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Not a caching or hybrid drive, but a separate SSD and HDDWD Black Squared
Today WD is unveiling a slick 2.5" hard drive it calls the WD Black Squared Dual Drive. Unlike previous 2.5" drives which featured either a spinning hard drive or an SSD, or the two combined in a caching setup aka "hybrid drive," this new model features two separate volumes that coexist peacefully in one chassis. It's designed to be a high-performance drive for those with single-bay devices, such as a notebook, SFF rig, or AIO. If you fall into this category, and can squeeze your OS onto a 120GB volume, Christmas has indeed come early.
The SSD is a 120GB model that features midrange specs and uses an unknown controller. WD does specify that it uses 20nm MLC NAND flash though, but it does not specify which company makes the flash. The HDD portion is a 1TB 5,400rpm hard drive, and WD told us that despite having similar specs as one of its midrange Blue models, this particular drive is a super-slim new model that is being placed in its Black category of high-performance drives. The drive's chassis is 9.5mm tall, so although it will fit into most notebooks it will not fit into an ultrabook. Its price is set at $300.
WD claims the drive is exactly what upgraders, DIY folks, and enthusiasts have been asking for, and we have to agree. Notebook jockeys craving performance have had to settle for either an SSD for their OS and a slow external drive, or go with a hybrid internal drive that isn't quite as fast as an SSD for their OS. Plus, hybrid drive owners don't get to choose what is cached and what isn't, so this dual-drive solution theoretically solves that dilemma.