> Western Digital made a fatal mistake, which will keep me from using > many > of these drives. > > The drive is a 2.5" drive in a heatsink. Instead of putting the drive > in the middle, and using an extension cable set to put the SATA and > SATA > power connectors in the "correct" location, they put the drive at the > back. This means that I can't use the drive in a sata/sas hot swap > unit. >
While I generally agree, I would argue that WD just made the step too early. It's becoming rather clear that the industry is moving (albeit slowly) to standardize on the 2.5" form factor. Bare drives will be available, and I imagine they'll be quite popular in 2.5" hot-swap units, which are becoming more and more standard. That being said, yes, WD could have at least allowed you to move the drive in the sled so as to provide compatibility with existing 3.5" hot-swap bays. I imagine there will be third party solutions to do just that--likely a sled with integrated connectors--and perhaps even a move by WD should they feel the need. Greg
