Western Digital shipping its first external hard drive with Thunderbolt technology -- the My Book Thunderbolt Duo dual-drive storage system.

Jody Bradshaw, general manager of WD consumer storage solutions, says it provides professionals and Mac enthusiasts with five primary areas of performance, double-safe data protection and flexibility; ultra-fast data transfer rates for greater work efficiency; a 4 TB/6 TB large-capacity; customized dual-drive storage system with RAID 0, 1 and JBOD options; customer serviceable drives; and dual Thunderbolt ports for daisy-chaining multiple My Book Thunderbolt Duo devices or other peripherals.

My Book Thunderbolt Duo is an all-in-one external drive targeted to creative professionals, enthusiasts, and consumers who own vast amounts of digital content including videos, music, and photos. The drive serves as a way to backup content stored on your computer while providing the fastest way to get information to and from the WD drive, says Bradshaw.

In addition, its RAID 1 support allows users to create a second copy of their digital content on the drive for double-safe protection. The drive also supports a JBOD mode (allocate each disk individually to a specific task) option for users running Windows OS on a Mac.

Additional features found on the My Book Thunderbolt Duo include: out-of-the-box compatibility with ime Machine and formatting for HFS + Journaled for Mac; capability for multi-stream workflows; and a three-year limited warranty. The My Book Thunderbolt Duo is available now at select U.S. retailers and online at www.wdstore.com starting at US$599.99 for a 4TB model and $699.99 for a 6TB version.