Staff Techdrunk 
Western Digital has recently announced the launch of the new VelociRaptor 10,000 RPM enterprise SATA hard drives. Improvised and specifically designed for business-critical applications with enterprise-class mechanics, the new series of hard drives comes in a 2.5-inch form factor for blade servers and 1U and 2U rack servers. The hard drive can also be upgraded and designed into a 3.5-inch mounting frame for installation in high-performance desktop systems, and it is available at the rate of Rs 12,000 (approx) or $299.99.
The new WD VelociRaptor, 10,000 RPM SATA hard drives are engineered for maximum speed and it combines a SATA 3 Gb/s interface and 16 MB cache making it more than 35% times faster than its earlier version, the WD Raptor(R) drive.
“WD is bringing to enterprise customers what PC enthusiasts already appreciate about the WD VelociRaptor: a combination of high performance and high capacity for hard drive storage,” said John Rydning, IDC’s research director for hard disk drives. “WD’s new WD VelociRaptor, designed specifically for the enterprise in an energy efficient 2.5-inch form factor, gives system OEMs and end users a new storage option to consider to meet growing storage requirements.”
The official press release issued on the company’s website states that “Designed with an enterprise-class foundation, the new WD VelociRaptor hard drive is modified specifically for PC and Mac enthusiasts and professional workstations. Destined to become the new high-performance favorite of these groups, the WD VelociRaptor hard drive comes packed with twice the capacity and a 35 percent performance increase over the previous generation.”
“In the server market, demand for high performance drives continues to shift from the 3.5-inch form factor to the enterprise 2.5-inch form factor,” said Tom McDorman, vice president and general manager of WD’s Enterprise Storage Solutions business unit. “The new 2.5-inch WD VelociRaptor drive is the only drive available that can offer server customers the flexibility of integrating SATA technology while benefiting from server-class performance and reliability.”
In brief some key features of the new WD VelociRaptor hard drives include faster speed and functionality with the 10,000 RPM, SATA 3 Gb/s interface and 16 MB cache; a reliability rating of the SATA drive at 1.4 million hours MTBF; and optimized performance with the Rotary Acceleration Feed Forward (RAFF)technology. In addition it also includes the “NoTouch ramp load” technology feature enhanced with an operation prowess that consumes 35 percent less power than the previous generation of WD Raptor drives.
