Western Digital has released a new SAS hard drive for enterprise and server use, called the WD XE SAS hard drive. It’s an enterprise class hard drive with 10,000 RPM spindle speed and 6Gbps SAS interface. The main drive has a 2.5-inch form factor. But a WD XE 3.5-inch is also available, which is the mounted version of this drive. It basically looks like the WD Velociraptor, but instead of a Serial ATA interface, it’s using Series Attached SCSI connectivity. Check out more details below and where you can get one.
Western Digital claims that the WD XE consumes up to 67% lesser power consumption compared to the 15,000 RPM rivals. However the WD XE lacks in variety of storage capacity. It’s only available in 300GB, 600GB and 900GB. Unlike the Velociraptor which has a 1TB version, and the WD RE Enterprise drives that has a 4TB storage capacity.
WD XE SAS Hard Drive Features
- Highest performance in its class – WD XE delivers ultra-fast 6 Gb/s transfer rates, best-in-class sequential data rate of 204 MB/s, and outstanding random I/O performance;
- Low power consumption – This 3.5-inch SAS drive delivers up to 67 percent lower power versus 3.5-inch 15,000 RPM drives, which can result in substantially lower total cost of ownership (TCO) while increasing capacity and reliability;
- Form factor – 2.5-inch drive mounted in 3.5-inch performance adapter for ease of upgrade and ultra-cool operation;
- Dual port, full duplex connectivity – Offers higher reliability, performance and data availability by eliminating single points of failure, designed for high-availability data center systems;
- 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; and
- Industry’s highest reliability rating – 2 million hours MTBF (Mean Time Before Failure)
- Rotary Acceleration Feed Forward (RAFF) – Optimizes operation and performance when the drives are used in vibration-prone, multi-drive chassis.
Price and Where to Buy
The 2.5-inch WD XE SAS enterprise hard drives are available in 300GB, 600GB and 900GB with models WD3001BKHG, WD6001BKHG and WD6001BKHG. Right now they are priced at $195, $363 and $515 respectively. You can order one from Amazon here.
Meanwhile the WD XE drives with the 3.5-inch adapter, with models WD3001HKHG, WD6001HKHG, and WD9001HKHG, has a MSRP ranging from $299.99 to $599.99, and comes with a limited 5 year warranty
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