Western Digital Red WDS500G1R0A 500 GB Solid State Drive - 2.5" Internal - SATA (SATA/600)

Introducing the Western Digital Red WDS500G1R0A 500 GB Solid State Drive, a purpose-built upgrade crafted to supercharge NAS systems with reliability, efficiency, and consistently strong performance. Built for 24/7 operation in home offices and small businesses, this 2.5-inch SATA SSD delivers fast access to shared files, smooth media streaming, quick backups, and responsive multi-user workloads. If you’re upgrading an existing NAS or building a new storage pool from scratch, the WD Red WDS500G1R0A is designed to deliver dependable storage performance while reducing latency and improving overall system responsiveness.

• Optimized for NAS environments — The WD Red line is engineered with NAS-aware firmware and reliability in mind, designed to handle continuous operation in multi-user environments. This SSD leverages firmware optimizations that improve data integrity, error handling, and endurance across demanding NAS workloads. It means your media library, backups, and shared folders stay accessible with fewer hiccups, even during peak usage times. Whether you run a home media server, a small office file share, or a virtualization cache layer, this drive helps ensure steady performance under load.
• High endurance for continuous workloads — With 500 GB of high-quality flash and wear-leveling designed for constant writes, this drive is well-suited to the write-intensive patterns common in NAS-ing. NAS environments often perform frequent data writes, journaling, and metadata updates; the WD Red SSD uses its own wear management and reliability features to prolong drive life, reduce unexpected failures, and maintain consistent performance across long operating cycles. The result is dependable storage that you can count on for day-in, day-out operation.
• SATA 6Gb/s performance in a 2.5" form factor — The drive leverages a standard 2.5-inch form factor with a SATA interface (SATA 6 Gb/s, commonly referred to as SATA/600) for broad compatibility with NAS enclosures, desktop PCs, and laptops. This combination makes it easy to install in a NAS drive bay, a direct SATA-equipped PC, or a portable enclosure. While not an NVMe device, it’s engineered to provide responsive sequential reads and writes suitable for boot drives, caching, and frequently accessed data in NAS setups, delivering a noticeable improvement over traditional hard drives in terms of latency and data access speed.
• Power efficiency and quiet operation — SSDs inherently consume less power and generate less heat than hard drives, which translates to cooler NAS operation and quieter performance in compact enclosures. The WD Red WDS500G1R0A is designed to balance performance with energy efficiency, helping to minimize overall NAS power consumption. This can contribute to longer hardware life and a cooler, quieter operation—an especially welcome benefit for always-on storage arrays in home offices or small business environments.
• Compatibility and versatile use cases — Ideal for home media servers, personal cloud NAS, small business file sharing, and virtualization caching, this SSD is built to work with popular NAS platforms and generic SATA-enabled systems. Its 500 GB capacity provides a solid balance between cost and usable space for storing media libraries, frequently accessed files, and cache data that accelerates overall system responsiveness. The WD Red family emphasizes reliability, robust firmware support, and compatibility across a broad ecosystem, making it a solid choice for users who value predictable performance and easy integration.

Technical Details of Western Digital Red WDS500G1R0A

Specifications are subject to change and may vary by batch. This listing highlights the core capabilities that make the WD Red WDS500G1R0A a practical NAS-focused SSD, with emphasis on reliability, form factor, and compatibility. For precise specifications and warranty terms, consult the WD product page or your NAS vendor’s compatibility list.

• Capacity: 500 GB
• Form factor: 2.5-inch
• Interface: SATA 6 Gb/s (SATA/600)
• NAND: 3D NAND flash (where applicable)
• Endurance and reliability features: NAS-focused firmware, wear leveling, and error correction optimizations
• Applications: NAS storage pools, shared network folders, virtualization cache, media streaming servers
• Warranty: See WD product page for current terms

How to install Western Digital Red WDS500G1R0A

Follow these steps to install the WD Red WDS500G1R0A in your NAS, desktop PC, or other SATA-enabled device. This guide assumes a standard 2.5-inch drive bay or caddy and a compliant SATA interface.

• Power down the system and unplug all cables. If you’re installing in a NAS, remove the drive tray or caddy as per the device’s manual, ensuring you have a clean, static-free workspace.
• Connect the drive to the system using a standard SATA data cable and a SATA power connector. In NAS enclosures, place the drive into an available bay, slide it into the tray, and secure it with screws or latch mechanisms as required by your model.
• Secure the drive in the bay, reassemble the enclosure or computer, and power on the device. If you’re installing in a NAS, access the NAS management interface through your network to recognize and initialize the new disk.
• Initialize and format the drive according to your storage plan. In NAS environments, you may need to create a storage pool or volume and configure the RAID or redundancy settings that best fit your redundancy strategy and performance goals.
• Run a health check and align backup and monitoring plans. Enable SMART monitoring if supported by your NAS or system to track drive health over time, and set up regular backups or mirroring to protect data stored on the NAS array.

Frequently asked questions

• Q: Is this SSD suitable for NAS use? A: Yes. The Western Digital Red line is specifically designed for NAS environments, with NASware firmware and reliability features that optimize operation in always-on storage arrays and multi-user access scenarios.
• Q: What is the interface and form factor? A: The drive uses a standard 2.5-inch form factor with a SATA 6 Gb/s (SATA/600) interface, making it compatible with a wide range of NAS enclosures, desktops, and laptops that support SATA drives.
• Q: Can this drive be used in a desktop PC in addition to NAS? A: Yes. The 2.5-inch SATA SSD can be installed in most desktops and laptops that offer compatible SATA storage, providing faster boot times, improved application performance, and quicker file access compared with traditional hard drives.
• Q: Does this SSD offer a warranty? A: Warranty terms vary by region and retailer. Please refer to Western Digital’s product page or your vendor’s warranty policy for the current terms and duration.
• Q: Will this drive improve NAS performance? A: In many cases, upgrading from a traditional HDD to an SSD for NAS caching, boot drives, or storage pools can result in faster data access, reduced latency, and more responsive file operations, especially for frequently accessed data and multi-user workloads.
• Q: Is NASware firmware included? A: The WD Red SSDs include NAS-focused firmware designed to optimize reliability and compatibility in NAS environments, which helps expand uptime and overall system resilience when integrated into supported NAS devices.