Western Digital just announced two new types of drive, both with 2TB capacities. This doesn’t come as a real surprise, since hard drive capacity seems to be increasing on the same scale as CPU speed lately, and other companies have 7200rpm 2TB drives out right now.
So two new drives, both at the 2TB capacity point. The 2TB Caviar Black is intended for the home computer market, and the 2TB RE4 is for servers, network attached storage, and file servers. Both use the 7200 RPM spin rate, a 64 MB cache, and SATA 3 for transfers. The RE4 however, uses specialized sensor technology to increase the expected reliability rate for network storage purposes. Both have a 5 year warranty.
From the press release:
LAKE FOREST, Calif., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — WD (NYSE: WDC) today announced that it is now shipping desktop 7200 RPM 2TB hard drives and is qualifying with OEMs enterprise-class hard drives based on WD’s 500 gigabytes-per-platter technology. The popular family of WD Caviar Black drives, now led by the new 2TB capacity, is perfect for gaming, high-performance desktop systems and workstations; while the WD RE4 2TB is suited for servers, network attached storage and storage networks.
High-performance hard drives by an industry leader in performance, WD Caviar Black and WD RE4 2TB drives combine 7200 RPM spin speed, 64 MB cache, dual stage actuator technology, SATA 3 gigabits per second (Gb/s) interface, and an integrated dual processor to deliver ultimate performance in a maximum-capacity drive.
“WD Caviar Black 2TB hard drives maximize the features and functionality of power computing applications such as gaming, photo editing, user generated multimedia and video,” said Jim Morris, senior vice president and general manager of WD’s client storage systems. “With the selection of WD Caviar Black hard drives, WD desktop customers receive the best possible mix of capacity, performance and reliability that is required for intense desktop computing.”
“Specifically designed for enterprise-class applications, WD’s RE4 2TB drives incorporate the best combination of features, optimum performance, and superior reliability that customers have come to expect from WD,” said Tom McDorman, vice president and general manager of enterprise storage solutions for WD. “Our enterprise products are directly aimed at customers who require additional features and extensive testing that are necessary for high-end enterprise environments.”
WD Caviar Black 2TB and WD RE4 2TB hard drives feature the following:
* Dual processor – Twice the processing power to maximize performance.
* Dual actuator technology – A head positioning system with two actuators that improves positional accuracy over the data track(s). The primary actuator provides coarse displacement using conventional electromagnetic actuator principles. The secondary actuator uses piezoelectric motion to fine tune the head positioning to a higher degree of accuracy.
* IntelliSeek(TM) – Calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption, noise, and vibration.
* StableTrac(TM) – The motor shaft is secured at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking, during read and write operations.
* NoTouch(TM) 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.Additional Features for WD RE4 2TB Enterprise Hard Drives
WD RE4 drives feature 1.2 million hours MTBF, Active Power Save(TM), enhanced RAFF(TM) technology, multi-axis shock sensor, native command queuing (NCQ), pressure sensors, third generation dynamic fly height, time limited error recovery (TLER), and an extensive and enhanced testing process to ensure long-term reliability for demanding enterprise applications.
The 2TB Caviar Black is currently available from your favorite reseller for $299. The server version (RE4) is for sale only to OEM builders at this time.