Western Digital Offers A Half Terabyte Of Network Storage For Data Sharing And Backup In The Home And Office

Western Digital Corp. today announced that its WD NetCenter network storage system is now available in a half-terabyte capacity and with backup and system recovery software, providing multiple users in homes or small offices a convenient way to store, share and back up their data.

"Large corporations have efficiently shared storage resources for decades," said Jim Welsh, vice president and general manager of WD's branded products group. "Now, family members and small-office workers are connected via a network and working much the same way. With the WD NetCenter network storage system, they can share a single high-capacity storage and backup repository where they can maintain all of their content, share it with one another and ensure that their valuable photos, music and records are protected with the backup and system recovery software."

WD streamlined the steps required to install WD NetCenter on either a PC or Mac. Each member of a home or office network uses EasyLink, an exclusive WD setup wizard, to cut installation time to less than five minutes. EasyLink establishes the WD NetCenter as if it were a local drive on any computer connected to the network. Individuals with network access then can store, share and back up their digital content.

WD's user-friendly interface of EMC Retrospect Express 7.5 backup and recovery software offers users peace of mind with its ease of setting up a comprehensive, automated backup procedure. The simple three-step installation wizard and extensive data protection feature set fits the needs of beginner and expert users alike. Users can choose complete or progressive backups and automatic or scheduled backups, and are assured that all their data is safe with the software's open-file and data encryption features. In the event a backed-up computer should fail, WD NetCenter's disaster recovery feature creates bootable media from which owners can restore all files and system settings.

Beginning immediately, all WD NetCenter systems will come packaged with the backup and system recovery software. Current owners of WD NetCenter models sold previously without the backup and system recovery software for a limited time can download the EMC Retrospect Express 7.5 software for free(1) from WD's Web site: www.wdc.com/netcentersoftware.

The new half-terabyte capacity WD NetCenter system offers multiple users the capability of storing up to 200 feature-length movies(2), 142,000 digital photos(3), 125,000 songs(4) or hundreds of thousands of documents.

WD NetCenter network storage systems feature:

• WD Caviar SE 7,200 RPM hard drive inside for fast, quiet and cool operation without a fan
• 10/100Base-T Ethernet connection
• Common Internet File System (CIFS) for platform-independent file sharing
• Two hot-swappable USB host ports
• WD EasyLink utility to set up WD NetCenter as a local drive on any computer on the network
• WD NetCenter Manager software to easily view system status, share folders and printers, create and resize volumes
• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) client for automatic assignment of TCP/IP addresses
• Automatic power management when the WD NetCenter hard drive is idle
• Kensington security slot

Availability and Pricing
WD NetCenter 500 GB network storage systems are available now at a suggested retail price of $399 USD.

About WD
WD, one of the storage industry's pioneers and long-time leaders, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The company's core business produces reliable, high-performance hard drives that keep users' data close-at-hand and secure from loss.

WD was founded in 1970. The company's storage products are marketed to leading systems manufacturers and selected resellers under the Western Digital and WD brand names. Visit the Investor section of the company's Web site (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.

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. 1 gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment.

(1) Users must register their WD NetCenter and comply with the terms and conditions of the offer described on the Web site.
(2) DVD video was calculated on a data rate of 5 Mb/s, which translates to an average of 2.25 GB per hour.
(3) Figure represents the average number of photos taken with a 6 megapixel camera in high-resolution JPEG mode with an average file size of 3.5 MB per photo. The actual number of images will vary by camera model and compression setting.
(4) MP3 music files: Music capacity is based on 4 minutes per song. MP3 capacity is based on 128 kb/s bit rate and 11:1 audio compression ratio.