Western Digital Announces AV-Optimized Low-Profile MR-Based 9.1 GB Ultra SCSI
Hard Drive
by Business Editors and High-Tech Writ
Dec 10 1997 11:46AM CST, BUSINESS WIRE
ROCHESTER, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 1997--
Latest Addition to WD Enterprise Ultra SCSI Hard Drive Family
Targets Audio/Video Applications Requiring High Sustained Data
Rate to Maintain Uninterrupted Data Flow
Expanding its offerings in the WD Enterprise Ultra SCSI hard drive family, Western Digital Corporation (NYSE:WDC) today announced an
audio/video (AV)-optimized version for its low-profile 9.1 GB, 3.5-inch Ultra SCSI hard drive designed for enterprise computing platforms. The
new model, the WDE9100AV, will be available this month.
"With the addition of an AV-optimized hard drive in a 9.1 GB capacity, we are meeting the growing demand for audio/video, video playback and
video editing applications being used in workstation, server, array and multi-user platforms," said Bob Wenner, vice president of marketing for
Western Digital's Enterprise Storage Group.
"These AV customers demand high performance, high capacity hard drives that maintain a constant stream of data which require the service of
commands in a pre-defined time period," Wenner continued. "The WD Enterprise 9.1 GB AV-optimized model is specifically designed for the
smooth flow of video frames and motion, and allows for continuous recording and playback functions -- a must in these data-intensive
applications."
Product highlights include a sustained data throughput of 8.1 MB/sec by offering a 1 MB programmable multi-segmented data buffer and an
adaptive caching function that improves performance and throughput based on how the drive is being used. The increased data throughput is also
achieved when the WD Enterprise AV-optimized hard drive dynamically sets the buffer full/empty ratios and prefetch parameters to optimize bus
and caching performance.
Furthermore, the hard drive utilizes ECC on-the-fly to minimize error recovery time to avoid interruption of data flow and the Early Error
Recovery (EER) feature ensures uninterrupted data flow when in error recovery.
Additional specifications for the WD Enterprise Ultra SCSI 9.1 GB hard drive family include internal data rates of up to 160 Mb/s, a rotational
speed of 7,200 rpm, a 7.9 ms average seek time, support of Ultra Fast and Ultra Fast Wide host data transfers up to 40 MB/s, and compliance
with SCSI-3 SPI. A SCA-2 interface is also offered.
The WD Enterprise Ultra SCSI AV-optimized hard drives will be available in the United States through Western Digital's distributors including
Arrow Schweber Electronics, Bell Microproducts, Continental Technology, DSS, Ingram Micro, Liuski International, Marshall Industries,
Merisel, SED International, Sidus Systems, Supercom, Synnex, Tech Data and Tenex Data.
To purchase the new model in Europe, customers can contact Western Digital's Pan European distributors which are CHS Electronics Europe,
Karma International, Ingram Micro Europe, and Raab Karcher. Other major European distributors include CMS Peripherals (United Kingdom),
eld Datentechnik GmbH (Germany), R&K (Russia), Elko (Russia), COS Computer Peripherie AG (Switzerland), Frank & Walter Computer
GmbH (Germany), TH'system (Czech Republic), and EDN Storage Technology AB (Sweden).
In the Asia-Pacific region, Western Digital will distribute the new model through Acecom Technologies Pte Ltd (Singapore), Dove Electronics Ltd
(New Zealand), Goldtech Ventures Inc. (Philippines), Jurassic Corporation (Thailand), Westan International (S) Pte Ltd (Singapore), and Westan
Pty Ltd (Australia).
Western Digital is a leader in information storage products and services. The company designs and manufactures hard drives for personal and
enterprise-wide computing, and markets them to leading systems manufacturers and selected resellers under the Western Digital brand name.
Western Digital is the first Fortune 500, multinational company to have been awarded company-wide ISO 9001 registration, linking all WD
organizations with a consistent global standard for quality processes. The company was founded in 1970 and has long been noted for its storage
and end-market systems-level design knowledge. The company's World Wide Web home page can be found at wdc.com .
Western Digital is a registered trademark; WD Enterprise is a trademark of Western Digital Corp. All other brand and product names mentioned
herein are the property of their respective companies.
(Copyright 1997) |
