WD® Expands WD Arkeia™ Network Backup Appliance Line

IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- WD^®, a Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) company and world leader in digital storage solutions, today announced two ultra-compact backup appliances: the WD Arkeia™ DA1300 and DA2300, which offer small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) all-in-one backup and disaster recovery solutions.

"An increasing number of SMBs are seeing the value in appliance-based solutions and WD is focused on delivering smart, simple software bundled with purpose-built hardware to effectively serve this thriving segment," said Bill Evans, general manager of WD's SMB business unit. "The new WD Arkeia DA1300 and DA2300 network backup appliances provide a fast, easy-to-use and affordable desktop solution for SMB customers to protect their data within any office environment."  

WD Arkeia DA1300, DA2300 Features

Bundled with the award-winning WD Arkeia v10.1 software, these new appliances come with an unlimited numbers of file/folder backup agents on any of over 200 distinct platform types (for example, Windows, Linux^®, Mac^®, AIX^®, HP-UX, Solaris^®, Novell^®, BSD)  The software also offers optional specialized agents for hot backups of important applications and databases. WD Arkeia uses an advanced, patented technology called Progressive Deduplication™ that reduces storage volume and delivers faster backups. The new WD Arkeia DA1300 and DA2300 backup appliances integrate the Intel^® Atom™ dual-core processor and the Intel^® Xeon^® processors, respectively.  As with the WD Arkeia's top-end rack-mounted appliances, the DA2300 uses SSD to maximize backup and data recovery performance.

• Ultra-Compact Form Factor: The new cube designs for both models measure 8.1" x 6.3" x 8.8" and are among the smallest in the industry and can be easily deployed on any desktop.
• Storage Reliability & Capacity: The entry-level DA1300 features WD Red™ NAS hard drives for more affordable NAS storage. The DA2300 features enterprise-class WD Se™ hard drives for maximum data integrity.  Raw storage capacity ranges from 4 TB to 8 TB for the DA1300 and 8 TB to 16 TB for the DA2300.  Both appliances are field upgradable, and disks are configured in RAID-1.
• Increased Backup and Recovery Speed: WD Arkeia's patented Progressive Deduplication technology accelerates backups by compressing data at source computers before transfer over local area networks (LANs) or wide area networks (WANs).
• Improved Ease of Use: Both the DA1300 and DA2300 are preloaded with version 10.1 of WD Arkeia software, which includes an on-boarding wizard to streamline the appliance setup process.
• Integrated LCD Display: The integrated LCD display communicates status and critical alert information quickly and easily to the user.
• Simplified Tape-free, Offsite Storage: WD Arkeia v10.1 software extends support for hybrid cloud backup capabilities to the full line of WD Arkeia appliances. "Seed and feed" capabilities allow administrators to supplement network replication of backup sets offsite by using USB-connected hard drives to transfer initial and large backup sets and also to size WAN bandwidth for the replication of nightly incremental backups. 
• Limited Warranty & Support: Both appliances bundle one-year Bronze level support which includes a limited hardware warranty,  software updates and technical support.

Pricing and Availability

The WD Arkeia DA1300 will be available in late September, and the DA2300 model will be available later in the Fall. Both appliances will be available through select DMRs and WD-authorized value-added resellers (VARs) in the US, Canada and Europe. Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price, including hardware and software, starts at $3,490 USD for the 4 TB DA1300 model.

About WD Arkeia Software and Appliances

WD Arkeia backup appliances are fast, easy-to-use and affordable solutions for data backup and disaster recovery. The award-winning WD Arkeia solutions safeguard more than 100,000 networks for 7,000 customers in 70 countries.

About WD

WD, a Western Digital company, is a long-time innovator and storage industry leader. As a storage technology pacesetter, the company produces reliable, high-performance hard disk drives and solid state drives. These drives are deployed by OEMs and integrators in desktop and mobile computers, enterprise computing systems, embedded systems and consumer electronics applications, as well as by the company in providing its own storage products. WD's leading storage devices and systems, networking products, media players and software solutions empower people around the world to easily save, store, protect, share and experience their content on multiple devices. WD was established in 1970 and is headquartered in Irvine, Calif. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.wd.com.

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC), Irvine, Calif., is a global provider of products and services that empower people to create, manage, experience and preserve digital content. Its companies design and manufacture storage devices, networking equipment and home entertainment products under the WD, HGST and G-Technology brands. Visit the Investor section of the company's website (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.

This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the expected availability for the WD Arkeia DA1300 and DA2300 network backup appliances in the US, Canada, and Europe. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements, including changes in markets, demand, global economic or political conditions and or other risks detailed from time-to-time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including, but not limited to, our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, to which your attention is directed. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak as of the date hereof, and WD undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

Western Digital, WD, and the WD logo are registered trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries; WD Arkeia is a trademark of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries, or both. AIX is a registered trademark of IBM in the United States. Solaris is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Novell is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc., in the United States and other countries. BSD is a registered trademark of UUnet Technologies, Inc.

Intel and Xeon are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other marks may be mentioned herein that belong to other companies. All other brand and product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies. As used for storage capacity, one terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment. Please go to http://support.wdc.com for limited warranty details.

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SOURCE WD