access and on-demand video playback.

    » Take a closer look
    Storage designed for digital video surveillance.

    Life in a desktop computer doesn't compare to the extreme environment in today's always-on, capacity-consuming digital video surveillance systems. What's needed is a drive that has been engineered to manage up to 10 simultaneous audio-video streams and welcomes the challenge of an environment that's running 24x7 while offering exceptional dollars-per-gigabyte value. That's why WD has designed a storage lineup of surveillance-based hard drives and SSDs perfect for digital video surveillance and its many unique environments and application sets.     		High capacity enables higher resolution.

    WD was the first to market with a 2 TB drive designed for surveillance. This ground-breaking capacity point enables surveillance systems with two or more cameras to record high levels of clarity (30 frames per second) at a broad range of resolution settings and still store 30 days or more of video footage. Using high-capacity surveillance drives will become even more important as HD becomes increasingly pervasive. High resolution video provides far greater detail when compared to standard low resolution video.

    Lower temperature means greater reliability.

    In addition to high levels of clarity, long-term reliability and low-power consumption are equally critical to surveillance systems. Designed for 24x7 operation, WD drives with WD GreenPower Technology™ consume less power during spin-up and operation, minimize heat dissipation and vibration, and operate reliably without compromising performance. Reducing heat, noise, and vibration enables surveillance applications to operate more reliably over longer periods of time.
     

    The right drive for every surveillance application.


    WD offers a full range of drives with the features and reliability the surveillance market demands.
    		  
    WD AV-GP surveillance hard drives deliver smooth, continuous playback of up to 12 HD multimedia streams, perfect for mainstream surveillance for small businesses.
    For RAID-based enterprise surveillance applications, WD RE hard drives deliver cool operation and enhanced reliability features.
    WD AV-25 2.5-inch SATA hard drives are specially engineered to offer cool quiet operation while providing maximum 24x7 reliability perfect for small form-factor DVRs and digital video surveillance applications.
    WD SiliconDrive A100 solid state drives are perfect for rugged mobile security and surveillance applications such as law enforcement, military or public transportation.

     

    » Download the Surveillance Goes Digital brochure (PDF)


    Click Model # for Full Specs.
     Model #InterfaceForm FactorCapacityAcoustics (Sone)Hours of HD VideoCache 
    WD30EURSSATA 3 Gb/s3.5 Inch3603 TB< 136064 MB
    WD25EURSSATA 3 Gb/s3.5 Inch3002.5 TB< 130064 MB
    WD20EURSSATA 3 Gb/s3.5 Inch2402 TB< 124064 MB
    WD15EURSSATA 3 Gb/s3.5 Inch1801.5 TB< 118064 MB
    WD10EURXSATA 6 Gb/s3.5 Inch1201 TB< 112064 MB
    WD10EURSSATA 3 Gb/s3.5 Inch1201 TB< 112064 MB
    WD7500AURSSATA 3 Gb/s3.5 Inch90750 GB< 19064 MB
    WD10EVDSSATA 3 Gb/s3.5 Inch1201 TB< 112032 MB
    WD7500AVDSSATA 3 Gb/s3.5 Inch90750 GB< 19032 MB
    WD5000AVDSSATA 3 Gb/s3.5 Inch60500 GB< 16032 MB
    WD10EUCXSATA 6 Gb/s3.5 Inch1201 TB< 112016 MB
    WD3200AVCSSATA 3 Gb/s3.5 Inch38320 GB< 13816 MB
    WD2500AVCSSATA 3 Gb/s3.5 Inch30250 GB< 13016 MB
    WD1600AVCSSATA 3 Gb/s3.5 Inch19160 GB< 11916 MB

     
    Mouse over each icon to see how it was calculated.

    Examples of the number of photos, songs, videos and any other files that can be stored on a hard drive are provided for illustrative purposes only. Your results will vary based on file size and format, settings, features, software and other factors.

    As used for storage capacity, one megabyte (MB) = one million bytes, one gigabyte (GB) = one billion bytes, and one terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment. As used for buffer or cache, one megabyte (MB) = 1,048,576 bytes. As used for transfer rate or interface, megabyte per second (MB/s) = one million bytes per second, megabit per second (Mb/s) = one million bits per second, and gigabit per second (Gb/s) = one billion bits per second.


    Advanced Format Hard Drive Download Utility
    About Western Digital Advanced Format Hard Drives
    Download WD Align utility
    Before you begin downloading please answer the following questions:
    On which OS will you be running the Advanced Format hard drive?


    Are you using a cloning utility?


    Will this be the primary drive or a secondary drive in your system?


    How many partitions do you intend to create on the drive?


    WD Advanced Format drives are specifically optimized for Mac and the latest Windows operating systems such as Windows Vista and Windows 7 with a clean install. Advanced Format Technology is being adopted by WD and other drive manufacturers to increase media format efficiency, thus enabling larger drive capacities.

    Using your WD Advanced Format Hard Drive with a Windows Operating System may require you to run the WD Align Windows software utility after you install your operating system or partition and format the drive as a secondary drive. The WD Align software aligns existing partitions on the Advanced Format drive to ensure it provides full performance for certain configurations. (Please see table for configuration details)

    If your operating system is either Windows 7 or Vista, WD recommends using the latest Intel driver version 9.6 or later for maximum performance in all situations. Please visit Intel for the latest driver downloads.

    What does Advanced Formatting mean to me?

    Advanced formatting optimizes hard drives to take advantage of the capabilities of newer operating systems. This capability enables hard disk drive manufacturers the ability to design larger capacity hard drives, now and into the future.

    What are the benefits of Advanced Formatting?

    Advanced Formatting enables hard drive companies to read and write more data into the same available space on the hard drive.

    Can I install an Advanced Format hard drive in my system?

    New drives from WD are optimized for operation with Windows 7, Windows Vista and Mac OS X Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard. If you are attempting a clean install of an Advanced Format hard drive into a system running one of the Operating Systems listed above the installation process follows standard procedure. For older operating systems such as Windows XP, and for users using cloning software, users must run the WD Align utility to achieve the full performance of the drive. (See table for configuration details)

    Early 3.5-inch WD drives with Advanced Format supported jumper pins 7 – 8. Placing a jumper on these pins adjusted the drive’s internal alignment for single partition XP installations. Support for this jumper setting is no longer needed on newer drives. For optimal performance on all XP installations WD recommends running the WD Align utility.

    If you have a drive that supports jumper pins 7 – 8 and have a jumper in place on those pins, the following is additional information to assist you if you are re-installing an Operating System or re-partitioning the drive:

    • IMPORTANT: You must backup your drive before making any changes, including removal of the jumper.
    • Re-partition the drive: Turn off power to the drive and remove the jumper from pins 7 – 8. Power-on and re-partition the drive (NOTE: All previous data on the drive will be lost).
    • Preserve Current Partition: If you are installing an Operating System over the existing partition, keep the jumper on pins 7 – 8. The drive is already aligned to the existing partition so you do not need to remove the jumper.
    • If you change the setting of jumper 7 – 8, you will lose all previous data and the drive must be re-partitioned.

    For a clean install of Windows XP using multiple partitions, DO NOT install the jumper; simply run the WD Align utility.

    Can I install a WD Advanced Format Drive under non-Windows Operating Systems, such as MacOS and Linux?

    WD Advanced Format Drives can be used under non-Windows Operating Systems. Please visit the Advanced Format Drives - Installation on non-Windows Operating Systems page.

    Do I need a special driver to install a WD Advanced Format Drive on an Intel chipset?

    If your operating system is either Windows 7 or Vista, we recommend the following for maximum performance in all situations:

    What is WD Align utility software?

    The WD Align utility enables older operating systems to operate at full performance on Advanced Format hard drives.

    How long will running the WD Align utility take?

    It will vary based on your operating system and how much data is on the disk, but the WD Align utility should take about 20 minutes to complete on freshly installed drive images with no data files. We recommend disabling Power Management prior to starting the partitioning alignment process. Please click here for further instructions.

    Does the WD Align utility have to be run again if a drive is reformatted?

    No, users will only need to run WD Align one time after initially installing Windows XP. Once Windows XP has been aligned, it will stay aligned even if the drive is reformatted or many files are added or removed.

    Does WD Align work with Western Digital USB and Firewire drives, such as My Book and My Passport drives?

    If you do not change the partitions on a Western Digital USB or Firewire drive, the drive is already optimally aligned. However, all Western Digital USB and Firewire drives are specifically designed to work with WD Align. If you repartition a Western Digital USB or Firewire drive, WD Align should be run to optimally align the partition or partitions.

    Can I install my Advanced Format Drive into a USB enclosure?

    Yes, you may install your Advanced Format Drive into a USB enclosure. Please click here for further installation instructions.

     
     
     



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    2011 the Gear of the Year - WD AV-GP 3TB
    2012, China
    WD VelociRaptor 1TB 10K RPM SATA III Hard Drive Review
    2012, United States
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