Western Digital

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Western Digital is a computer parts manufacturer that specializes in storage devices. Specifically, they produce hard discs. A hard disc is the important, mostly-invisible part of a computer, on which the bulk of the computer data is written, stored and from which it is later read. The hard disc is the primary storage component of most personal computers and contains the system application, as well as most of the other files and applications that these computers use.

The Western Digital Corporation (or WDC as it's commonly called), first broke into the electronics market by selling microchips for calculators. After a somewhat bumpy decade or so, they rebounded from bankruptcy in the early- to mid-1980s with a number of different hard disc models. From that point on, Western Digital decided to focus mainly on the growing personal computer market.

Western Digital's hard drives are characterized by relatively high memory buffers and relatively low access times. Both of these features make WDC drives favorites for servers that need to store large amounts of data, and who also need that data to be instantly accessible by clients and users. Western Digital's inclusive and long-lasting warranty has also made it a favorite with customers.

Recently, Western Digital has developed a number of technologies designed to help capitalize on the popularity of small, portable memory storage devices, such as flash drives. Their Media Center drive holds up to 250 gigabytes, but also comes equipped with a built-in CompactFlash reader capable of recognizing many external drives. The Media Center is compatible with pretty much any computer that has a FireWire or USB port.