Enterprise Serial ATA WD Raptor Hard Drives

***Zardon*** · May 17, 2003, 07:02 PM

Got this press release yesterday, thought id post it in here for those of you interested

Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) today announced that the Company's Enterprise Serial ATA WD Raptor(TM) hard drives are available now in retail stores and at its online store at store.westerndigital.com. In addition to a WD Raptor hard drive, the retail kit includes a Serial ATA (SATA) interface host adapter from SIIG(R), a SATA interface cable and Quick Install Guide. This retail kit brings enterprise-class reliability and speed to those end users who prefer premium components for their state-of-the-art computer systems.

WD Raptor Enterprise SATA hard drives, which were introduced earlier this year for business applications, are the world's fastest Serial ATA drives and feature specifications of: 10,000 RPM; 5.2 milliseconds (ms) average seek time; 1.2 million hours MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure); and five-year warranty.

"We have received a groundswell of interest from those upper-end users who seek the very best in computing equipment," said Richard Rutledge, vice president of marketing for Western Digital. "The class of end-users who has traditionally embraced enterprise-class SCSI hard drives for their computing systems is now turning to Serial ATA for its increased performance and reliability. This new interface is designed for power users who enjoy video editing, digital audio applications or high-end gaming and want to push their overall system performance to its limits."

Availability and Pricing

Western Digital's Enterprise Serial ATA WD Raptor hard drives are available at the Company's online store ( http://store.westerndigital.com/product.asp?sku=2328189 ), retail stores including Best Buy, CompUSA(R), Fry's, Micro Center and through other select retailers.

Manufacturer's suggested retail pricing for Western Digital's Enterprise SATA WD Raptor 36 GB hard drives is $249. Complete retail kit includes WD Raptor hard drive; Serial ATA interface cable; SIIG SATA host adapter; and Quick Install Guide. WD Raptor hard drive products carry a five-year warranty.

System Requirements

WD Raptor hard drives are compatible with any computer with an available 32-bit PCI 2.1 or 2.2 compliant PCI slot and 3.5-inch or 5.25-inch internal drive bay using Windows(R) 2000 or Windows XP.

About Western Digital

Western Digital, 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 produces reliable, high-performance hard drives that keep users' data close-at-hand and secure from loss.

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

This release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the availability of WD Raptor hard drives. These forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations, and actual results may differ materially as a result of several factors, including: uncertainties related to the development and introduction of products based on new technologies, difficulties faced in manufacturing ramp, pricing, competition, the significant uncertainty of market acceptance of new products, and other factors discussed in Western Digital's recent SEC filings. Western Digital undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of these statements.

Western Digital and the Western Digital logo are registered trademarks, and WD Raptor is a trademark of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. All other brand and product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies.

SOURCE Western Digital Corp.

-0- 05/13/2003

CONTACT:
Constance A. Griffiths, Press Relations,
+1-949-672-7891,
constance.griffiths@wdc.com
or
Bob Blair, Investor Relations,
+1-949-672-7834
robert.blair@wdc.com,
both of Western Digital Corp./

Web site: http://store.westerndigital.com
Web site: http://www.westerndigital.com

For More Information: http://store.westerndigital.com
http://www.westerndigital.com

~~shai~~ · May 17, 2003, 07:40 PM

finally 10k drives
btw it costs less then $249 at my store

digitalwanderer · May 17, 2003, 07:50 PM

And not just for the Vulcan chic, the show is killer!

Oh, you're talking about hard-drives...never mind.

Necrosis · May 17, 2003, 07:58 PM

I was/am thinking about picking one of these up to be my main OS drive. Newegg has the OEM version for around $175.00 last time I checked. I'm just not too thrilled on a little bit faster performance w/ 36 gig HD.

~~shai~~ · May 18, 2003, 01:07 AM

10k should give more alot more i suggest you buy it

Necrosis · May 18, 2003, 02:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by shai
10k should give more alot more i suggest you buy it

Keyword here is "should" yes there is an improvement but if you read the reviews it's not that impressive. There is no IDE drive that can beat it all around though. Besides I've done a number of upgrades recently and think it's time to spend money on other stuff. One thing would be donating to this site.

Darksider · May 18, 2003, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Necrosis
Keyword here is "should" yes there is an improvement but if you read the reviews it's not that impressive. There is no IDE drive that can beat it all around though. Besides I've done a number of upgrades recently and think it's time to spend money on other stuff. One thing would be donating to this site.

Ahhhh...but think if you put 2 of them in RAID 0.

mike2h · May 18, 2003, 01:40 PM

you got it. really been eyeballing that new 875 chipset. built in serial raid & a host of other goodies. now to convince the treasurer(wife)

blah · May 19, 2003, 12:04 AM

I have been pondering a fast HD solution for some time, unfortunatly SCSI is undergoing some changes and I am not sure if I want to buy yet. Unfortunatly I live in Canada and geting new technology up here is teh sux. I would buy 3 of them and a Raid 5 card if there is one for it.

JavaFox · May 20, 2003, 07:03 AM

Maybe this is just a misguided opinion of mine, but SCSI is pretty much dead to everyone but corporate buyers these days. That said, you can pick up FC (Fibre Channel) Seagate Cheetahs on eBay for almost nothin'. The trick, though, is getting a FC adapter card and its cables

~~WyreTheWolf~~ · May 20, 2003, 07:31 AM

I have to agree with Java on this one... FC is probably the best bet. There are a couple of places that carry the cables, and cards reasonably priced... dirtcheapdrives is one of them. Dont count out FC drives... read some reviews. (I have been thinking about upgrading to a couple of smaller FC drives, for RAID)

2 x 73 GB 15,000 RPM Seagate HDD $303
Compaq rackserv RAID controller 64MB $488

Everything that you need is included in the price (yes, and shipping)

Total of $791 USD

Admittedly this is not the fastest controller card in the world, and the cable is only 10 meter ...

If you need more it will COST you.

But overall this system would be far faster than ANY IDE HDD made to date.

DarkAngel93 · May 22, 2003, 09:59 AM

I also agree with Java. Being a network & systems engineer for quite some time, most of the SCSI applications I have seen & used have been in servers, and a few CAD workstations. Yes SCSI is going through some changes, but you will see mostly for SANs from what little I have read on it. Just my 2 cents.

May 17, 2003, 07:02 PM	#1
*Zardon* enchanted Join Date: May 2002 Location: Driverheaven Posts: 32,252 Rep Power: 3150	Enterprise Serial ATA WD Raptor Hard Drives Got this press release yesterday, thought id post it in here for those of you interested Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) today announced that the Company's Enterprise Serial ATA WD Raptor(TM) hard drives are available now in retail stores and at its online store at store.westerndigital.com. In addition to a WD Raptor hard drive, the retail kit includes a Serial ATA (SATA) interface host adapter from SIIG(R), a SATA interface cable and Quick Install Guide. This retail kit brings enterprise-class reliability and speed to those end users who prefer premium components for their state-of-the-art computer systems. WD Raptor Enterprise SATA hard drives, which were introduced earlier this year for business applications, are the world's fastest Serial ATA drives and feature specifications of: 10,000 RPM; 5.2 milliseconds (ms) average seek time; 1.2 million hours MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure); and five-year warranty. "We have received a groundswell of interest from those upper-end users who seek the very best in computing equipment," said Richard Rutledge, vice president of marketing for Western Digital. "The class of end-users who has traditionally embraced enterprise-class SCSI hard drives for their computing systems is now turning to Serial ATA for its increased performance and reliability. This new interface is designed for power users who enjoy video editing, digital audio applications or high-end gaming and want to push their overall system performance to its limits." Availability and Pricing Western Digital's Enterprise Serial ATA WD Raptor hard drives are available at the Company's online store ( http://store.westerndigital.com/product.asp?sku=2328189 ), retail stores including Best Buy, CompUSA(R), Fry's, Micro Center and through other select retailers. Manufacturer's suggested retail pricing for Western Digital's Enterprise SATA WD Raptor 36 GB hard drives is $249. Complete retail kit includes WD Raptor hard drive; Serial ATA interface cable; SIIG SATA host adapter; and Quick Install Guide. WD Raptor hard drive products carry a five-year warranty. System Requirements WD Raptor hard drives are compatible with any computer with an available 32-bit PCI 2.1 or 2.2 compliant PCI slot and 3.5-inch or 5.25-inch internal drive bay using Windows(R) 2000 or Windows XP. About Western Digital Western Digital, 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 produces reliable, high-performance hard drives that keep users' data close-at-hand and secure from loss. Western Digital was founded in 1970. The Company's storage products are marketed to leading systems manufacturers and selected resellers under the Western Digital brand name. Visit the Investor section of the Company's Web site ( www.westerndigital.com ) to access a variety of financial and investor information. This release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the availability of WD Raptor hard drives. These forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations, and actual results may differ materially as a result of several factors, including: uncertainties related to the development and introduction of products based on new technologies, difficulties faced in manufacturing ramp, pricing, competition, the significant uncertainty of market acceptance of new products, and other factors discussed in Western Digital's recent SEC filings. Western Digital undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of these statements. Western Digital and the Western Digital logo are registered trademarks, and WD Raptor is a trademark of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. All other brand and product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies. SOURCE Western Digital Corp. -0- 05/13/2003 CONTACT: Constance A. Griffiths, Press Relations, +1-949-672-7891, constance.griffiths@wdc.com or Bob Blair, Investor Relations, +1-949-672-7834 robert.blair@wdc.com, both of Western Digital Corp./ Web site: http://store.westerndigital.com Web site: http://www.westerndigital.com For More Information: http://store.westerndigital.com http://www.westerndigital.com

May 17, 2003, 07:50 PM	#3
digitalwanderer Colour Commentator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Highland, IN USA Posts: 5,621 Rep Power: 0	Enterprise ROCKS! And not just for the Vulcan chic, the show is killer! Oh, you're talking about hard-drives...never mind. __________________ WTF is up with the sigs?

May 18, 2003, 01:40 PM	#8
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,489 Rep Power: 74 System Specs	Ahhhh...but think if you put 2 of them in RAID 0. you got it. really been eyeballing that new 875 chipset. built in serial raid & a host of other goodies. now to convince the treasurer(wife) __________________

May 19, 2003, 12:04 AM	#9
blah DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 78 Rep Power: 0	I wish I have been pondering a fast HD solution for some time, unfortunatly SCSI is undergoing some changes and I am not sure if I want to buy yet. Unfortunatly I live in Canada and geting new technology up here is teh sux. I would buy 3 of them and a Raid 5 card if there is one for it.

May 17, 2003, 07:40 PM	#2
~~shai~~ Banned Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 613 Rep Power: 0	finally 10k drives btw it costs less then $249 at my store

May 18, 2003, 01:07 AM	#5
~~shai~~ Banned Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 613 Rep Power: 0	10k should give more alot more i suggest you buy it

May 20, 2003, 07:03 AM	#10
JavaFox E Pluribus Unum Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 3,203 Rep Power: 0	Maybe this is just a misguided opinion of mine, but SCSI is pretty much dead to everyone but corporate buyers these days. That said, you can pick up FC (Fibre Channel) Seagate Cheetahs on eBay for almost nothin'. The trick, though, is getting a FC adapter card and its cables

May 20, 2003, 07:31 AM	#11
~~WyreTheWolf~~ Wolfish Bastard Join Date: May 2002 Location: Cave; Ozark Mountains Posts: 2,111 Rep Power: 0	I have to agree with Java on this one... FC is probably the best bet. There are a couple of places that carry the cables, and cards reasonably priced... dirtcheapdrives is one of them. Dont count out FC drives... read some reviews. (I have been thinking about upgrading to a couple of smaller FC drives, for RAID) 2 x 73 GB 15,000 RPM Seagate HDD $303 Compaq rackserv RAID controller 64MB $488 Everything that you need is included in the price (yes, and shipping) Total of $791 USD Admittedly this is not the fastest controller card in the world, and the cable is only 10 meter ... If you need more it will COST you. But overall this system would be far faster than ANY IDE HDD made to date.

May 22, 2003, 09:59 AM	#12
DarkAngel93 DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Greensboro, NC Posts: 103 Rep Power: 0	I also agree with Java. Being a network & systems engineer for quite some time, most of the SCSI applications I have seen & used have been in servers, and a few CAD workstations. Yes SCSI is going through some changes, but you will see mostly for SANs from what little I have read on it. Just my 2 cents.