Western Digital geeft statement over C2000-defecten, onderneemt geen actie

Het probleem met de Intel Atom C2000-processors dat enkele weken geleden aan het licht kwam, is inmiddels door de meeste NAS-fabrikanten erkent. Western Digital had als één van de weinige nog geen reactie gegeven, maar heeft nu via een e-mail laten weten geen speciale acties te ondernemen.

Concurrent Cisco heeft 125 miljoen dollar apart gezet om deze defecten te voorkomen of op te lossen, en Synology geeft zijn producten met een C2000 één jaar extra garantie. Netgear heeft tot slot al laten weten dat het niet zal aarzelen om zijn getroffen ReadyNAS-apparaten terug te roepen.

Western Digital neem vooralsnog echter geen stappen, en laat het daarmee op garantieclaims aankomen. Apparaten waarvan de officiële garantieperiode verlopen is, zullen dus naar verluidt op eigen kosten vervangen moeten worden. De betreffende modellen zijn overigens de WD Sentinel DX4200, Cloud DL4100 en Cloud DL2100.

Q&A

1. What is potentially failing in WD NAS systems?
   1. Western Digital is aware of issues related to certain processors used in some WD network-attached storage (NAS) systems. We have been working with the vendor to understand the potential impact to our customers of WD Sentinel DX4200, My Cloud DL2100 and My Cloud DL4100 NAS systems.
   2. Specifically, the LPC clock in the processor stop functioning and the host system is unable to boot up.
2. Which WD products are affected?
   1. WD Sentinel DX4200
   2. My Cloud DL4100
   3. My Cloud DL2100
3. What is Western Digital doing about the issue?
   1. As always, should customers experience operational failure with their in-warranty WD products, we recommend customers contact WD Customer Service. Western Digital will replace systems under warranty with current, equivalent models. https://support.wdc.com/support/case.aspx
4. Will WD owners of the affected systems lose their data?
   1. In the event of a processor failure, WD system users would lose the ability to boot up. However, in this scenario, users’ data remains on the hard drive(s), which can be migrated to another system. We recommend owners of affected WD products contact Customer Service at https://support.wdc.com/support/case.aspx.
5. Is Western Digital replacing out-of-warranty affected systems?
   1. Should customers experience issues with out-of-warranty products, we recommend they contact our Customer Service department at https://support.wdc.com/support/case.aspx.
6. Is Western Digital extending the warranty on these products? Synology announced they would do so.
   1. The potentially affected WD products are covered with warranty periods of two to three years, depending on the model. We are not planning to extend the warranty beyond their original period.
   2. Should customers experience operational failure with their in-warranty WD products, we recommend customers contact WD Customer Service. Western Digital will replace systems under warranty with current, equivalent models.
7. How many WD products in the field are potentially affected by the failing processors?
   1. We do not disclose sales or in-field unit figures for specific products.
8. Why are the processors failing?
   1. The LPC clock in the processor stops functioning and the host system is unable to boot up.