Press Release

WESTERN DIGITAL ANNOUNCES SEPTEMBER AVAILABILITY OF ULTRA160 SCSI INTERFACE FOR ITS WD ENTERPRISE 10,000 RPM HARD DRIVES

Places WD among high-end time-to-market leaders with new interface

IRVINE, Calif. - August 24, 1999 - Western Digital Corporation (NYSE:WDC) today announced that its high performance WD Enterprise 10,000 RPM low-profile hard drives with the new Ultra160 SCSI interface will be available next month in the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and distribution channels. This new interface allows enhanced data manageability, increased system flexibility and support of the higher I/O speeds required in today's data-intensive enterprise computing environments.

The new Ultra160 SCSI interface supports the demand for higher data transfer rates by doubling the Ultra2 SCSI rate from 80 MB/sec to 160 MB/sec and offers compatibility with existing Ultra2 SCSI host controllers.

According to Dataquest, the support and ramp of the Ultra160 SCSI interface will reach major volume levels during the year 2000 at 6.8 million units. "Western Digital, among the first to market with Ultra160 SCSI products, is well positioned to take advantage of growing demand in the server and RAID environments with its WD Enterprise Ultra160 SCSI products through improved manageability, scalability and data integrity," said Rich Rutledge, general manager of enterprise solutions for Western Digital. "We are providing our customers a choice of interface that is not only backwards-compatible to protect their current SCSI technology investment, but also one that greatly optimizes their specific computing environment."

The latest WD Enterprise 10,000 RPM models feature 18.3 GB and 9.1 GB capacities, giant magnetoresistive (GMR) head technology and 95mm media, which equate to industry-leading 4.6 GB per-platter areal density. The robust mechanical design makes them quiet, cool and highly shock resistant, which is ideal for the demanding enterprise-class server, workstation and storage subsystems applications.

"The exceptional 360 Mbit/sec maximum media data rates and 5.2 msec seek times of the WD Enterprise 10,000 RPM hard drives, combined with the improved bandwidth Ultra160 SCSI offers, will greatly benefit applications such as digital video, data warehousing, data mining, Internet/Intranet and e-commerce transactions," Rutledge continued.

WD Ultra160 SCSI Support Consistent with Host Bus Adapter Availability
Consistent with general availability of host bus adapters designed specifically to support the Ultra160 SCSI technology, the new WD Enterprise hard drives will be available to access this new interface from market leader Adaptec.

"Western Digital's commitment to Ultra160 SCSI adds further momentum toward the industry's adoption of the technology," said Lee Caswell, director of marketing for Adaptec's OEM Solutions Group. "Ultra160 SCSI's increased management features and high performance set a new standard for both workstations and servers."

Ultra160 SCSI Feature Set Advantages
Ultra160 SCSI builds upon Ultra2 SCSI technology using low-voltage differential (LVD) signaling which protects the customer's investment and ensures a smooth transition to Ultra160 SCSI. A key advantage of this new interface is the mixing of Ultra160 and Ultra2 devices on the same bus, through the use of existing cables, connectors and terminators.

The Ultra160 SCSI interface employs three features which affect data transfer: double transition clocking, domain validation and cyclic redundancy check (CRC). Double transition clocking allows the bus to transfer data at twice the speed of Ultra2 SCSI to 160 MB/sec. It allows for greater bus bandwidth which means that more hard drives can utilize the bus before it becomes saturated. Domain validation checks the cable and backplane configuration to validate that the network is able to operate at the negotiated speeds. This feature manages the connection to ensure data availability.

CRC is an error detection capability ideal for high speed data transfers and during hot plug operations, thereby improving data reliability. CRC complements Western Digital's Data Lifeguard tools, which automatically identify, isolate and repair problem areas that may develop over time, and the company's other advanced data protection offerings on its WD Enterprise hard drives. These include enhanced error correction code (ECC), S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology), the thermal monitor which evaluates the temperature of the drive, and the patent-pending fly height monitor which detects when a head is flying outside of normal operating range and modifies it accordingly.

Western Digital Corporation is a leader in information storage products and services. The company designs and manufactures hard drives for personal and enterprise-wide computing, and markets them to leading systems manufacturers and selected resellers under the Western Digital brand name. The company was founded in 1970 and has long been noted for its storage and end-market systems-level design knowledge. The company's home page can be found at https://www.westerndigital.com.

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Western Digital is a registered trademark; WD Enterprise and Data Lifeguard are trademarks of Western Digital Corporation. All other brand and product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies.