WD XE: 2.5-Inch 6Gb SAS HDDs Mounted in 3.5-Inch Adapter

WD, a Western Digital company, announced a 3.5-inch SAS hard drive solution for legacy data center storage systems with the release of the WD XE, 2.5-inch, 10,000 RPM SAS hard drive, now available mounted in a 3.5-inch adapter.

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Shipping, the WD XE hard drives provide performance, low power consumption, and an upgrade path for existing 3.5-inch storage systems.

While demand for 3.5-inch, high-performance enterprise-class hard drives slows, a need remains for an alternate high-performance storage device as a transitional solution for legacy systems. XE hard drives offer sequential performance and provide a compelling upgrade for data centers migrating away from legacy drives nearing end-of-life.

"Delivering up to 50% higher capacity, similar or better maximum sequential performance, higher reliability and up to 67% lower power consumption versus 3.5-inch, 15,000 RPM drives, the new WD XE drives are the answer for data center server and storage solutions needing a transition strategy," said Rich Rutledge, SVP of WD’s datacenters business unit. "IT managers now have a worry-free migration path to the latest enterprise performance drives from WD, while preserving their chassis and solution investments."

XE 2.5-inch SAS HDDs

in 3.5-inch performance adapters feature:
Performance – They deliver 6Gb/s transfer rates, sequential data rate of 204MB/s, and random I/O performance;
Power consumption – They deliver up to 67% lower power versus 3.5-inch 15,000 RPM drives, which can result in lower TCO while increasing capacity and reliability;
Form factor – 2.5-inch drive mounted in 3.5-inch performance adapter for ease of upgrade and cool operation;
Dual port, full duplex connectivity – Offers reliability, performance and data availability by eliminating single points of failure, designed for HA data center systems;
No touch ramp load technology – The recording head never touches the disk media ensuring less wear to the recording head and media as well as better drive protection in transit; and
Reliability – 2 million hours MTBF.

Price and Availability
The WD XE SAS enterprise hard drives in 3.5-inch performance adapters, shipping in capacities ranging from 300GB to 900GB, (models: WD3001HKHG, WD6001HKHG, and WD9001HKHG) are available through select distributors and resellers. MSRP for the WD XE hard drives in performance adapters range from $229.99 (€199) to $599.99 (€499). They are covered by a five-year limited warranty.

Comments

WD continues alone since several years in this strange idea of 2.5-inch 10,000rpm HDDs that can only be used into a 3.5-inch box to avoid too much heat.

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It was the same architecture for the VelociRaptor launched in 2008 (10,000rpm, 300GB, 15mm high, 150GB/disk), and then at 600GB but with SATA interface.

New XEs are not really enterprise HDDs - in 2.5-inch form factor at 10,000 and 15,000rpm - but they are faster than 3.5-inch 7,200rpm SATA devices. They used a 32MB buffer. Z-height is 26.1mm.

Between desktop and enterprise HDDs, these WD devices were not highly successful. They have big margin but are low volume products.

The company never was a valuable manufacturer of enterprise rotating devices. Fortunately, it acquires HGST, a real competitor of Seagate in high-end units.