Even if the Solid State Disk (SSD) market is growing, and some claim that this is the future of data storage, the "classic" hard disks are not yet dead. In fact, Western Digital announced a new model of the 10,000 RPM SATA "Raptor" series of drives.

This new model amazingly packs 300 GB of storage capacity into a 2.5-inch enterprise form factor, but what makes it really unique is that the disk is installed into a huge passive cooler that de facto converts the drive into a 3.5" disk.

Main features announced for this drive are the following:

• 10,000 RPM, with SATA 3 Gb/s interface, and 16 MB cache
• 1.4 million hours MTBF
• IcePack Mounting Frame - the 3.5" heat sink that keeps this drive cool when installed in high-performance desktop chassis
• Rotary Acceleration Feed Forward (RAFF) - Optimizes performance when the drives are used in vibration-prone, multi-drive chassis
• SecurePark - Parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface, resulting in improved long-term reliability and increased drive protection when the chassis is moved

WD VelociRaptor (model WD3000GLFS) hard drives will be available by the end of April at a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $299.99 USD. More information about WD VelociRaptor hard drives may be found on the company's Web site.