Our Linux hardware review today is of the Western Digital VelociRaptor, an enterprise-grade HDD that Western Digital claims is the "Fastest SATA Hard Drive On The Planet." The Serial ATA 3.0 disk drive spins at 10,000 RPM, but how's its Linux performance?

The Western Digital WD1500HLHX is the 150GB version of the VelociRaptor. The Serial ATA 3.0 hard disk drive spins at 10,000 RPM and has 32MB of cache (it would have been more competitive to see a 64MB cache like some other HDDs, but we'll see how it performs in our benchmarks). The VelociRaptor is a 2.5-inch HDD but is mounted within a 3.5-inch "Icepack Mounting Frame" for cooling off the drive with its built-in heatsink.