Talk:Western Digital

Insider info -- 3+ TB laptop HDDs?
Guys, I am seeing some company employees are involved with the update & writing of this Wiki article. Does anyone have approximate info when 3 TB or larger HDDs will be released for laptops, with standard laptop HDD physical size/width? I.e. under 1 cm, and not the 14-15 mm HDDs that are available now, which won't fit into most laptops. Thanks in advance for any comments & info on this. Naki (talk) 13:25, 12 April 2019 (UTC)
 * It has been 2+ years now since I wrote this, no 3 TB laptop HDDs in standard laptop form factor in sight? Will they ever be coming, does anyone have a wild guess? :) Yes, I know 4 TB, 8 TB SATA3 SSDs exist now but despite that I am still interested in such laptop HDDs anyway. Naki (talk) 15:49, 29 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Any info? It has been a while since standard 2 TB laptop HDDs were the max (still are?), despite "normal" desktop i.e. 3.5" HDDs reaching 22 or even more TB!? Are laptop HDDs dead now, does anyone have some insider info? I know most new laptops do not ship with any HDDs anymore, as least for most parts of the world - only with an SSD. I would think with 30 TB HDDs around the corner, some nice new, bigger HDDs in the smaller 2.5" factor would make sense, no? And why not revive 1.8" HDDs too, I think they may still be a good fit in some scenarios? (obviously not in phones). Naki (talk) 14:52, 28 May 2023 (UTC)

new COI edit requests
Hi! It's been a few years, but I'm working with Western Digital again and have some updates to request for this article. I've broken them out by section. I'm also happy to reformat or reorganize these requests however is helpful. -- Mary Gaulke (talk) 14:05, 2 July 2020 (UTC)

Lead
Delete "data center systems" from second sentence, as Western Digital no longer offers data center systems (source; also cited in proposed addition to 2010s History below).

Update final sentence with a better source, and to reflect that hard drives are no longer Western Digital's primary focus.
 * Current:
 * It is also one of the largest computer hard disk drive manufacturers, along with its primary competitor Seagate Technology.
 * Proposed:
 * It is one of the largest computer hard disk drive manufacturers, along with producing SSDs and flash memory devices. Its competitors include data management and storage companies like Seagate Technology and Micron Technology.

-- Mary Gaulke (talk) 14:05, 2 July 2020 (UTC)
 * ✅ P,TO 19104 (talk) (contribs) 01:12, 13 July 2020 (UTC)

History
I propose a full rewrite of the first four, largely unsourced subsections of this section (1970s–2000s). I've gone through the contents of this section and provided sources for as much information as I could, while revising or removing unsourced or incorrect information. Here is a full mockup of my proposed edits. Here is a mockup with all the changes to the current text highlighted and struck through. All of the changes have been made to reflect the availability of independent, secondary sources, and to align the text with Wikipedia's standards for writing and formatting. -- Mary Gaulke (talk) 14:05, 2 July 2020 (UTC)


 * In this one case, the proposed change for the History section cannot be considered as a single change for a single discussion; it amounts to a complete rewrite of several article sub-sections with a multitude of different types of changes, which cannot all fit under the proposed general umbrella edit summary explanation of what amounts to "sources and copy-editing". (This is the same problem that stalled the previous round of proposed changes last year.)


 * For the time being, I suggest we set this one set of propose changes aside while we go through each of the other individual proposals here, which appear much more focused and specifically explained. When the rest are under control and editor bandwidth becomes available, we can come back and investigate how to break this History section proposal into digestible change discussions.  The working relationship between WD and WP editors should be smoother by then as well.  --A&#8239;D&#8239;Monroe&#8239;III(talk)  19:10, 6 July 2020 (UTC)

2010s
Adding after :

-- Mary Gaulke (talk) 14:05, 2 July 2020 (UTC)


 * ✅ Hubcapp (talk) 10:12, 4 August 2020 (UTC)

Products
Adding an introductory paragraph of context before the subsections:


 * Western Digital sells hard drives, solid state drives (SSDs), and other memory devices, as well as software to support these products. In addition to client products, the company also sells data center products, including capacity and performance enterprise HDDs, enterprise SSDs, JBOD/JBOF platforms, and composable disaggregated infrastructure.

Western Digital sells hard drives, solid state drives (SSDs), and other memory devices, as well as software to support these products. In addition to client products, the company also sells data center products, including capacity and performance enterprise HDDs, enterprise SSDs, JBOD/JBOF platforms, and composable disaggregated infrastructure.

-- Mary Gaulke (talk) 14:05, 2 July 2020 (UTC)


 * ❌ A lot of the wording here is redundant since incorporating the previously requested wording from 2018's COI request into the ===Storage Devices=== section. Missing is mention of the Ultrastar Data60/102 JBOD platforms though, which I'd like to see put into a new "Enterprise Solutions" section, if anyone would like to try writing one of those. Also missing from the article is mention of composable disaggregated infrastructure, but the source included in this proposal is behind a paywall, so I can't verify that it discusses how and what Western Digital is doing anything with CDI. Hubcapp (talk) 09:17, 4 August 2020 (UTC)


 * Thanks for all your work on this! I took a crack at updated wording and pulled another source on CDI:
 * Western Digital sells data center products, including capacity and performance enterprise HDDs, enterprise SSDs, JBOD/JBOF platforms, and composable disaggregated infrastructure.
 * Would love your feedback if you have a chance. Mary Gaulke (talk) 16:07, 31 August 2020 (UTC)

Hard drives
Deleting in middle of section (poorly written and doesn't pertain to hard drives):
 * Western Digital sells data center software and system solutions including an enterprise-class Ultrastar product line.

-- Mary Gaulke (talk) 14:05, 2 July 2020 (UTC)


 * ✅ Moved this out of "Hard drives" section to "Other products" section, but I agree its poorly written, and probably should be rewritten to somehow otherwise note the specific "data center software and system solutions" that Western Digital offers. Hubcapp (talk) 08:42, 4 August 2020 (UTC)

Software
New subsection, with proposed text:


 * Western Digital offers several software products for use with its hardware, including:
 * WD SmartWare for automated data backup to external drives and Dropbox
 * A Western Digital edition of Acronis True Image for drive backup, recovery, and imaging
 * Software embedded in its Ultrastar line of SSDs that enables them to function as virtual memory

Western Digital offers several software products for use with its hardware, including: *WD SmartWare for automated data backup to external drives and Dropbox *A Western Digital edition of Acronis True Image for drive backup, recovery, and imaging *Software embedded in its Ultrastar line of SSDs that enables them to function as virtual memory

-- Mary Gaulke (talk) 14:05, 2 July 2020 (UTC)
 * ❌ Although it is factual that Western Digital does offer these software products, I'm not sure that Western Digital is really a software company & should have a "software" section under their Products section. This is my impression of the 3 examples of software proposed to be included under the proposed "Software" section:
 * The first, WD SmartWare, is described as "automated data backup to external drives and Dropbox". SmartWare is only available for the Windows operating system, which already has a built in Backup & File History utility. Additionally, Dropbox's entire business model is founded on automated data backup & distribution. I don't know what more WD SmartWare could possibly provide to the user, and while I admit never using WD SmartWare to try and answer that question, I would suspect that it is not very necessary software to users or to Western Digital as a company. I would therefore vote to not include it in this article.
 * The Western Digital branded Acronis True Image is not really their own product, but rather a partnership with Acronis. Maybe there is a different place in the article to note this partnership.
 * The "Software embedded in its ultrastar line of SSDs that enables them to function as virtual memory" sounds like a very interesting technology. I was not able to find very much information on this technology because of how new, expensive, and enterprise it is. There just aren't any reviews from anyone about its real performance & compatibility. But I did find one YouTube video demonstrating this software, and it seems more like "firmware" to me, since it loads before the operating system. I wouldn't include the firmware on any of WD's other drives as software, and I wouldn't count this as software either. Definitely the technology is interesting and should be in the article somewhere (if more independent sources can be found), but not under a software section.
 * -- Hubcapp (talk) 08:39, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
 * Perhaps updated wording around the last item would fit better in the 2010s section of "History"? Mary Gaulke (talk) 16:30, 31 August 2020 (UTC)
 * In November 2018, Western Digital released software embedded in one of its Ultrastar SSDs that enables it to function as virtual memory.

Acquisitions
Add acquisition to table:

|- scope="row"
 * 2019-09-11
 * Kazan Networks
 * Flash storage technology

-- Mary Gaulke (talk) 14:05, 2 July 2020 (UTC)
 * ✅ P,TO 19104 (talk) (contribs) 01:12, 13 July 2020 (UTC)

updates to 1970s section of "History"
Hi! Per the feedback above, starting a new discussion to share my proposed updates to the "History" section of this article in more granular detail. Starting with the 1970s subsection, here are the edits I propose to the current article text:

Alvin B. Phillips founded Western Digital in 1970 as General Digital. The company initially manufactured computer chips, particularly calculator chips, with start-up capital provided by several individual investors and industrial giant Emerson Electric. One year later, the company adopted its current name and introduced the WD1402A, the first single-chip universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART). Later that decade, the company debuted a 4K RAM chip.

Western Digital introduced several products during the late 1970s, including the MCP-1600 multi-chip, microcoded CPU. The MCP-1600 was used to implement Digital Equipment Corporation's LSI-11 system. The processor was also used in several single-chip floppy disk drive controller chips, including notably the FD1771.

Here's a clean preview of the new text I propose. Here's a rundown of the individual edits:
 * Rewording first sentence in active voice
 * Adding sources and revising the text to the reflect those sources
 * Deleting redundant information on Emerson Electric and information cited to a source that doesn't mention WD
 * Deleting section template

As always, I won't be editing the article directly due to my COI. Happy to reformat these requests however is helpful. Notifying you since you've all been involved in reviewing my recent edit requests. Thank you for any help or feedback! Mary Gaulke (talk) 16:54, 31 August 2020 (UTC)
 * My wiki time is limited so I will not have a chance to review this change for at least a week. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 20:05, 31 August 2020 (UTC)


 * I strongly oppose the removal of references to bankruptcy . Here is what I was able to come up with and this should be included as it's part of the history.

"In May 1976, the fist of a series of financial problems that would eventually drive Western Digital into bankruptcy was disclosed. Electronic News, May 10, 1976:58. The firm blamed losses of $433,000 for the first 1976 quarter on technical problems in its microprocessor and 4K DRAM programs." https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_International_Dynamic_Random_Access/A_e1AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22into%20bankruptcy%22

"HISTORY Western Digital was founded in 1970 as a manufacturer of specialized semiconductors and electronic calculators. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 1976. However, it reorganized and emerged successfully in 1978 ." Hoover's Handbook of American Business. United States: Reference Press, Incorporated, 1998, page 1514

"[W]hen it lost its main customer Bowmar Instrument in 1976 it declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. However at the same time the company was saved by innovating the WD 1771, the first single-chip floppy disk controller. " https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Competitiveness_of_Clusters_in_Globa/lr5YCwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=1976+%22western+digital%22+bankruptcy&pg=PT205&printsec=frontcover

Graywalls (talk) 16:21, 30 September 2020 (UTC)


 * More fantastic sources on this matter:
 * https://books.google.com/books?id=M8uwmICKZwMC&lpg=RA6-PA2&pg=RA6-PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false
 * https://books.google.com/books?id=M8uwmICKZwMC&lpg=RA6-PA7&pg=RA6-PA7#v=onepage&q&f=false
 * I don't understand. Why are you suggesting to remove it???? Graywalls (talk) 09:12, 1 October 2020 (UTC)

, In case you're not watching the page. Graywalls (talk) 06:11, 4 October 2020 (UTC)


 * I'm opposed to treating these many different and significant changes to history section as a single change for discussion. If forced to do so, I'm opposed to the changes.  --A&#8239;D&#8239;Monroe&#8239;III(talk)  21:20, 7 October 2020 (UTC)


 * Hi! Please forgive the delay in my response.
 * I first worked up these revisions almost two years ago, and I can honestly say I don't remember the specifics of my research process on this exact project, but my primary goal was to address the flag by either adding sources or removing unsourced information. Clearly, I did an inadequate job searching for alternative sources for the bankruptcy, and for that I apologize. (I'm sure I attempted it at the time, but my skill in these matters is always improving with additional experience, as with any Wikipedian.)
 * I took another attempt at updating the second paragraph of this section:
 * The company was financed by Emerson Electric and investors, to sell calculator chips through the early years of the 1970s, and by 1975, Western Digital was the largest independent calculator chip maker in the world. The oil crisis of the mid-1970s and the bankruptcy of its biggest calculator customer, Bowmar Instrument, In 1975, Bowmar Instruments, Western Digital's main calculator chip customer, filed for bankruptcy; changed its fortunes, however, and in 1976 Western Digital in turn declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1976 . The company reorganized and reemerged in 1978. After this, Emerson Electric withdrew their support of the company.
 * Let me know what you think. A clean mockup is here.
 * I completely understand your frustration with the scope of these requests. However, I'm not sure what is a better alternative when an article is tagged as needing substantial improvement. Submitting each minor tweak through the edit request queue separately seems like an inefficient way to go about the process, especially when the needed improvements are more holistic.
 * I also find different reviewers have different preferences for how edit requests are formatted, so I'm always happy to make any adjustments to how I present my requests to suit those preferences. I completely understand that you and everyone who reviews my requests are doing me a favor, and I want to make the process as frictionless as possible. Would it be preferable to go one paragraph at a time? If so, I can start a new request for just the first paragraph of this section.
 * Thank you both, again, for your time. Mary Gaulke (talk) 21:14, 19 October 2020 (UTC)


 * Massive changes with only vague generalities for reasons is usually unacceptable for any editor for any article. When COI is involved, even more scrutiny is needed, which requires clear and specific reasons for each change.  Trying to avoid this is precisely what has made this particular process so inefficient.  "Holistic" changes aren't going to work here.
 * Any reduction in the scope of the change to be discussed will be a step in the right direction, so one paragraph at a time might be better. However, given our track record here, I'm dubious that will be sufficient for progress.  I'd suggest focusing on each reason for each change.  For example, Rewording first sentence in active voice; that is one reason for one change.  Following that, where changes are done per sources given, perhaps present each source and detail what it says first, and leave off suggesting any detail on what specific edit to make.  I and my fellow experienced WP editors are quite capable of taking it from there, avoiding any COI worries.
 * BTW, on that first reason given, history and passive voice go hand-in-hand in WP. True details of actual events are almost always far too complicated to assign to a single agent.  So, avoiding the passive voice isn't an improvement here.  I'd skip that change.
 * --A&#8239;D&#8239;Monroe&#8239;III(talk) 02:23, 21 October 2020 (UTC)

Question
Where are WD production plants located? --0dorkmann (talk) 11:40, 28 February 2023 (UTC)

@ 58.145.191.253 (talk) 20:41, 18 April 2023 (UTC)