Western Digital 2TB Caviar Green Power Hard Drive

Name: Western Digital 2TB Caviar Green Power Hard Drive
Brand: Western

by HH Editor — Wednesday, April 08, 2009, 12:00 PM EDT

Introduction and Specifications

The green technology movement is obviously in full swing now. Better efficiency through technological innovation has a trickle down effect to many facets of life style, technology and the environment. Whether motivated by cost or environmental reasons the benefits of eco-minded innovation will eventually be felt by all. When products can be produced cheaper through the use of green technologies due to cost savings to the manufacturer, consumers and the planet will eventually reap the benefits. Widespread adoption of green technology products, like Western Digital's Green Power Hard Drive for example, adds to the overall effectiveness of the green technology movement and increases aggregate resource savings in the enterprise and data center, as well as the end user markets.

Western Digital is the first to market with a 2TB hard drive and it just so happens that it's a Caviar Green Power version drive. Not only is it flush with a much larger capacity but it also features "Green Power" technology that includes a host of features which make this a very consumer and environmentally friendly drive. Advertising lower temperatures, quieter operation, and the performance advantages of increased platter density, this drive is suited for a variety of storage usage models, especially those with tighter power consumption constraints.

We covered Western Digital's foray into green technology in an earlier article testing both the consumer and enterprise versions of their 1TB Green Power hard drive . Since then there have been additional improvements in the drive and its firmware. Although an enterprise version is not offered at this time, it is sure to be in the works to generate vastly more cumulative power savings across the data center based on the sheer number of drives deployed.

Western Digital 2TB Caviar Green Power Hard Drive

Specifications & Features

Performance Specifications
Transfer Rates
    Buffer To Host (Serial ATA)     3 Gb/s (Max)
Physical Specifications
    Formatted Capacity     2,000,398 MB
    Capacity     2 TB
    Interface     SATA 3 Gb/s
    User Sectors Per Drive     3,907,029,168
Physical Dimensions
    Height     26.1 mm
    Length     147 mm
    Width     101.6 mm
    Weight     0.73 kg

Environmental Specifications
Shock
    Operating Shock (Read)     65G, 2 ms
    Non-operating Shock     300G, 2 ms
Acoustics
    Idle Mode     25 dBA (average)
    Seek Mode 0     29 dBA (average)
    Seek Mode 3     26 dBA (average)
Vibration
Operating
    Linear     20-300 Hz, .75G (0 to peak)
    Random     10-300 Hz, 0.008 g² / Hz
Non-operating
    Low Frequency     5-20 Hz, 0.195 inches (double amplitude)
    High Frequency     20-500 Hz, 4.0G (0 to peak)

Electrical Specifications
Current Requirements
Power Dissipation
    Read/Write     6.00 Watts
    Idle     3.7 Watts
    Standby     0.80 Watts
    Sleep     0.80 Watts

Reduced power consumption
WD has reduced power consumption by up to 40 percent compared to standard desktop drives with the combination of WD's IntelliSeek™, NoTouch™, and IntelliPower™ technologies.

Cool and quiet
GreenPower™ technology yields lower operating temperatures for increased reliability and low acoustics for ultra-quiet PCs and external drives.

NoTouch™, and IntelliPower™ technologies.
WD Caviar Green drives yield an average drive power savings of 4-5 watts over standard desktop drives making it possible for our energy-conscious customers to build systems with higher capacities and the right balance of system performance, ensured reliability, and energy conservation.

Massive capacity
Capacities up to 2 TB offer the most available capacity for storage-intensive programs and space-hungry operating systems, like Window Vista®, with plenty of room left over for photos, music, and video.

Perfect for external drives
External drive manufacturers can eliminate the need for a fan in a high-capacity product with a WD Caviar Green drive, the coolest and quietest in its class.

IntelliPower
A fine-tuned balance of spin speed, transfer rate andcaching algorithms designed to deliver both significant power savingsand solid performance.

IntelliSeek
Calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption, noise, and vibration.

NoTouch ramp load technology
The recording head never touches the disk media ensuringsignificantly less wear to the recording head and media as well asbetter drive protection in transit.

Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR)
Employs PMR technology to achieve even greater areal density.

StableTrac™
The motor shaft is secured at both ends to reducesystem-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking,during read and write operations.

Low power spin-up
WD Caviar Green drives consume less current during startup allowing lower peak loads.

Advanced power technology
Electronic components deliver best-in-class low power consumption for reduced power requirements and increased reliability.

The Western Digital Green Power Caviar 2TB drive features 4 - 500GB platters, but Western Digital has not published any rotational speed specifics. Through the combination of Western Digital's IntelliSeek™, NoTouch™, and IntelliPower™ technologies WD claims their Green Power 2TB drive can offer power savings of "up to 40 percent" in comparison to other desktop drives. (Updated for technical accuracy)