It’s been several months now since the almighty VelociRaptor hit the streets.  Many of the old guard Raptor users have immediately taken up this new technology with open arms and seen their systems fly to new all time heights.   On launch there were mutterings of a possible 2.5-inch variant of this beast to be unleashed upon the enterprise sectors that would nicely service blade servers pulling back on energy consumption and a reduction of heat.    Though ultimately providing all parties a very fast unit which would mean data centres and so forth would benefit greatly with its high speed read times.

Today we are quickly looking into the beast with more to follow over the forth coming weeks.  Initial results have been extremely good so we decided why wait for the big event, let's let you all into what we have been initially finding.  Many tier ones and OEMS alike have been putting these rascals through their paces for a few weeks now and the results are good.  These magnificent little beasts can be used in many ways indeed.  For today though we will briefly focus on a workstation environment as so many of you out there will be wondering how to fill the rack,  gaining the ultimate performance in pushing out your images.

Eagle eyes will have noted just how low on the actual power consumption the hard drive actually draws. The drive will hold, it's claimed, up to 85,000 digital photos; up to 75,000 songs (MP3), up to 7,500 songs (uncompressed CD quality; up to 23 hours of digital video; up to 100 hours of DVD quality video; and up to 36 hours of HD video.

The question then remains, what system to test as the choice is varied indeed.  With much deliberation and thought we decided to run with our standard in house test system for now as many desktop users will be very interested in this product.

Benchmarks and Software Used (32 Bit Mode)
As this is to be a very brief look at the drives actual Read and Write performance we ran with the following packages:

Microsoft XP Professional SP3 and complete Updates (Boot Disc)
HD TACH 3.0.4.0
HD Tune Professional Ver 3.0
SiSoftware Sandra XII SP2c

The results from these benchmarks will be sufficient to give you all a good understanding of what is actually about to come next. 

VelociRaptor™ 2 ½” Write Tests

HD TACH 3.0.4.0 Long Write Test

HD TACH 3.0.4.0 Full Write Test

HD Tune Professional Ver 3.0 Write Test

SiSoftware Sandra XII SP2c Write Test

VelociRaptor™ 2 ½” Read Tests

HD TACH 3.0.4.0 Long Read Test

HD TACH 3.0.4.0 Full Read Test

HD Tune Professional Ver 3.0 Read Test

SiSoftware Sandra XII SP2c Read Test

Conclusions
Initial impressions are very good indeed, the drive speeds along merrily and we do have to take note at the sustained write speeds.  100MB/s (PLUS) for a solitary spindle hard drive is essentially pretty amazing.   The introduction of both RAFF™ and NoTouch™ technologies to the disc will ensure that the drive maintains its longevity within the rack. 

Temperatures, as we noted within the HD Tune results the 2 ½ VelociRaptors never getting all that hot within the rack.  At most we saw the disc reaching 34C but this was whilst completing the HD Tach Full test.

This newest Western Digital VelociRaptor™ hard drive is built for business-critical applications with enterprise-class mechanics and packs up to 300 GB of capacity into the enterprise small form factor bays, while consuming 35 percent less power than the previous-generation WD Raptor® drive.   However, and there always is, this does not mean the drive can be found else where for mission critical systems.  Another day perhaps as so much is going on here.

As we discussed earlier, this disc is going to pop up in so many places.  It's fast and extremely versatile and when we do the sums of cost per GB it's good too.  You do have to sit and wonder are SSDs really worth it at this point,  as from what we have seen so far the current SSDs are nowhere near  what the VR has to offer.   After all the sustained write and read speeds of the VelociRaptor will be giving most SSD’s an exceptional run for their monies and severe headache.  Nobody thought that the 100MB/s plus write speed was achievable from a single spindle hard disc and yet it's here.   Claimed high speed SSDs are a coming, claims are as they are, claims; the proof is in the actual working product. 

We have showed that one hurdle to be overcome is getting into place good sound and extremely reliable caddies that actually support 2.5-inch “hard disks.   They are out there now and for those wanting to get them within the EU please contact Xworks Interactive which specializes  in High-End 3D Systems.   Within 24 hours we had in situ the 5.25-inch Bay Caddy that supports the 2.5-inch “hard disks readily.  Oh yeah,  high-end enthusiasts and overclockers take note at the four supported bays within this neatly constructed part.  Many minds will be running well into overdrive – 1.2GBS of Raid 0 VelociRaptors.

It’s too early yet to make an actual award for the 2 ½” VelociRaptor as we have got much more to complete, but it's close.   After all this is an early impressions look to whet the appetites of those of you out there waiting quietly in the wings. X