ED#130 : Q & A With Western Digital (Page 2 Of 4)

6. Is there any effort at Western Digital to move beyond 10K RPM?

Yes, Western Digital is definitely working on a 15K RPM drive, but this would obviously be for the enterprise market.

7. What about a 3.5" version of the VelociRaptor?

No, as popular as the VelociRaptor is with enthusiasts, we are selling even more to enterprise users who favour the 2.5" form factor. So we are not going back to 3.5" 10K RPM drives like the WD Raptor.

8. Any plans for a hybrid HDD to bridge the performance gap between HDD and SSD?

A hybrid HDD is something that Western Digital is actively looking into, but we have nothing ready to release in the next 6 months.

Some of the problems we have to consider include whether the market is ready to accept such a drive, and whether we should use SLC or MLC flash memory. Obviously, SLC memory is faster and lasts longer but an SLC hybrid HDD would be too costly for the market to accept. On the other hand, MLC memory is slower and doesn't last quite as long.

These are the issues we will be looking into when determining when and what of hybrid HDD to introduce to the market later.

9. The WD SiliconEdge Blue seems to have fallen out of the market. What happened?

It's still available, just that Western Digital isn't actively pushing it. It isn't the fastest SSD in the market but it actually offers better data integrity than many of the SSDs out there that uses those few standard controllers.

Our SSD division was and still is concentrating mainly on R&D and embedded products. The SiliconEdge Blue just happens to be a product that was ready to roll out and so we launched it.

10. So will WD be launching any new SSD models soon?

Western Digital is definitely looking at expanding the SSD line, but there will be no new products in the near future. Not in the next 6 months.

11. With the popularity of MacBook Air and SSD upgrades, do you foresee a significant shift from HDD to SSD in notebooks?

No. Right now, the practical limit of affordable SSD capacity is 128 GB. That allows you to load your operating system, some applications and some work files. You will have to leave your games, digital media files, personal stuff elsewhere. This limits the utility of your notebook.

Notebooks these days ship with at least 500 GB of HDD storage and you can now get 750 GB or even 1 TB of HDD storage too. That allows you to bring everything you need with you, without worrying about Internet access, or forgetting to bring the portable hard disk drive containing your files.

There will always be a niche market of users who can afford expensive technologies like SSD but there will always be a much larger market of users who just want more storage capacity at the most affordable price possible.

Continue on to the third of four pages of Q&As!

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