WD Debuts World's First SSD + HDD Dual Drive - The WD Black²

Discussion in 'News' started by Adrian Wong, Nov 26, 2013.

  1. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    26 November 2013 – WD®, a Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) company and storage industry leader, today announced the release of the WD Black2™ dual drive, a unique storage innovation that fuses a 2.5-inch 120 GB solid state drive (SSD) with a 1 TB hard disk drive (HDD) to offer a powerful dual drive solution.

    Perfect for consumers and service providers looking to upgrade notebooks, small form factor desktops, and single-slot and all-in-one (AIO) systems with both SSD level performance and HDD capacity, the WD Black2 dual drive connects through a single cable and fits into a conventional 9.5 mm slot.

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    “Our customers told us they like our Solid State Hybrid Drive technology, but our tech savvy users asked for more control of where they store their data,” said Matt Rutledge, senior vice president of WD’s Storage Technology business unit. “The WD Black2 dual drives empower our customers to enjoy SSD performance and access high capacity storage in a no-compromise package. The WD Black2 dual drive is a direct result of our interaction with our customer base through WD Labs initiatives. WD devised its beta labs program to provide an exclusive testing arena for key customers and technology influencers of existing and emerging WD storage products."

    2-in-1
    Designed for enthusiasts, creative professionals, gamers and PC builders, the WD Black2 dual drive provides improved overall drive capacity, performance, and reliability, while offering the flexibility to choose how and where their data is stored. Utilizing the benefits of both flash and magnetic disks, WD Black2 dual drives offload data usage from the SSD to the HDD, which increases endurance and life of the SSD. Users maintain greater data control, which can eliminate the need and expense of cloud-based storage.

    WD Black2 is free of caching algorithms and benefits from SATA 6 Gb/second interface speed. It is neatly packaged in a standard 9.5 mm, 2.5-inch form factor with legacy SATA connector, making the WD Black2 dual drive compatible with popular PC operating systems ranging from Windows XP to Windows 8.1.

    Price and Availability
    WD Black2 dual drives are covered by a five-year limited warranty. MSRP for the 2.5-inch 120 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD WD Black2 dual drive, model #: (WD1001X06XDTL) is RM 1,088 and is distributed locally by Amble Action Sdn Bhd, Achieva Technology Sdn Bhd and Eternal Asia (M) Sdn Bhd
     

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  2. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    I think this is a much better hybrid solution than the Seagate's. Proper storage space for the OS, and huge enough space for other datas.
     
  3. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    It's actually not a hybrid drive but two separate drives within a single enclosure.

    The SSD and HDD portions will appear as separate volumes. In fact, from what I understand, only the SSD part will be visible on installation. You have to insert the USB key to enable the HDD after installation, or initialize it manually in Windows' Disk Management utility.
     
  4. SkylineRemix

    SkylineRemix Newbie

    Neat stuff! However, I've just upgraded to ssd this year making 2 hard drives in the Macbook now. No point for me to get it unless apple comes out with a new Macbook that I would consider upgrade to. Boring lah the current Macbook design.
     
  5. peaz

    peaz ARP Webmaster Staff Member

    You should get the Retina MacBook Pro. Its sexy :p

    Oh and this...
     

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  6. peaz

    peaz ARP Webmaster Staff Member

    I think that it should have been a hybrid drive, like how FusionDrive works on the Mac. Sounds like what WD could have easily done.

    Anyways. Any indication of the pricing of this new drive?
     
  7. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    Interesting. Wondering how does it appear in windows or mac. Separate volumes or hybrid drive.
     
  8. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Well, the new MacBooks are NOT upgradable anymore. What you buy is what you have to live with for the rest of the MacBook's lifespan. :D

    This SSD+HDD combo is a great solution for single-spindle notebooks that cannot accept a second bay like the older MacBook Pro or dual-spindle notebooks. It allows them to upgrade to an SSD and a HDD.

    This combo drive will also allow dual-spindle notebooks to enjoy a maximum of 2 SSDs and 2 HDDs - 240 GB of SSD storage and 2 TB of HDD storage! :thumb:
     
  9. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    WD had already done hybrid drives but these have mostly been sold to OEMs.

    Hybrid drives aren't as useful because the SSD serves as a cache, rather than an actual drive. You don't actually have control over what goes into the SSD part. Also, the flash cache is usually small - 16/32 GB so it ends up caching the OS and very little of other software.

    This combo drive will allow you to install all your software and mission-critical work files on the SSD and leave the less important stuff on the HDD. This allows you to maximize the performance advantage of your SSD.

    Bonus - even if you drop your notebook and destroy the HDD portion, your notebook is still bootable and your most critical files are safe in the SSD portion. :thumb:

    Price - yes, it's RM 1,088 (~US$ 349). :thumb:
     
  10. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    They will appear as separate volumes.

    The HDD volume is not initialized by default, so when it's first installed, only the SSD will initialize and get detected. This, I presume, is to avoid noobs from screwing up and installing the OS on the HDD partition.

    After that, you have to use a provided USB key to install a software that enables the HDD partition. Or you can initialize the HDD manually in Windows.
     
  11. peaz

    peaz ARP Webmaster Staff Member

    I meant it to be how Apple handles a SSD + HDD combo as a single Fusion drive, much like how WD has already done with the Hybrid Drive, but with a larger SSD like this new black HDD/SDD combo drive. I'm sure they can do it, but maybe already patented by Apple?

    EDIT: Wait, you can still easily do this with Mountain Lion: OS X 10.8.3 Now Offers Fusion Drive Possibilities For Non-Fusion Drive Equipped Macs | Other World Computing Blog :D Planning to do this soon with my old MBP, taking out one of the two SSDs and replacing it with a HDD instead.

    As for the new MacBook Pro Retina and Air's SSD, it's actually upgradable since it's not soldered on. The older SATA based SSD on the Air has 3rd party replacements available, primarily by OWC. OWC SSD (Flash) Drives for Apple MacBook Air 2012 Models and OWC SSD (Flash) Drives for Apple MacBook Pro Retina 2012

    However, the latest 2013 iteration of MacBooks with the PCIe SSDs does not yet have a 3rd party solution. But it's definitely removable. MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Late 2013 Teardown - iFixit

    But PCIe SSD surely is freaking expensive now.
     
  12. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Fusion Drive sounds like a slightly modified hybrid drive, in that it lists the combined capacity of both SSD and HDD, while hybrid drives don't list the capacity of the SSD part because it serves as a cache.

    But functionally, Apple's Fusion Drive shouldn't be any different from a regular hybrid drive. It still automatically moves the most frequently used files to the SSD portion, just like in a hybrid drive (SSHD).

    While Apple's method is less confusing for noobs, I think Western Digital's method is better for geeks, because I would want to be able to determine what files go onto the SSD portion. Not only for performance reasons, but also data safety reasons.

    Yeah, the PCIe SSD in the new MacBooks are definitely upgradeable but I don't think they are really cheap to upgrade when third-party upgrades come to market. That's why most people who buy the new MacBooks choose to upgrade their SSDs if they can afford to.
     
    Last edited: Nov 29, 2013

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