WD Raptor and FastTrak are Key Components in Enterprise SATA RAID; Companies Offer Bundle to Simplify SATA Integration
LAKE FOREST and MILPITAS, Calif. -- June 19, 2003 -- Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) and Promise Technology today announced that Western Digital's enterprise-class Serial ATA (SATA) WD Raptor(TM) hard drive and Promise's families of SATA150(TM) host bus adapters and FastTrak(R) SATA RAID controllers have been verified compatible by both companies. The products are key ingredients in Enterprise SATA (ESATA) RAID workstations, servers and storage systems running configurations such as RAID 0, 1 and 0+1, and are currently available for systems builders and storage providers.
To simplify the integration of Serial ATA servers and storage systems, the two companies are teaming to offer systems builders bundled WD Raptor hard drives and selected FastTrak controller cards. The bundle is an example of the quickly growing component infrastructure available to systems builders for the development of cost-effective, enterprise-class SATA storage systems for their customers -- many of which are increasingly watchful of IT costs.
Available now through the companies' combined distribution network,
the bundle includes four of Western Digital's enterprise-class, 10,000-RPM, SATA WD Raptor hard drives and a Promise FastTrak S150 TX4 four-port controller card that supports RAID 0 for performance, RAID 1 for data protection and RAID 0+1 for performance and data protection.
"Many storage component manufacturers are aggressively developing and marketing ESATA products to satisfy pent up demand for a cost-effective alternative to SCSI," said Richard E. Rutledge, vice president of marketing for Western Digital. "Promise introduced the world to ATA RAID, and has a long-standing reputation in the distribution channel for quality, performance and addressing cost versus performance issues with an extensive ATA-based product line. The company's participation in the ESATA market underscores the momentum SATA is developing in the enterprise and is a significant benefit to systems builders."
The WD Raptor hard drive is the first SATA product available that is designed for the 24x7, high performance demands of enterprise applications, having specifications such as 1.2 million hours MTBF, 10,000 RPM, 5.2 milliseconds (ms) average seek time and a five-year warranty. It offers systems builders and storage providers a primary storage hard drive at substantially less cost than comparable SCSI products.
"Serial ATA is a significant driver in today's distribution channel -- bringing down the cost of storage, meeting performance requirements -- and literally transforming the approach to designing enterprise storage solutions," said Sam Sirisena, vice president of sales and marketing worldwide, Promise Technology. "Systems builders have been demanding a highly reliable and high-performance ATA hard drive as part of this evolution -- and the WD Raptor hits the mark. WD Raptor delivers a new level of value for enterprise-class hard drive reliability and performance, and combined with a Promise FastTrak SATA RAID controller card, results in a compelling component package for systems builders."
From Promise's FastTrak S150 TX2plus and TX4 SATA RAID controller cards to the SATA150 TX2plus and TX4 SATA adapters, Promise provides compatibility-certified, high-performance SATA solutions for up to four drives. With Promise's rich feature set and proven performance, users can realize the benefits of server-class storage at a fraction of the cost of SCSI.
About Western Digital
Western Digital, one of the storage industry's pioneers and long-time leaders, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The Company produces reliable, high-performance hard drives that keep users' data close-at-hand and secure from loss.
Western Digital was founded in 1970. The Company's storage products are marketed to leading systems manufacturers and selected resellers under the Western Digital brand name. Visit the Investor section of the Company's Web site (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.
About Promise Technology, Inc.
Promise Technology is the originator and global leader of ATA RAID, using cost-effective ATA technology and now its latest evolution, Serial ATA, to design and manufacture fast, reliable data protection and storage alternatives to SCSI RAID systems. With its history of ATA product and technology development, Promise Technology is the recognized world leader in ATA controllers, ATA RAID cards and ATA RAID subsystems. Promise Technology maintains ongoing product development relationships with leading ATA hard drive manufacturers and server and storage OEMs. Headquartered in Milpitas, CA, the company maintains offices in Europe, Taiwan, and China. For more information, visit Promise Technology's Web site at
http://www.promise.com.
This release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the adoption and ramp of Serial ATA. These forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations, and actual results may differ materially as a result of several factors, including: uncertainties related to the development and introduction of products based on new technologies, difficulties faced in manufacturing ramp, pricing, competition, the significant uncertainty of market acceptance of new products, and other factors discussed in Western Digital's recent SEC filings. Western Digital undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of these statements.
Company contacts:
Steve Shattuck
Press Relations
949.672.7817
steve.shattuck@wdc.com
Robert Blair
Investor Relations
949.672.7834
robert.blair@wdc.com
Tom McKee
Promise Technology
Pr@promise.com
408.228.1400
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Western Digital and the Western Digital logo are registered trademarks and WD Raptor is a trademark of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks herein are property of their respective owner.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Photo of WD Raptor may be downloaded at
http://www.westerndigital.com/company/branding/digitalphotos.asp
.