·  IBM Ultrastar 2ES DCAS-34430
Ziff Davis WinBench 98 - IBM Ultrastar 2ES DCAS-34430 Business Disk WinMark 98 1264 KB/sec SS/Database 1100 KB/sec WP 1530 KB/sec Publishing 1196 KB/sec Browsers 1436 KB/sec Task Switching 1650 KB/sec High-End Disk WinMark 98 3536 KB/sec AVS/Express 3.1 2188 KB/sec Frontpage 97 2974 KB/sec Microstation 95 7044 KB/sec Photoshop 4.0 2594 KB/sec Premiere 4.2 6812 KB/sec PV-Wave 6.1 2584 KB/sec Visual C++ 5.0 8094 KB/sec Disk/Read Random Access 16.2 ms Disk/Read Transfer Rate Beginning 8160 KB/sec End 5100 KB/sec Disk/Read CPU Utilization 4.4% Transfer Rate 8157 KB/sec	The Ultrastar 2ES is IBM's entry-level 4.5 GB drive. The drive is conspicuously the only 5400 RPM drive in this roundup, with performance to reflect its slow spindle speed. It posted the second-slowest Business WinMark 98 score along with the third slowest High-End Winmark showing of the group. The drive's manual was thorough and easy to follow. A low-enough cost on the drive may merit purchase despite pokey performance, but most users looking for an entry-level SCSI drive would be better serviced by Quantum's Viking or Seagate's Hawk 4XL.
	IBM Ultrastar 2ES DCAS-34430 Specs Estimated Cost: $320

·  IBM Ultrastar 2XP DCHS-34550
Ziff Davis WinBench 98 - IBM Ultrastar 2XP DCHS-34550 Business Disk WinMark 98 1426 KB/sec SS/Database 1208 KB/sec WP 1788 KB/sec Publishing 1350 KB/sec Browsers 1668 KB/sec Task Switching 1616 KB/sec High-End Disk WinMark 98 3732 KB/sec AVS/Express 3.1 2606 KB/sec Frontpage 97 3210 KB/sec Microstation 95 7396 KB/sec Photoshop 4.0 2254 KB/sec Premiere 4.2 7662 KB/sec PV-Wave 6.1 2998 KB/sec Visual C++ 5.0 7346 KB/sec Disk/Read Random Access 12.6 ms Disk/Read Transfer Rate Beginning 9570 KB/sec End 6540 KB/sec Disk/Read CPU Utilization 6.9% Transfer Rate 9101 KB/sec	IBM's Ultrastar 2XP weighs in as the most expensive drive in this roundup, an astonishing $800 in price. IBM provides a thorough multi-lingual manual. One would infer top performance from this drive, especially in the light of IBM's showing in the UltraATA drive roundup. The 2XP does indeed provide decent performance, but nevertheless disappointed given the price. Seagate's Cheetah and Barracuda both bested the Ultrastar 2XP in performance and both cost significantly less. This drive cannot be recommended due to its lofty price.
	IBM Ultrastar 2XP DCHS-34550 Specs Estimated Cost: $801

·  Quantum Atlas II QM34550AL-SW
Ziff Davis WinBench 98 - Quantum Atlas II QM34550AL-SW Business Disk WinMark 98 1240 KB/sec SS/Database 1122 KB/sec WP 1442 KB/sec Publishing 1186 KB/sec Browsers 1310 KB/sec Task Switching 1912 KB/sec High-End Disk WinMark 98 3504 KB/sec AVS/Express 3.1 1966 KB/sec Frontpage 97 3242 KB/sec Microstation 95 6658 KB/sec Photoshop 4.0 3240 KB/sec Premiere 4.2 5912 KB/sec PV-Wave 6.1 2260 KB/sec Visual C++ 5.0 9132 KB/sec Disk/Read Random Access 13.3 ms Disk/Read Transfer Rate Beginning 9860 KB/sec End 5874 KB/sec Disk/Read CPU Utilization 5.3% Transfer Rate 9839 KB/sec	Quantum's Atlas II was something of a puzzle. Priced at about $100 more than the Viking, the Atlas II is offered as the high-performance drive of Quantum's lineup. Even so, the Atlas II posted disappointing scores, bringing up the rear in the Business Disk Winmark and scoring second-to-last in the High-End Disk Winmark. It trailed its own lower priced cousin, the Viking, by 10%. Drive documentation was minimal, consisting of a leaflet describing how to set the SCSI ID of the device along with termination procedures. Given the lower cost and higher performance of both the Viking and the Seagate Hawk 4XL, The Quantum Atlas II cannot be recommended.
	Quantum Atlas II QM34550AL-SW Specs Estimated Cost: $490

·  Quantum Viking QM34550VK-SW
Ziff Davis WinBench 98 - Quantum Viking QM34550VK-SW Business Disk WinMark 98 1372 KB/sec SS/Database 1216 KB/sec WP 1680 KB/sec Publishing 1278 KB/sec Browsers 1502 KB/sec Task Switching 1894 KB/sec High-End Disk WinMark 98 3884 KB/sec AVS/Express 3.1 2410 KB/sec Frontpage 97 3156 KB/sec Microstation 95 7152 KB/sec Photoshop 4.0 3016 KB/sec Premiere 4.2 7316 KB/sec PV-Wave 6.1 2868 KB/sec Visual C++ 5.0 8782 KB/sec Disk/Read Random Access 13.7 ms Disk/Read Transfer Rate Beginning 10700 KB/sec End 6258 KB/sec Disk/Read CPU Utilization 5.8% Transfer Rate 10745 KB/sec	Positioned between the Atlas and Fireball families, Quantum's Viking is marketed as the company's middle-of-the-line drive. In this roundup of drives, the Viking proves to be the bargain of the group. Priced at a relatively skimpy $381, it resides at the bottom of the price hierarchy yet provides performance that approaches Seagate's much more expensive Barracuda XL. Although Seagate's Hawk 4XL provides virtually the same performance, Quantum back's the Viking with a 5 year warranty rather than the Hawk's 3 year protection. The drive operated cool, easily handled after extended use. The only drawback was a tiny bit of noise. During operation, the Viking seemed to create a low-pitched hum. Though noticeable, the noise was nevertheless much easier to tune out than the Cheetah's whine. Curiously, the drive came with no documentation whatsoever; SCSI ID and termination settings had to be retrieved from Quantum's web page. Caveats aside, a low price combined with good performance and solid warranty merit the selection of the Viking as Storage Review's low-priced UltraSCSI drive recommendation.
	Quantum Viking QM34550VK-SW Specs Estimated Cost: $381

·  Seagate Barracuda 4XL ST34572W
Ziff Davis WinBench 98 - Seagate Barracuda 4XL ST34572W Business Disk WinMark 98 1454 KB/sec SS/Database 1270 KB/sec WP 1796 KB/sec Publishing 1354 KB/sec Browsers 1638 KB/sec Task Switching 1922 KB/sec High-End Disk WinMark 98 4184 KB/sec AVS/Express 3.1 2720 KB/sec Frontpage 97 3304 KB/sec Microstation 95 7758 KB/sec Photoshop 4.0 3238 KB/sec Premiere 4.2 7722 KB/sec PV-Wave 6.1 3070 KB/sec Visual C++ 5.0 9136 KB/sec Disk/Read Random Access 14.0 ms Disk/Read Transfer Rate Beginning 10700 KB/sec End 6720 KB/sec Disk/Read CPU Utilization 5.8% Transfer Rate 10716 KB/sec	The Seagate Barracuda 4XL is a high-performance drive, posting solid benchmark results second only to its sibling, the Cheetah 4LP. Although it took second place honors in both the Business and High-End Winmark tests, the Barracuda XL is hard to recommend given its price. A prospective buyer can save about $200 with relatively little performance loss by going with Seagate's own Hawk 4XL or Quantum's Viking drive. Or, if one is seeking the ultimate in performance, the Cheetah 4LP offers substantial improvements in performance for about $50 more. The Barracuda, however, remains the high-performance choice if the Cheetah's noise and/or heat prove unacceptable. The drive came with a manual typical of the Seagate drives, a small yet thorough installation and configuration handbook. Unlike Seagate's lower-priced Hawk, the Barracuda 4XL is backed by a 5 year warranty, reflecting the drive's enterprise positioning.
	Seagate Barracuda 4XL ST34572W Specs Estimated Cost: $611

·  Seagate Cheetah 4LP ST34501W
Ziff Davis WinBench 98 - Seagate Cheetah 4LP ST34501W Business Disk WinMark 98 1916 KB/sec SS/Database 1724 KB/sec WP 2344 KB/sec Publishing 1738 KB/sec Browsers 2210 KB/sec Task Switching 2502 KB/sec High-End Disk WinMark 98 5354 KB/sec AVS/Express 3.1 3566 KB/sec Frontpage 97 3950 KB/sec Microstation 95 9450 KB/sec Photoshop 4.0 4356 KB/sec Premiere 4.2 10320 KB/sec PV-Wave 6.1 3958 KB/sec Visual C++ 5.0 11300 KB/sec Disk/Read Random Access 11.8 ms Disk/Read Transfer Rate Beginning 14700 KB/sec End 9840 KB/sec Disk/Read CPU Utilization 7.7% Transfer Rate 14654 KB/sec	Seagate's Cheetah was the first 10,000 RPM drive to be released. The Cheetah 4LP greatly outdistances the second fastest drive in this roundup, Seagate's own Barracuda XL. A low random access time plus an impressive 14.7 MB/sec sequential sector transfer rate powered the Cheetah to the number one position. This large increase in speed is accompanied by a relatively small increase in price, thus making the Cheetah 4LP an easy high-end recommendation. Two caveats: The high spindle speed of the drive creates a very high-pitched whine above and beyond the normal hard drive "whirr" noise. This constant squeal can grate on the nerves of individuals sensitive to noise. Secondly, the fast rotation of the spindle generates a large amount of heat, making ventilation of the system very important. In a minitower's 3.5" drive bay, the drive was too hot to touch after being powered on for an hour. The Cheetah's manual cautions against poor ventilation and outlines procedures for active cooling. In most cases users will want to use a hard drive fan to cool the drive.
	Seagate Cheetah 4LP ST34501W Specs Estimated Cost: $654

·  Seagate Hawk 4XL ST34555W
Ziff Davis WinBench 98 - Seagate Hawk 4XL ST34555W Business Disk WinMark 98 1344 KB/sec SS/Database 1170 KB/sec WP 1682 KB/sec Publishing 1248 KB/sec Browsers 1546 KB/sec Task Switching 1808 KB/sec High-End Disk WinMark 98 3922 KB/sec AVS/Express 3.1 2464 KB/sec Frontpage 97 3192 KB/sec Microstation 95 7442 KB/sec Photoshop 4.0 2988 KB/sec Premiere 4.2 7288 KB/sec PV-Wave 6.1 2898 KB/sec Visual C++ 5.0 8824 KB/sec Disk/Read Random Access 14.4 ms Disk/Read Transfer Rate Beginning 9710 KB/sec End 6090 KB/sec Disk/Read CPU Utilization 5.2% Transfer Rate 9708 KB/sec	The Hawk 4XL is positioned as Seagate's entry-level drive, providing decent performance at wallet-friendly prices. The Hawk's Disk WinBench98 scores trail the Seagate Barracuda 4XL by a relatively small amount (by 8% in Business, only 1% in High-End) while costing substantially less. The Hawk proved to be a little quieter than Quantum's similarly priced and similarly performing Viking, but is backed with a more consumer-oriented 3 year warranty rather than the Viking's 5 years. The Hawk, unlike the Viking, came with a manual detailing installation and configuration. Even so, the Hawk 4XL warrants a solid recommendation for those looking for an inexpensive SCSI drive. Storage Review uses the Hawk 4XL as the boot drive for our SCSI test bed.
	Seagate Hawk 4XL ST34555W Specs Estimated Cost: $368

·  Western Digital Enterprise WDE4360-0007B2
Ziff Davis WinBench 98 - Western Digital Enterprise WDE4360-0007B2 Business Disk WinMark 98 1328 KB/sec SS/Database 1136 KB/sec WP 1646 KB/sec Publishing 1258 KB/sec Browsers 1538 KB/sec Task Switching 1596 KB/sec High-End Disk WinMark 98 3410 KB/sec AVS/Express 3.1 2254 KB/sec Frontpage 97 3052 KB/sec Microstation 95 7016 KB/sec Photoshop 4.0 2116 KB/sec Premiere 4.2 6696 KB/sec PV-Wave 6.1 2658 KB/sec Visual C++ 5.0 7098 KB/sec Disk/Read Random Access 13.1 ms Disk/Read Transfer Rate Beginning 6860 KB/sec End 6016 KB/sec Disk/Read CPU Utilization 6.1% Transfer Rate 7731 KB/sec	Western Digital's Caviar series ATA drives enjoy a solid reputation of performance and reliability. The company is not one that first comes to mind when one thinks of SCSI drives. Nevertheless, the company offers its "Enterprise" series of drives. The Enterprise is a typical high-end offering, backed by a 5 year warranty and claiming 1,000,000 MTBF hours. Despite its rather high price, the Enterprise's performance is unexceptional, posting average Business Winmark scores and the lowest High-End Winmark of the roundup. Like Quantum's Viking, the Enterprise did not come with any documentation in the box, forcing us to go to the WD's web page to find the correct ID and termination settings. Users will find much better performance at the same price in Seagate's Cheetah and Barracuda, or better performance at a much lower price with Quantum's Viking and Seagate's Hawk.
	Western Digital Enterprise WDE4360-0007B2 Specs Estimated Cost: $564.95