Western Digital
Western Digital expanded its WD Blue NVMe family of budget SSDs this week with the introduction of the the WD Blue SN5000 series, an updated lineup of SSDs that, among other things, adds a 4 TB model. Being budget drives, the SN5000 series is not going to be a performance monster, but their combination of capacity, reliability, and relatively low price could make them popular both among casual buyers and among enthusiasts looking for relatively cheap bulk solid-state storage. Western Digital's WD Blue SN500 NVMe drives come in an M.2-2280 form-factor and are based around an in-house WD controller (the company rarely discloses their codenames these days). WD's controller is a 4 channel, DRAMless design, which is what we typically see for budget and mainstream...
The Western Digital WD Black SN750 SSD Review: Why Fix What Isn't Broken?
Last year Western Digital overhauled their WD Black NVMe SSD with an upgrade to 3D NAND and a new in-house SSD controller, transforming the product line from one of...
55 by Billy Tallis on 1/18/2019Quick Look: Using WD's Black SN750 SSD as a Thunderbolt 3 External Drive
External SSDs with a Thunderbolt 3 interface are still the only option for users looking to get high-end performance in a bus-powered portable device. These SSDs have become possible...
10 by Ganesh T S on 1/18/2019Western Digital at CES 2019: External Flash Storage Solutions Showcased
In addition to the SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD and the 4TB thumb drive prototype demonstration, Western Digital also had announcements related to a couple of additional external flash...
7 by Ganesh T S on 1/8/2019Western Digital Demonstrates 4TB USB-C Thumb Drive Prototype at CES 2019
At CES 2019, Western Digital is demonstrating a prototype of a 4TB thumb drive with a Type-C interface. To be more precise, the form factor is that of a...
19 by Ganesh T S on 1/8/2019SanDisk's Mainstream Extreme PRO Portable SSD Goes NVMe
At CES 2019, Western Digital demonstrated a number of direct-attached flash solutions. Out of all the showcased items with imminent retail availability, one deserves separate mention. Under the SanDisk...
8 by Ganesh T S on 1/8/201916 TB MAMR Hard Drives in 2019: Western Digital
Western Digital revealed recently that it has begun to sample its next-generation hard drives based on microwave assisted magnetic recording (MAMR) technology. The sampling is a prelude to mass...
25 by Anton Shilov on 1/4/2019Western Digital Reveals SweRV RISC-V Core, Cache Coherency over Ethernet Initiative
Western Digital this week made three important announcements concerning its RISC-V-based processor initiative launched last year. The company introduced its own SweRV general-purpose core, its OmniXtend cache coherency over...
11 by Anton Shilov on 12/5/2018Best Consumer Hard Drives: Holiday 2018
Data storage requirements have kept increasing over the last several years. While SSDs have taken over the role of the primary drive in most computing systems, hard drives continue...
0 by Ganesh T S on 11/15/2018Western Digital Announces Ultrastar DC ME200 Memory Extension Drive
Western Digital on Monday introduced its new special-purpose SSD designed to speed up in-memory processing applications. The new Ultrastar DC ME200 Memory Extension Drive uses proven hardware and comes...
8 by Anton Shilov on 11/13/2018New Halo 15TB HDDs: Western Digital Unveils the Ultrastar DC HC620
Western Digital this week introduced its new Ultrastar DC HC620 family of hard drives that consists of 14 TB and 15 TB models. The HDDs use shingled magnetic recording...
19 by Anton Shilov on 10/26/2018Western Digital Unveils iNAND MC EU321: a UFS 2.1 Drive Based on 96L 3D NAND
Western Digital has announced its new lineup of UFS 2.1-based embedded storage devices for smartphones, tablets, PCs, and other mobile applications. The new iNAND MC EU321 drives are based...
5 by Anton Shilov on 10/12/2018SanDisk Extreme microSD Cards with A2 App Performance Spec Unveiled: 4K/2K IOPS
Western Digital’s SanDisk division on Friday unveiled its first lineup of microSD cards that are compliant with the App Performance 2 (A2) specification. The new SanDisk Extreme cards are...
23 by Anton Shilov on 10/5/2018Seagate Fast SSD and SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD 1TB USB 3.1 DAS Review
The advent of 3D TLC flash and high-speed interfaces such as USB 3.1 Gen 2 and Thunderbolt 3 has resulted in a number of economical high-performance direct-attached storage devices...
17 by Ganesh T S on 9/27/2018Toshiba Memory and Western Digital Open Fab 6 and New Memory R&D Center
Toshiba Memory and Western Digital on Wednesday officially opened up their new Fab 6 and Memory R&D Center. Both facilities are located at their Yokkaichi operations site that now...
6 by Anton Shilov on 9/20/2018Western Digital Announces OpenFlex Storage Architecture and NVMeoF Storage Devices
Western Digital on Tuesday introduced its new OpenFlex storage architecture and the first family of products supporting it. The OpenFlex architecture promises to enable operators of datacenters to independently...
3 by Anton Shilov on 8/7/2018HGST Launches Ultrastar DC SS530 SSDs: 3D TLC NAND, 15.36 TB, SAS 12 Gbps
Western Digital has quietly added its new HGST Ultrastar DC SS530-series SSDs to its lineup of products. The new drives are aimed at mission-critical storage applications, such as financial...
9 by Anton Shilov on 8/2/2018Toshiba Begins to Construct New BiCS 3D NAND Fab in Iwate Prefecture
Toshiba Memory Corp. this week held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new BiCS 3D NAND flash memory fab, which is located in Japan's Iwate prefecture. Toshiba anticipates construction to...
7 by Anton Shilov on 7/25/2018Western Digital Begins to Sample QLC BiCS4: 1.33 Tbit 96-Layer 3D NAND
Western Digital has started sampling its 96-layer 3D NAND chips featuring QLC architecture that stores four bits per cell. The chip happens to be the world’s highest-capacity 3D NAND...
40 by Anton Shilov on 7/20/2018Western Digital to Shut Down HDD Manufacturing Facility, Increase Production of SSDs
Western Digital this week announced plans to shut down its HDD assembly facility (near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) by the end of 2019, and then sell the property. The factory...
24 by Anton Shilov on 7/19/2018Toshiba Memory to Build New Fab to Produce BiCS 3D NAND
Toshiba Memory Corp., which is set to become independent from Toshiba in a few days, has announced their intention to start construction of a new BiCS 3D NAND fab...
7 by Anton Shilov on 5/29/2018