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Pairing flash storage and traditional spinning-platter drives for the best of both worlds isn’t new, but SanDisk and WD think they’re collectively on to a winner with the newly-shipping WD Black SSHD. The solid-state hybrid drive squeezes together 500GB of Western Digital storage with a chunk of SanDisk iSSD flash capacity, which is used as a caching drive to boost data transfer times much in the way of a regular SSD.

In fact, the WD Black SSHD builds on Western Digital’s 2.5-inch UltraSlim drive, announced back in April, which is a mere 5mm thick. That’s paired with a 19nm SanDisk flash drive, for something that ends up half the volume of a traditional 2.5-inch notebook drive.

The goal is to get the SSHD into ultrabooks and the like, where the tiny form-factor will allow for smaller and lighter chassis. However, since it’s a standalone drive, upgrade potential will also be greater; existing embedded flash storage options generally leave the owner no room to boost internal capacity later on in the ultraportable’s life-cycle.

Upgrades will have to wait until WD and SanDisk start offering the Black SSHD to end-users, with OEMs the first to get the tiny sliver of storage. No word on how much it will cost at this stage.

WD and SanDisk ship TARDIS-like Black solid-state hybrid drive is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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We were intrigued with the prospects of Western Digital’s 5mm Blue drive when we saw it last summer: finally, a 2.5-inch spinning disk thin enough to rival slimmer SSDs without the price premium of a hybrid like the WD Black SSHD. If you shared the same curiosity, you’ll be glad to hear that the finished product is shipping as the WD Blue UltraSlim. Device builders can now stuff 500GB into spaces that would exclude 7mm disks, yet pay just $89 for the privilege — a price low enough to let even frugal Ultrabooks shed some bulk. The 5mm disk reaches its miniscule dimensions through the use of a tiny edge connector that mates both power and a SATA interface, leaving more room for the drive machinery. We can’t guarantee that you’ll find a Blue UltraSlim in your next PC or set-top box when Western Digital hasn’t named any of its customers, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the wafer-like drive is commonplace in the near future.

Filed under: Laptops, Storage

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Source: Western Digital

Hard drive makers are in a race to boost capacities and keep spinning disks at least a beat ahead of flash drives on the value curve. We’ve seen some exotic developments as a result, but HGST wants to go the extra mile by relying on two breakthroughs at once. Its future storage primarily takes advantage of self-assembling polymer molecules that align themselves into rows. By first splitting the molecules into very small lines and then using an equally rare nanoimprinting technology to put them into circular tracks, HGST can create platters with a 10 nanometer-wide bit pattern that’s twice as dense as current hard drives. The technique should hold up in the real world despite ditching typical photolithography, the company says: the nanoimprinting remains useful in the error-prone world of storage, and it should scale as the patterns get smaller. If only the drive designer had a roadmap — while the company has a tendency to bring its research to market, the lack of a timetable hints that we won’t see these nanoimprinted drives very soon.

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Source: HGST

Continue reading IRL: Western Digital MyBook external hard drives, Doxie Go and Apple’s Podcasts App

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Western Digital only just broke into the networking field this spring, but it’s already settling in as a regular with a quick performance upgrade. The company’s fledgling My Net router line is making the leap to bleeding-edge 802.11ac WiFi through the release of the AC1300 (above), which sees the expected boost to a quick 1.3Gbps and supposedly outpaces its rivals with a unique horizontal 3-by-3 antenna layout. Whether or not that lead is real or just marketing bluster, WD isn’t as concerned about the symbolic link to its storage brand this time around — it’s relegating any hard drive sharing to two USB 2.0 ports and relies on either the fast wireless or four gigabit Ethernet ports for local media. Going with the AC1300 will carry a typical 802.11ac premium at $190, but there’s also a more focused $150 My Net AC Bridge (pictured after the break) for those who just need four or fewer of their Ethernet devices linked over extra-speedy WiFi.

Continue reading Western Digital My Net router leaps to 802.11ac speeds, gets a bridge to keep it company

Filed under: Networking

Western Digital My Net router leaps to 802.11ac speeds, gets a bridge to keep it company originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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