Western Digital Corporation (abbreviated WDC , commonly abbreviated to Western Digital or WD ) is an American computer data storage company and one of the world's largest hard disk hard disk drive manufacturers, along with its main competitor Seagate Technology.
Western Digital Corporation has a long history in the electronics industry as an integrated circuit maker and storage products company. Western Digital was established on April 23, 1970, by Alvin B. Phillips, an employee of Motorola, as General Digital , originally (and briefly) manufacturer of MOS test equipment. It quickly became a specialized semiconductor maker, with initial capital provided by several individual investors and industry giant Emerson Electric. Around July 1971, the company adopted its current name and soon introduced its first product, WD1402A UART.
Video Western Digital
History
1970s
Originally financed with initial capital provided by investors and Emerson Electric Company, WDC made money selling chip calculators through the early 1970s, and in 1975 WDC was the world's largest independent chip-making calculator. The oil crisis of the mid-1970s and the bankruptcy of its greatest calculator customer, Bowmar Instrument, changed its fortunes, and in 1976 Western Digital declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. After this, Emerson withdrew their support of the company, and the WDC did it on its own.
WDC introduced several well-known products during this time, including multi-chip, microcoded MCP-1600 . MCP-1600 is used to implement their own LSI-11 DEC and Pascal MicroEngine microcomputer systems running UCSD p-System Version III and UCSD Pascal. This processor is also used in some single chip floppy disk drive control chip, especially FD1771 . However, the integrated WD circuit that arguably pushes the Western forward integration is the 1771 chip, the first disk format/controller, replacing the TTL logic board. Although the price was much higher than the average CMOS chip at the time, it was very successful and very profitable.
1980s
FD1771 and its relatives are WDC's first entry into the data storage industry; in the early 1980s, they made the hard disk drive controllers, and in 1983, they won a contract to provide IBM with controllers for PC/AT. The controller, WD1003 , became the basis of the ATA interface (developed by WDC along with the MPI Compaq and Control Data Corporation divisions, now owned by Seagate Technology), beginning in 1986. Throughout the 1980s, the controlling family based on WD1003 provides most of WDC's revenue and profits, and temporarily generates enormous corporate growth.
Much of the mid to late 1980s saw an attempt by WDC to use the advantages of their ATA storage controller to become a general-purpose OEM hardware supplier for the PC industry. As a result, WDC bought a number of hardware companies. These include graphics cards (through Paradise's subsidiary, bought 1986, which became Western Digital Imaging), core logic chipset (by buying Faraday Electronics Inc. in 1987), SCSI control chip for disk and tape devices (by purchasing ADSI in 1986), network ( WD8003 , WD8013 Ethernet and WD8003S StarLAN). They did well (especially Paradise, who produced one of the best VGA cards of the time), but the disk-related chip and disk controllers were their biggest money-maker. In 1986, they introduced a single SCSI chip interface WD33C93 , which was used on the 16-bit SCSI master bus of the first host adapter, WD7000 "FASST" ; in 1987 they introduced WD37C65 , a single chip implementation of the PC/AT floppy disk control circuitry, and grandfather of the super modern I/O chip; in 1988 they introduced WD42C22 "Vanilla" , the first single-chip ATA hard disk controller.
1988 also brought the biggest change in WDC history. That year, WDC bought hard drive production assets of PC hardware maker Tandon; the first product of the union under the WDC name itself is the "Centaur" series of attachment drives ATA and XT.
1990s
In 1991 things began to slow down, as the PC industry moved from ST-506 and ESDI drives to ATA and SCSI, and thus bought fewer hard disk control boards. That year saw the emergence of the WDC Caviar drive, a new design that uses the latest embedded servo and computerized systems.
Finally, successful sales of the Caviar drive resulted in the WDC starting to sell some of its divisions. Heaven is sold to Philips, and has since disappeared. The network and its floppy drive control division went to SMC Networks and its SCSI chip business to the Future Domain, which was later purchased by the Adaptec market leader. Around 1995, the technological advantages enjoyed by Caviar have been eliminated by new offerings from other companies, especially Quantum Corp., and the WDC fell into decline.
Products and ideas this time did not go far. Drive Portfolio (3-inch (76 mm) form size model, developed with JT Storage) is a flop, such as an SDX hard disk to the CD-ROM interface. WDC drives start slipping further behind competing products, and quality begins to decline; system builders and PC enthusiasts used to recommend WD above all else, will go to the competition, especially Maxtor, whose products have improved significantly in the late 1990s.
In an effort to change the wave in 1998, WDC recruited IBM's help. This agreement grants WDC the right to use certain IBM technologies, including magneto-resistive giant (GMR) heads and access to IBM production facilities. The result was the line of Expert drives, introduced in early 1999. The idea worked, and WDC regained respect in the media and among users, despite a recall in 2000 (caused by bad motor drivers chips). The WDC then severed ties with IBM.
2000s
In 2001, Western Digital became the first manufacturer to offer the main ATA hard disk drive with 8Ã, MiB buffer disks. At that time, most desktop hard disk drives have 2 MB buffers. The WDC labeled this 8 MB model as "Special Edition" and distinguishes it with the JB code (2 MB model has BB ). The first 8 MB hard disk cache is WD1000JB 100 GB, followed by other models starting with 40 GB capacity. WDC advertises the JB model for cost-effective file servers. In October 2001, WD reiterated the results of the previous year to reflect the adoption of the SEC Administrative Staff Bulletin No.101 and the reconnection of Connex and the results of SANavigator as discontinued operations.
In 2003, WD acquired most of the assets of a bankrupt once-once-leading market developer of Read-Rite Corporation read-write hard disks. In the same year, WD offered the first 10,000 Serial ATA HDDs, "Raptor" WD360GD, with a capacity of 36 GB and average access time of less than six milliseconds. Soon, WD740GD 74Ã, GB follows, which is also much quieter. In 2004, Western Digital redesigned its logo for the first time since 1997, with a new logo design focusing on company initials ("WD"). In 2005, Western Digital released the 150GB version, WD1500, which is also available in special versions with transparent windows that allow users to view the drive heads moving over the disc while the drive reads and writes data. In 2004, WD Raptor drives have a five-year warranty, making it a more attractive option for inexpensive storage servers, where large amounts of hard disks in constant use increase the likelihood of drive failure.
In 2006, Western Digital introduced its line of My Book external hard drives featuring a compact book design. On October 7, 2007, Western Digital released several 1 TB single hard drive editions, the largest in the My Books line.
In 2007, Western Digital acquired Komag's magnetic media maker. Also in the same year, Western Digital adopted a perpendicular recording technology in the line of notebooks and desktop drives. This made it possible to produce the largest desktop and notebook drives in the class at the time. Western Digital also began producing energy efficient GP (Green Power) lines for extremely low power consumption and heat dissipation but surprisingly good performance.
In 2007, Western Digital announced the WD GP drive touting the rotational speed "between 7200 and 5400 rpm", which, if potentially misleading, is technically correct; drives spin at 5405 rpm, and the Green Power rotation speed does not vary. WD GP drives are programmed to unload heads whenever idle for a very short time. Many Linux installations write to the file system several times a minute in the background. As a result, there may be 100 or more hourly load cycles, and a 300,000 load rating from a WD GP drive can be exceeded in less than a year.
On April 21, 2008, Western Digital announced the next generation of SATA WD Raptor 10,000 rpm hard drive series. The new drive, called WD VelociRaptor, features 300 GB capacity and 2.5 inch discs (64 mm) enclosed in IcePack, 3.5 inch (89 mm) mounting frame with built-in heat sink. Western Digital says that the new drive is 35 percent faster than the previous generation. On September 12, 2008, Western Digital shipped a 2.5-inch (64 mm) 2.5-inch notebook hard drive that is part of their Scorpio Blue notebook hard drive series.
On January 27, 2009, Western Digital delivered its first 2 TB internal hard disk. On March 30, 2009, WDC entered the solid state hard disk market with the acquisition of Siliconsystems, Inc. On July 27, 2009, Western Digital announced the first 1 TB hard disk drive, which was shipped as a USB portable passport serial drive as well as a Scorpio Blue notebook drive series.
2010s
In April 2010, Western Digital announced plans to acquire magnetic glass sputtering operations from HOYA Corporation and HOYA Magnetics Singapore Pte. Ltd. (HOMS), and the deal closed in June 2010 for $ 233 million. While Western Digital had previously acquired other magnetic glass sputtering operations, the purchase of HOMS gave Western Digital an edge in its efforts to produce high-end hard disk drives using magnetic glass media. In 2010, there were three independent glass HDD glass manufacturing factories, namely Showa Denko, Fuji Electric, and HOYA Magnetics.
In October 2010, Western Digital announced the first 3 TB hard disk drive shipment, which has a density of 750 GB per dish with SATA interface.
In March 2011, Western Digital agreed to acquire Hitachi's Hitachi Global Storage Technologies storage unit, about $ 4.3 billion, of which $ 3.5 billion is paid in cash and the remainder with 25 million Western Digital. On October 21, 2011, the Western Digital plant in Thailand ceased operations in connection with the flood of Thailand 2011. This caused the hard drive shortage provided by Western Digital. PC manufacturers noted a problem with Apple's CEO, Tim Cook stated that he expects "the overall disk drive industry deficiency." Dell spokesman also stated that they "are working with our hard drive suppliers to address potential impact for the rest of the year." Nevertheless, Western Digital's profits are increasing following the rise in HDD prices.
In March 2012, Western Digital completed the acquisition of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies and became the largest traditional hard drive manufacturer in the world. To address the requirements of regulatory agencies, in May 2012 WDC divested assets to produce and sell 3.5 inch hard drives for desktop and consumer electronics markets to Toshiba. In July 2012, Western Digital announced the "Red" drive series, designed for network-connected storage devices (NAS). This drive series has a special firmware designed for the Home/Small Business environment, has better reliability than standard desktop drives, is more energy efficient and comes with a 3-year warranty. In November 2012, Western Digital announced a 4 TB internal hard disk, 3.5 inch drive, 7200 rpm of the "Black" series.
On 27 January 2013, Timothy Martin Leyden announced WD will invest US $ 200 million for expansion in Thailand. Operation back in Thailand after recovering from damage during the 2011 floods. In November 2013, Western Digital (through its subsidiary HGST) showcased a new 6-TB Ultrastar He6 hard disk containing helium. When compared to regular air filled HDDs, they claim a 49% reduction in power usage per terabyte of storage.
In February 2014, Western Digital announced a new line of "Purple" hard disk drives for use in video surveillance systems, with capacities from 1 to 4 TB. They feature internal optimizations for applications that involve almost constant disk writes, and the "AllFrame" technology designed to reduce writing errors. This line is then expanded to include 5 and 6 TB models. In September 2014, Western Digital's HGST division introduced HDD 6-TB, 8Ã,® TB and 10Ã, a newly filled TB helium tube, in which a 10 TB variant also used a shingled magnetic recording (SMR). In December 2014, Western Digital acquired Skyera, a flash-based storage development company, integrating the newly acquired company into the HGST division.
In May 2015, Western Digital redesigned the My Passport Ultra portable hard drive series, adding a 3 TB storage option. Then in 2015, WDC also launched the WD Blue series of hard-state hybrid drives, with TB 4A (WD40E31X) desktop drives and TB 1A (WD10J31X) laptop drives as the first in the series. In August 2015, WDC added a 5400 rpm (2-6Ã, TB) higher model to the Blue hard disk drive series, as well as the 5A and 6 TB TB models for its Black and Red Pro hard disk drive series.
In May 2016, Western Digital acquired SanDisk for US $ 19 billion.
In April 2017 Western Digital moved its headquarters from Irvine, California to San Jose, California.
In the summer of 2017 Western Digital licenses the IO Accelerator Fusion-io/SanDisk software to One Stop Systems.
In August 2017, Western Digital acquired Upthere, which offers apps that sync files and photos across devices, with a view to continuing to build services.
In September 2017, Western Digital acquired Tegile Systems, the maker of flash memory storage.
Maps Western Digital
Location
- North America: Canada, USA (Irvine, California; Mountain View, California; San Jose, California; Fremont, California; Longmont, Colorado; Belleair, Florida; Pasadena; Maryland; Reading; Massachusetts; Bellevue; Washington, Cleveland, Ohio; North Sioux City, South Dakota; Austin; Texas; Dallas, Texas; Houston, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah)
- Europe: Czech Republic (Prague), France (Issy les Moulineaux), Germany (Dornach bei MÃÆ'¼nchen), United Kingdom (Leatherhead), Netherlands (Schiphol, Amsterdam)
- Asia: India (Bangalore); China (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen); Hongkong; Taiwan (Taipei); Japan (Tokyo); South Korea (Seoul); Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Sarawak); Singapore; Thailand (Ayuthaya, Pathumthani); United Arab Emirates (Dubai); Israel
Products
Hard drive
Western Digital hard drive displays product names by color; these colors indicate the drive characteristics:
- Green energy-saving drive, with slightly slower performance; they have been stopped. Drive
- Blue is average performance. Drive
- Black is high performing.
- Red drives designed for NAS use - optimized for reading performance Drive
- Purple is designed for storage of surveillance data - optimized for writing performance
- Gold drives are designed for "datacenter" use, with very high MTBF
Software
Western Digital (WD) distributes the following utilities for use with its hard drive.
Lifeguard Tools data is a suite utility software for basic hard disk settings, developed under contract by Kroll Ontrack Inc (which also provides similar suites for other drive manufacturers). It runs on Microsoft Windows and DOS operating systems. It's free to download and use, but does not support modern WD drives - installed drives will be ignored. As of September 30, 2009, Acronis WD Edition replaces Data Protected Equipment.
In version 11 it contains the following features:
- displays the built-on-demand installation manual (with jumper settings) for many Western Digital hard drives,
- partition and format the hard disk,
- copies files between disk partitions,
- displays the number, size and type of the partition,
- displays basic technical disk information, such as firmware revision, SMART Support (Active/Inactive), ATA Support #, Multiple R/W, PIO Mode Support, IORDY Support (Yes/No), Sector/Block, PIO Cycle Time.
Lifeguard Diagnostics data is a software utility used primarily to determine physical conditions - but only the old model of Digital Western hard drives. This includes features like:
- The quick and extended test
- Write zero for driving
- View and print test results
- Enter and print the return information (RMA) authorization
Western Digital also sends WD Smartware with multiple drives to use as a backup drive, with the exception of its Touro Mobile hard disk, which is the HDD brand of its HGST division. Additionally, this software does not detect hard drives manufactured by HGST, in contrast to the automatic detection of Western Digital My Passport or My Passport Ultra hard drives after the user enters them on the computer where WD Smartware is installed. The software regularly backs up all Documents, Images, Movies, Emails, and more on the drive, and constantly checks changes to drive location. The software seems to detect certain hard drive brands and distinguish the Digital Western hard drive from other hard drives, similar to Seagate SeaTools software.
However, by June 2013, one can no longer use a boot disk to test modern WD drives separately from the operating system. In an annotation note at its support site, Western Digital omits to elaborate why it forces users to use Windows to test its drive, touching OS X issues: "Due to limitations in Mac OS X, you need to connect your drive to a PC running Windows to run our diagnostics. "
ATA parallel hard disk
WD is the latest manufacturer of ATA parallel hard disks for laptops (2.5 inch form factor) and desktop PC (3.5 inch form factor), by producing it until December 2013.
Consumer products
Western Digital sells consumer storage products under the WD brand, with a family of products named My Passport, My Book, and My Cloud.
Western Digital announces the product above the top set box market to compete with Apple TV, Roku, and Google TV.
Western Digital also manufactures network products. For their wireless router: My Net 600, My Net 750, My Net 900, and My Net 900 Central. For the rest: My Net AC Bridge, My Clean Switch, and My Net Wi-Fi Range Extender.
Legal Charges
Lawsuits have been filed against various manufacturers including Western Digital, related to the claimed capacity of their drives. Drives are labeled using a 10 ^ 3 (1000) byte to kilobytes convention, resulting in a perceived capacity shortage when reported by most operating systems, which tend to use 2 ^ 10 (1024) bytes to kilobytes.
While Western Digital states that they use "absolutely indisputable industry standards for measuring and explaining storage capacity", and that they "can not be expected to reform the software industry", they agreed to settle in March 2006, with a $ 30 for affected customers. in the form of backup and recovery software of the same value. A disclaimer is now included with all drives explaining capacity numbers.
Problem
Self-encrypting Western Digital hard drives have been reported to have severe and easily decrypted errors.
See also
- Western Digital Raptor
- Western Digital My Book
- Western Digital My Passport
- WD TV
References
- "25 Years of Innovation: Western Digital History" (PDF) . Western Digital. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 10, 1997.
- The Past and Present Microprocessors by John Bayko
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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