WD announced today the WD VelociRaptor 10,000 RPM enterprise SATA hard drives in an enterprise-class 2.5-inch form factor for blade servers and 1U and 2U rack servers. The newest WD VelociRaptor hard drive is built for business-critical applications with enterprise-class mechanics and packs up to 300 GB of capacity into the enterprise small form factor bays, while consuming 35 percent less power than the previous-generation WD Raptor drive.

"WD is bringing to enterprise customers what PC enthusiasts already appreciate about the WD VelociRaptor: a combination of high performance and high capacity for hard drive storage," said John Rydning, IDC's research director for hard disk drives. "WD's new WD VelociRaptor, designed specifically for the enterprise in an energy efficient 2.5-inch form factor, gives system OEMs and end users a new storage option to consider to meet growing storage requirements."

WD VelociRaptor 2.5-inch hard drives are designed and manufactured to enterprise-class standards to provide high reliability in high duty cycle environments, resulting in the highest available reliability rating of any SATA drive at 1.4 million hours MTBF.

"In the server market, demand for high performance drives continues to shift from the 3.5-inch form factor to the enterprise 2.5-inch form factor," said Tom McDorman, vice president and general manager of WD's Enterprise Storage Solutions business unit. "The new 2.5-inch WD VelociRaptor drive is the only drive available that can offer server customers the flexibility of integrating SATA technology while benefiting from server-class performance and reliability."

* Killer Speed -10,000 RPM, SATA 3 Gb/s interface and 16 MB cache deliver enterprise-class performance.

* Rock-solid Reliability - WD VelociRaptor drives are designed and manufactured to business-critical, enterprise-class standards to provide high reliability in high duty cycle environments. The design results in the highest available reliability rating of any SATA drive at 1.4 million hours MTBF.

* Rotary Acceleration Feed Forward (RAFF) technology - Optimizes performance when the drives are used in vibration-prone, multi-drive chassis.

* Ultra-cool operation - WD VelociRaptor drives consume 35 percent less power than the previous generation of WD Raptor drive.

* NoTouch ramp load technology - The recording head never touches the disk media ensuring significantly less wear to the recording head and media as well as better drive protection in transit.

Availability
WD VelociRaptor 2.5-inch hard drives (model WD3000BLFS) is under evaluation with OEM customers and will be available through select commercial distributors by the end of the month. More information about WD VelociRaptor hard drives may be found on the company's Web site at http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=494.