VelociRaptor also available for servers

Western Digital wants to offer its new VelociRaptor disk in a 2.5" model for the server market, making it a cheaper alternative for the existing SAS drives. In the server market, the compact 2.5 inch size is a lot more popular due to the lower energy consumption and higher data density compared to 3.5 inch. Its compact size makes the VelociRaptor suited for use in U1 or U2 servers and in blade systems.

The server version of the latest Raptor disk (WD3000BLFS) is identical to the desktop version, only the 2.5 to 3.5 inch cooling block has been left out. This means that the disk has a storage capacity of 300GB and platters that spin at 10.000 RPM. According to Western Digital, the VelociRaptor is suited for intensive usage due to its high MTBF of 1.4 million hours.

VelociRaptor will become available without the 3,5'' cooling block

The VelociRaptor in 2.5 inch seems like a fine upgrade for a notebook, but it isn't likely to fit since this disk is 15mm high and most notebooks are limited to the standard size laptop disk with a height of 9.5mm. The price of the VelociRaptor without cooling block isn't known yet, but it is rumored to be available by the end of this month.