WD's Velociraptor I/O connection issue resolved with design update
Remember those uber-fast VelociRaptor drives that had the hardcore (and IT dwellers) in a tizzy? Turns out they had some inexplicable design flaw that put the power and serial connections in the wrong spot, rendering some 3.5-inch backplane server installations basically useless. WD has announced a new solution that fixes this, and the new drives are now shipping. No word on returns and exchanges, but we have a feeling WD will be making good on this. Oops, and good job on the quick fix, WD.
UPDATE: Official word from WD on this is as follows: "WD knew they would have the WD VelociRaptor drive ready for PC/WS (Wintel apps) months ahead of the enterprise versions because of the firmware/system validation required in our ESG labs across the thousands of enterprise slots. We decided to come out with GLFS as "Wintel only" and put together a simpler mounting frame for the cabled systems which dominate the PC/WS market. The backplane sled requires the design of an interposer card and extensive signal integrity testing (anyone who has dealt with enterprise applications knows that interposer cards can create nightmares). Instead of delay the introduction of WD VelociRaptor all together, we decided to go with the simple mounting frame while we did our backplane validation along with the firmware, vibration, etc... type validation we do for enterprise."
[Via Crunchgear]
