Talk:Western Digital/Archives/2020
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Removal of line about poor hard disk encryption
An anonymous edit by 76.126.50.95 removed a line in the hard disk section stating that WD's external drives had poor disk encryption. The note on the removal was that it was "slanderous", "impertinent", and "unreliable." I reviewed the cited source and the paper it relied on, and I found the statement to be basically accurate. I clarified it to indicate that this applied specifically to data protection, not to the quality of the drive itself, and that it applied to external drives. I also added two additional sources backing up the citation. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Macoukji (talk • contribs) 05:24, 10 June 2020 (UTC)
COI edit requests
{{request edit}}
Hi! I work for a communications firm that represents Western Digital, and I have some requests for updating this article. I've broken them out by section:
Lead
- This is purely FYI: I updated the logo file to a more current logo provided to me by Western Digital for this purpose.
- In infobox:
- Update "Industry" from "Computer data storage" to "Data technology" (At this point, Western Digital's products encompass more than strictly storage offerings.)
- Under "Products", delete "hybrid drives", which are a legacy product. Capitalize the first letter of "solid-state drives" for formatting consistency. Add
[[NAND flash memory]]<br/>Mobile storage<br/>[[Network-attached storage]]<br/>[[Direct-attached storage]]<br/>Personal cloud <br/>[[JBOD]] and JBOF<br/>Storage servers<br/>All-flash and hybrid arrays<br/>Data center systems<br/>[[Cloud storage]] services
Partly done: removed hybrid drives as requested. I haven't added the others; can't find the relevant style guide off the top of my head, but infobox parameters shouldn't be an exhaustive list but rather a summary. Are there a 2-3 products that are more important than the others, or perhaps broader categories for those products that I could use instead? —Compassionate727 (T·C) 01:09, 11 August 2018 (UTC)
- Update "Number of employees" from
67,629 (2017)[1]
to72,000 (2018)[2]
- Update
| subsid =
to| brands =
. Technically, these companies no longer operate independently, so it's inaccurate to call them subsidiaries. Add<br/>G-Technology <br/>Upthere <br/>WD
to the list.Not done for multiple reasons, including the objection I raised above. Thinking aloud, if all of the brands are listed in the article (and they should be if they're in an infobox), a full list isn't necessary; again, perhaps the more important ones, if that's an applicable measure. Also noting from Wikipedia articles that G-Technology is described as a brand of HGST, which is described in both of the aforemention as a subsidary. SanDisk states it is also a subsidary, and Tegile Systems implies as much. Obviously Wikipedia isn't RS, so I'll need to look at all of this more closely. Tomorrow, presumably, when I'm back on ADD medications. Admittedly if you can provide sources describing these as brands rather than subsidaries, that would help. Updating all may be warranted, depending on what we can find. —Compassionate727 (T·C) 01:09, 11 August 2018 (UTC)
- Throughout the article, the company is referred to as "Western Digital", "Western Digital Corporation", "WD", and "WDC". I recommend that all these mentions be updated to simply "Western Digital" for consistency's sake, and that
and often abbreviated as WDC
be deleted from the first sentence of the lead. Happy to make a sandbox mockup with each mention highlighted if it's helpful.- Will make an effort to standardize to "Western Digital" as I implement other parts of this request tomorrow, make sure to let me know if I miss some. I don't think removing the acronyms and alternative names from the lead would be appropriate, though, even if we never use them. They're helpful people making searches based on reading they've done elsewhere. —Compassionate727 (T·C) 01:09, 11 August 2018 (UTC)
Done, I think, let me know if I missed or clobbered anything. —Compassionate727 (T·C) 22:04, 13 August 2018 (UTC)
- Will make an effort to standardize to "Western Digital" as I implement other parts of this request tomorrow, make sure to let me know if I miss some. I don't think removing the acronyms and alternative names from the lead would be appropriate, though, even if we never use them. They're helpful people making searches based on reading they've done elsewhere. —Compassionate727 (T·C) 01:09, 11 August 2018 (UTC)
- On a related note, I've made an effort to standardize terminology to "hard disk drive" (for first mention) or HDD (subsequently), rather than the more ambiguous "hard drive". "Solid-state drive" (for first mention) and SSD (for subsequent mentions) already appears to be standardized in the article.
- Again, will attempt to standardize as I go along, let me know if I miss something. —Compassionate727 (T·C) 01:09, 11 August 2018 (UTC)
- In first paragraph of lead, replace
an American computer data storage company and one of the largest computer hard disk drive manufacturers in the world, along with its main competitor Seagate Technology.[3]
withbased in the U.S. and one of the largest data storage companies in the world. It designs, manufactures and sells a broad portfolio of data technology products, including storage devices, data center systems and cloud storage services.
to reflect the company's current focus.- Most of this looks alright, but I take issue with "broad portfolio" as somewhat peacock-ish. Is this important to the idea being communicated? Can it be omitted? I think "…and sells data technology products, including storage devices…" reads alright. If the idea that is sells lots of products is really important, I think "numerous" would read better than "a broad portfolio": more concise and less like something you'd read in an advertisement. If you have other suggestions, I'm always willing to at least listen. —Compassionate727 (T·C) 01:09, 11 August 2018 (UTC)
- Update
speciality
in second paragraph of lead tospecialty
.
History
- In 2010s subsection of History section, replace both mentions of
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
withHGST
, which is the correct name. - Also in the 2010s subsection of the History section, in the fourth paragraph,
certain
should be added before3.5-inch hard drives for the desktop and consumer electronics markets
. Also of note: Both refs for that sentence—[4][5]
—are dead links. Here are a new, external source to replace the first and an updated URL for the second:[6][7]
Done, although I would personally prefer the word "some" to "certain", if you don't object. —Compassionate727 (T·C) 21:48, 13 August 2018 (UTC)
- Jumping down to the "Parallel ATA hard disk drives" subsection of the Products section: I'd recommend deleting that subsection entirely and moving its sole sentence,
Western Digital was the last manufacturer of parallel ATA hard disk drives for laptops (2.5-inch form factor) and desktop PCs (3.5-inch form factor), by producing them until December 2013.[8]
, up to the appropriate chronological location in the History section.- Would you mind if I refactored this sentence a bit, both to better flow in the context of where I'm placing it, and to bring it closer to the meaning of the source (which, for example, does not say that WD was the last producer of PATA)? —Compassionate727 (T·C) 21:48, 13 August 2018 (UTC)
- Adding recent news to the very end of the section:
Western Digital announced in October 2017 that it will begin using microwave-assisted magnetic recording (MAMR) instead of heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) in order to increase HDD capacities over the next decade.[9] The next month, the company announced that it will transition consumption of over a billion processor cores per year to RISC-V, an open and scalable computing architecture of which the company is a founding member. The company claims that the transition will occur over the course of two years.[10]
Partly done: the first half was fine as presented. The second half does not match the source, which says 1 billion over two years (not 2 billion total) and does not (that I see) describe WD as a "founding member" of the technology. I'll refactor it accordingly unless you can provide sources. —Compassionate727 (T·C) 21:48, 13 August 2018 (UTC)
Acquisitions
Recommend this as a new section or subsection of History:
Acquisition date | Company | Product types | Price | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
March 8, 2012 | HGST | HDD, SSD | $3.9×10 9 | [11] |
September 12, 2013 | STEC | SSD | $340,000,000 | [12] |
October 17, 2013 | Virident | SSD, system and software | $685,000,000 | [13][14] |
March 16, 2015 | Amplidata | Software | — | [15] |
May 12, 2016 | SanDisk | SSD, system and software, NAND flash, embedded | $1.6×10 10 | [16] |
August 28, 2017 | Upthere | Flash, persistent, cloud services | — | [17] |
September 2017 | Tegile | Flash, persistent, cloud services | — | [18] |
Done with perhaps a little bit of reluctance. —Compassionate727 (T·C) 21:52, 13 August 2018 (UTC)
Locations
I recommend removing this section entirely per WP:NOTDIRECTORY. It's also quite out of date and contains no sources.
Products
- Subsections under the Products heading contain text which is insufficiently paraphrased from the source material. FYI. spintendo 16:27, 23 June 2018 (UTC)
Comment
- @Spintendo: Thanks for flagging! I've tweaked a few things, can't believe I hadn't caught one instance in particular. Mary Gaulke (talk) 00:17, 25 June 2018 (UTC)
- Add new subsection:
===Data center products===
Western Digital’s data center products include enterprise HDD and SSD, data center software and system solutions.[19] The enterprise-class products are designed for high-performance, high-capacity applications. This group includes the Ultrastar product line.[20] In October 2017, Western Digital shipped the world’s first 14 TB HDD, the helium-filled HGST Ultrastar Hs14.[21][22] - "Hard drives" subsection:
- Rename to "Devices" for accuracy.
Done: But decided "Storage Devices" was more specific and still accurate Hubcapp (talk) 07:11, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
- Add to the beginning of the section and rewrite the sentence introducing the bulleted list as follows (the refs for the final sentence can be retained):
Western Digital’s client device offerings include HDDs and SSDs for computing devices (e.g. PCs, security surveillance systems, gaming consoles and set-top boxes); NAND-flash embedded storage products for mobile devices, notebook PCs and other portable and IoT devices; and NAND flash memory wafers.[23][24] Western Digital’s embedded storage devices include the iNAND product line and custom embedded products.[25] Western Digital also provides microSD and SD card products to OEMs only for automotive and industrial applications.[26]
Certain Western Digital client devices product names are based on colors that signify the characteristics of the drive:Done: But omitted the industry-specific language of "client device" Hubcapp (talk) 07:11, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
- In the bulleted list, replace
average
with the more preciseeveryday
. Add "WD" before each color for specificity. Update the description of Green drives as follows:WD Green drives are energy efficient and are currently only available as an SSD; the WD Green HDD offerings have been discontinued[27][28][29]
Done: Went ahead and added "WD" to the start of each color name, seems harmless. Also this is good information on the Green drives. Hubcapp (talk) 07:11, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
- I'd suggest moving the single sentence from the "Issues" section into this subsection.
- Rename to "Devices" for accuracy.
- "Software" subsection:
- Delete first sentence,
Western Digital (WD) distributes the following utilities for use with its hard drives.
, which is unsourced and confusing. - Delete WD Smartware paragraph, which is unsourced and out of date.
- Add to end of section:
In September 2015, Western Digital released My Cloud OS 3, a platform that enables connected HDDs (including network-attached storage) to sync automatically between PCs and mobile devices.[30] The company’s NASware 3.0 allows NAS environments to have data protection, integration and optimized performance.[31]
WD Discovery software lets users back up photos, videos and other documents from cloud storage services (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive) and social networks (e.g. Facebook and Instagram).[32][33]
- Delete first sentence,
- Completely overhauling unsourced "Consumer products" subsection:
===Consumer products===
Western Digital sells consumer data technology products under the WD, SanDisk, and G-Technology product brands, as well as cloud storage services under the Upthere brand. The WD brand includes the My Passport, My Book, My Cloud and WD Elements product families.[23] While traditionally these products have used HDDs, Western Digital has started to offer SSD versions, such as the My Passport SSD, its first portable SSD.[34]
Under the SanDisk brand, Western Digital offers mobile storage products, cards and readers, USB flash drives, SSDs and MP3 players. Most of Western Digital’s consumer flash memory products are offered through SanDisk.[23] The SanDisk iXpand product family, including the iXpand Flash Drive and iXpand Base, is made specifically for use with the Apple iPhone and iPad.[35][36][37] The 400GB SanDisk Ultra microSDXC UHS-I card is the world’s highest capacity card in its category. It is designed primarily for use in Android smartphones that include an expansion slot.[38][39]
Under the G-Technology brand, Western Digital offers HDD, SSD, platforms and systems products designed specifically for creative professionals.[40][41] The G-Technology brand has partnerships with Apple,[42] Atomos,[43][44] and Intel.[45]
Through Western Digital’s acquisition of Upthere, the company offers personal cloud storage through the Upthere Home app and UpOS operating system.[46][47]
Former offerings include Western Digital Media Center and over-the-top set-top boxes.[48]
Partly done: Most of this verbiage has made it into the article, but with a focus on separating Western Digital's Cloud & Non-Cloud products. Hubcapp (talk) 10:32, 4 August 2020 (UTC)
Corporate affairs
Recommend this as a new section, with the existing "Lawsuits" section as a subsection, and two new subsections:
===Western Digital Capital===
Western Digital Capital is Western Digital's investment arm.[49][50] It has contributed funding for data technology companies such as Elastifile and Avere Systems.[51][52][53]
===Community engagement===
In 2017, Western Digital partnered with UN Global Pulse to issue the Data for Climate Action Challenge, a contest to spread awareness of climate change and how to slow it down. The challenge offered access to unique data shared with the participants as part of data philanthropy.[54][55]
See also
Los Angeles
in the Portal template should be replaced with San Francisco Bay Area
, since the company is based in San Jose.
References
Extended content
|
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References
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Due to my COI, I won't be editing the article directly. Thank you for any help or feedback you can share! Mary Gaulke (talk) 18:32, 19 June 2018 (UTC)
- @MaryGaulke: Well, this has sat here far too long. I wanted to let you know I have seen this request and intend to review it in the next couple days. There's a chance I'll completely forget about this by tomorrow, so if I haven't done it in a couple days, please remind me. —Compassionate727 (T·C) 01:16, 9 August 2018 (UTC)
- @Compassionate727: I seriously appreciate it, thank you! Mary Gaulke (talk) 03:52, 9 August 2018 (UTC)
- @Compassionate727: Just a nudge. Thanks again for raising your hand to take a look at this. Mary Gaulke (talk) 00:12, 11 August 2018 (UTC)
- @MaryGaulke: Thanks for the nudge, I was distracted by a puppet. I'll take a look at some of this tonight; the rest I hope to get around to tomorrow. —Compassionate727 (T·C) 00:33, 11 August 2018 (UTC)
- @Compassionate727: Just a nudge. Thanks again for raising your hand to take a look at this. Mary Gaulke (talk) 00:12, 11 August 2018 (UTC)
- @Compassionate727: I seriously appreciate it, thank you! Mary Gaulke (talk) 03:52, 9 August 2018 (UTC)
@MaryGaulke: I have made assorted improvements to the article, but it still needs much work. — Frayæ (Talk/Spjall) 20:53, 24 August 2018 (UTC)
- I think that's about all I will be doing for the moment. The article is greatly improved, with much of the unsourced and promotional content stripped out by Jytdog. Not a great deal of the edits proposed above were suitable, but some of the areas needing improvement have been dealt with. — Frayæ (Talk/Spjall) 21:42, 24 August 2018 (UTC)
Expansion of explanation of current product offerings
There could probably be more information given on the real physical differences between each marketed "color", as well as incorporating their SSD offerings branded under the Western Digital Brand. Currently there's only information on why the "Purple" brand started being offered, but Gold vs Black vs Red; Green vs Blue would be probably useful information as well. Hubcapp (talk) 05:18, 4 August 2020 (UTC)