Editorial Style Guide February 2018

Creative Services Revision 1.2 [email protected]

Table of Contents

Editorial Style Guide

Notes for Sub-Brands (such as LaCie)

External References

Definitive Guides

Legal Guidelines for Writing

Legal Review Process

Disclaimers

Disclaimer Elements

Typical Disclaimer

Trademarks

Trademark Use With Company Name

Trademark Use With Product or Feature Names

Third-Party Trademarks

Corporate

Current Products

Legacy Products

Current Features/Technologies

Legacy Features/Technologies

Permissions, Disclosures, and Citations

Designer Credits

Warranty

Use of Language

Compound Words

1 Numbers

Units of Measure

Rounding

Areal Density

Capacity

Dimensions

Electricity

Performance/Speed

Power Dissipation

Shock

Sound

Temperature

Time

Vibration

Lists

Capitalization

Punctuation

Apostrophes

Commas

Semicolons

Colons

Dashes

Parentheses

Ellipses

Multiplication Sign

Quotation Marks

Italics

2 URLs

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Acronyms to Avoid

Acronyms You Do Not Have to Spell Out

Word List

Sub-Brand-Specific Exceptions

LaCie

3 Editorial Style Guide

This style guide establishes writing style conventions for Seagate and sub-brand writers and editors in order to help them achieve stylistic consistency across all platforms. This document is the sole point of reference for all ​ public-facing copy published by Seagate and Seagate sub-brands. Send questions, comments, and suggestions to: [email protected] ​ Notes for Sub-Brands (such as LaCie)

Per company strategy, some sub-brands may be expected to maintain their unique voice, despite being a holding of Seagate. However, in the interest of centralizing copy standards across all of Seagate and its sub-brands, we expect all sub-brands to use this document as the single point of reference for copy standards. However, to reflect sub-brand independence, a section at the end of this document notes exceptions to standards for sub-brands.

External References

Definitive Guides

➢ The Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago Press, subscription only) ​ ➢ Merriam-Webster Dictionary (unabridged, subscription only) ​ ➢ Merriam-Webster Dictionary (non-subscription, free access) ​ ➢ Associated Press Stylebook (for press releases, subscription only) ​ If any section of this document deviates from the Chicago Manual of Style or Merriam Webster, this document ​ ​ takes precedence. For questions about corporate identity and messaging, see the Seagate Brand Guide Identity Standards under the ​ ​ Brand tab at the Seagate Brand Portal, and the LaCie Brand Standards Guide under the Brand tab at the LaCie ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Brand Portal. ​ Legal Guidelines for Writing

All Seagate marketing materials require a disclaimer and a review by legal before being made public. This section provides details about the legal review process and working with disclaimers.

Legal Review Process The legal review process is as follows:

4 1. The writer(s) complete a final draft of new content. The writer(s) use their knowledge of legal guidelines provided by this document and experience to make the content comply with legal requirements as much as possible.

2. The draft is sent to the editor for a final check.

3. The editor sends the draft to the legal department for review.

4. The legal department has five business days to review the content and make any changes or corrections. If there is no response, the document is considered approved by legal. If there is a response, the writer(s) and editor make changes and review as required.

5. The content is ready for publication.

Disclaimers A disclaimer is any statement that specifies or delimits the scope of rights and obligations that may be exercised and enforced by parties in a legally recognized relationship. Disclaimers appear at the end of all Seagate marketing documents.

Disclaimer Elements This section describes how to create a customized disclaimer. It includes information for creating a complete disclaimer, or adding on specific elements to handle special cases with content.

Open your disclaimer with this wording, using appropriate year:

© 2018 Seagate Technology LLC. All rights reserved.

FOR SEAGATE: The first trademark copy statement is for Seagate house marks. It is always the same and must always be included:

Seagate, Seagate Technology, and the Spiral logo are registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC in the United States and/or other countries.

FOR LACIE: The first trademark copy statement is for Seagate/LaCie house marks. It is always the same and must always be included:

Seagate, Seagate Technology, LaCie, and the LaCie logo are registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC in the United States and/or other countries.

The second trademark copy statement is for Seagate and LaCie sub-brands product and technology marks. List Seagate and LaCie sub-brands referenced in the publication, in alphabetical order (first copy block is for multiple marks, second is for one mark):

[Mark1] and [Mark2] are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC or one of its affiliated companies in the United States and/or other countries.

[Mark1] is either a trademark or registered trademark of Seagate Technology LLC or one of its affiliated companies in the United States and/or other countries. ​

5 If we include the FIPS 140-2 Validated logo, include the following after the second trademark copy statement:

The FIPS logo is a certification mark of NIST, which does not imply product endorsement by NIST, the U.S., or Canadian governments.

Only upon agreement with third parties do we include statements for their marks. Refer to their editorial guidelines or provided wording. Examples:

Adobe: Adobe, Creative Cloud, and Adobe Premiere are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems ​ Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Amazon: Amazon and all related logos are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. ​ DJI: DJI, the DJI logo, and Mavic are trademarks of DJI. ​ Intel: Thunderbolt and the Thunderbolt logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. ​ Sony: PlayStation is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. PS4 is a trademark of the same company. ​ The third trademark copy statement is about third-party marks. Always the same. Always include.

All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

If we mention product capacity, include the following (removing GB reference unless GB is mentioned, adding PB reference if it is mentioned: one petabyte, or PB, equals 1000TBs, all with appropriate punctuation and edits as needed):

When referring to drive capacity, one gigabyte, or GB, equals one billion bytes and one terabyte, or TB, equals one trillion bytes. Your computer’s operating system may use a different standard of measurement and report a lower capacity. In addition, some of the listed capacity is used for formatting and other functions, and thus will not be available for data storage.

If we have some mention of quantitative usage (such as, 20,000 digital photos), include the following:

Quantitative usage examples for various applications are for illustrative purposes. Actual quantities will vary based on various factors, including file size, file format, features, and application software.

If we mention speeds or data rates (such as max. external transfer rate), include the following:

Actual data rates may vary depending on operating environment and other factors, such as chosen interface and disk capacity.

If we mention Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) or encryption, include the following:

The export or re-export of Seagate hardware or software is regulated by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (for more information, visit www.bis.doc.gov), and may be controlled for export, import, and use in other countries.

If we mention media functionality (ripping, movie backup, peer-to-peer sharing, etc.), include the following:

Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user.

If product includes access to copyrighted material (such as source code), include the following:

All coded instruction and program statements contained herein is, and remains copyrighted works and confidential proprietary information of Seagate Technology LLC or its affiliates. Any use, derivation, dissemination, reproduction, or any attempt to modify, reproduce, distribute, disclose copyrighted material of Seagate Technology LLC, for any reason, in any manner, medium, or form, in whole or in part, if not expressly authorized, is strictly prohibited.

6 If product includes a battery (such as Seagate Wireless Plus), include the following:

Exact battery life subject to product model, normal usage conditions, and configurations. Dispose of used batteries properly.

Always end with this disclaimer:

Seagate reserves the right to change, without notice, product offerings or specifications.

Typical Disclaimer This sample disclaimer shows the copy typically needed for Seagate marketing collateral copy:

© 2018 Seagate Technology LLC. All rights reserved. Seagate, Seagate Technology, and the Spiral logo are registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC in the United States and/or other countries. [Mark A], [Mark B], and [Mark C] are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC or one of its affiliated companies in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. When referring to drive capacity, one gigabyte, or GB, equals one billion bytes and one terabyte, or TB, equals one trillion bytes. Your computer’s operating system may use a different standard of measurement and report a lower capacity. In addition, some of the listed capacity is used for formatting and other functions, and thus will not be available for data storage. Quantitative usage examples for various applications are for illustrative purposes. Actual quantities will vary based on various factors, including file size, file format, features, and application software. Actual data rates may vary depending on operating environment and other factors. The export or re-export of Seagate hardware or software is regulated by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (for more information, visit www.bis.doc.gov), and may be controlled for export, import, and use in other countries. Seagate reserves the right to change, without notice, product offerings or specifications. Trademarks This section provides details about how to use trademarks, as well as a list of current and legacy product names along with what kind of trademark, if any, they receive. Product names that are retired from use are also listed.

Trademark Use With Company Name The first time the company name is used as a modifier, not a noun, in the main body of copy, use the registered trademark (®), for example, Seagate® NAS HDD. Repeat the use of the registered trademark when the company name is used in any element that may be displayed independently from the original copy, such as in a table or figure.

Trademark Use With Product or Feature Names In general, use the proper mark on a product or feature name (for example, TurboBoost technology) at the first ™ instance in the main body of copy. If there is no body text in the copy (for instance, in a banner), use the proper mark on the first instance. These product or feature names should be followed by an appropriate descriptor, for example, “Download the free DiscWizard software.” ™ [Product and feature name info here too]

Third-Party Trademarks Use a consistent approach regardless of which business unit or class of products is being marketed by Seagate. Only if we have a specific agreement with the other company or have consistently marked their names in previous

7 materials, should the first instance of that third-party’s trademark include a or ®. If the marketing team feels ™ these marks detract from the marketing message, they may be removed.

Links to most important trademark lists:

Adobe | Amazon | Apple | Intel | Microsoft ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Corporate Seagate® Seagate Technology® the Spiral logo® the Wave logo® [legacy logo] ​ LaCie® the LaCie logo®

Current Products 1200 SSD 2big, 4big, 5big, 8big Archive HDD Backup Plus desktop Backup Plus desktop for Mac Backup Plus Fast Portable Backup Plus Fast SSD Portable Backup Plus for Mac desktop Thunderbolt ™ Backup Plus for Mac portable Thunderbolt ™ Backup Plus Hub Backup Plus Slim Backup Plus Slim for Mac BarraCuda® BarraCuda® Pro Blade Runner Business Storage 1-bay NAS Business Storage 2-bay NAS Business Storage 4-bay NAS Business Storage 4-bay Rackmount NAS Business Storage 8-bay Rackmount NAS Business Storage Windows Server 4-bay NAS Caleido [Wuala] ™​ Caleido Wuala ™ Central Cheetah® 15K CloudBox® ClusterStor® Storage Systems Constellation® Constellation® CS

8 Culbuto d2 ™ the d2 logo® Desktop 3.5-Inch Internal Kit Desktop HDD Desktop SSHD Duet [see Seagate Duet (DO NOT use Duet standing alone)] ​ ​ ​ DVR Expander Enterprise Capacity 2.5 HDD Enterprise Capacity 3.5 HDD Enterprise NAS HDD Enterprise Performance 10K HDD Enterprise Performance 15K HDD Enterprise Turbo SSHD Expansion desktop Expansion portable Exos [added 7/27/17] ™ ​ the Exos logo ™ FireCuda® FUEL® Gold Care [LaCie after-sales service] ​ Innov8® IronWolf® IronWolf® Pro Kinetic HDD Little Big Disk LaCie® Genie Timeline LaCie® Media app LaCie Rugged® Laptop 2.5-Inch Internal Kit Laptop HDD Laptop SSHD Laptop Thin HDD Laptop Thin SSHD Laptop Ultrathin HDD Maxtor® the Maxtor logo®[with stylized “X”] ​ Mirror ™ Momentus® Thin NAS NAS HDD NAS OS NAS Pro Nytro® the Nytro logo ™ Personal Cloud PetiteKey

9 Porsche Design [USB Key, Mobile Drive, Slim Drive, Desktop Drive] ​ Private-Public [LaCie SW] ​ RealStor ™ Rugged® [see also LaCie Rugged®] ​ RuggedKey SandForce® Seagate Duet [Never use “Duet” standing alone, per Diane Kratz, 11/29/16] ​ mm Seven ​ [mm in superscript is part of the product name and stands for millimeters; no symbol here] ​ ​ ™ Silver Care [LaCie after-sales service] ​ SkyHawk ™ the SkyHawk logo ™ SkyHawk AI ™ Sphère Surveillance HDD SV35 Series ™ Terascale® HDD [update per Mike Boeve 1/21/2014] ​ Ultra Mobile HDD Video 2.5 HDD Video 3.5 HDD Wireless Wireless Plus WSS NAS XtremKey

Legacy Products 600 Pro SSD 600 SSD 1200 Accelerator Barracuda® [also see under Current Products with updated capitalization] ​ Barracuda® ES+ ™ Barracuda® ES.2 Barracuda® LP Barracuda® XT BlackArmor® Cheetah® NS 10K Constellation.2 ™ Constellation® ES Constellation® ES.2 DB35 Series ™ DiamondMax® EE25 Series ™ FreeAgent® FreeAgent Desk ™ FreeAgent DockStar ™ FreeAgent Go Dock ™ FreeAgent Go Dock+ ™ FreeAgent Go Pro ™ 10 FreeAgent Go ™ FreeAgent Theater ™ FreeAgent Theater+ ™ FreeAgent XTreme ™ GoFlex ™ GoFlex Satellite ™ Lyve® the Lyve logo® Lyve Cloud Lyve Home® Lyve Minds Lyve Mix Lyve Photos Momentus® Pipeline Pipeline HD® Pulsar® Pulsar® XT.2 Pulsar.2 ™ Replica ™ Savvio 10K Savvio 15K Showcase ™ Wuala ™ the Wuala logo® postX8 Accelerator

Current Features/Technologies Accelerator Cache AcuTrac® [updated to registered trademark November 2016] ​ Adaptive Memory® AgileArray [added June 2016] ™ ​ DeltaPro deduplication [EVault] ​ DiscWizard ™ DuraClass ™ DuraWrite ™ Dynamic Data Driver ™ EVault® [assignment not recorded from Evault--contact legal for use] ​ FastFormat [added January 2017] ™ ​ G-Force Protection ™ Green Hybrid [added August 2016 for FireCuda] ​ Ignition Boost ™ ImagePerfect [added June 2016] ™ ​ IntelliRV [added January 2017] ™ ​ Multi-Tier Caching Technology [added June 2016] ™ ​ NASWorks®

11 the NASWorks logo® OneStor® [assignment not recorded from Xyratex] ​ OptiCache ™ PowerBalance ™ PowerChoice ™ PowerTrim ™ Protection Information (PI) QuietStep ™ SafetyKey [Samsung] ™​ Sdrive® [added June 2014] ​ Seagate Champions ™ Seagate Dashboard [descriptor = software] ​ Seagate Instant Secure Erase [no descriptor required] ​ Seagate Kinetic Open Storage platform [can use Seagate Kinetic or Kinetic Open Storage] ™ ​ Seagate Mobile Backup [descriptor = app] ​ Seagate Mobile Enablement Kit Seagate RAID Rebuild® Seagate Rescue | Restore® Seagate Secure [changed July 2017, per Diane Kratz] ™​ the Seagate Secure logo® [old logo with lock] ​ the Seagate Secure logo [new logo with shield] ™ ​ Seagate SmartAlign® SeaTools ™ SecretZone [Samsung] ™​ Secure Download and Diagnostics (SD&D) [no descriptor required] ​ Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) [translate w/lowercase] ​ SHIELD ™ SimplyRAID® SmartAlign [see Seagate SmartAlign®] ™ ​ Think Green [w/no mark in text] ​ the Think Green logo ™ TurboBoost® [added 6/10/14] ​ Legacy Features/Technologies

DriveTrust ™ DynaPlay ™ FAST Factor® Global Access ™ i365 [“i365 , a Seagate company,” at first use only] ™ ​ ™ MetaLINCS ™ RunOn ™ Seagate Manager ™ Seagate Recovery Services ™ Seagate Unified Storage architecture the Unified Storage logo [w/ ] ​ ™ 12 SecureErase [see Instant Secure Erase] ™​ SecureOn ™ SoftSonic ™ Workload Management ™ Permissions, Disclosures, and Citations If you are citing sources or working with videos or images, do the following:

VIDEOS: Make sure music and images are licensed for commercial use. ​ CITING SOURCES/PERMISSIONS FOR STUDIES: Make sure to include permission footnotes for copy and images. ​ Designer Credits Include on each copy of a product, as a result of the services performed by a designer, a mention of designer’s name. Also include the appropriate notation at least once on relevant product packaging, product website, product marketing materials, and product press release.

LACIE: design by neil poulton ​ Warranty When describing warranties, avoid alluding to the fact that there may be different base warranties. Instead, use the following statement:

Extended warranty products available, consult your distributor for details.

13 Use of Language

Be concise. Avoid redundancy and omit needless expressions. DON’T: That sentence has too much excess verbiage. ​ ​ DO: That sentence is verbose. ​

Divide technical data into manageable sentences, paragraphs, and lists to avoid complicated structures. DON’T: OneStor Embedded Storage Platforms include advanced features such as Single, Dual, or Quad Core Intel ​ ​ CPU options, on-board solid-state disk device boot, Internal High-Availability architecture, and particular family members focus on performance, capacity, and cost effectiveness. DO: OneStor Embedded Storage Platforms include advanced features such as: ​ ​ ➢ Single, Dual, or Quad Core Intel CPU options ➢ On-board solid-state disk device boot ➢ Internal High-Availability architecture

Particular family members focus on performance, capacity, and cost effectiveness.

Avoid superlatives that may require supporting data if legally challenged and likely will not be accurate as technology evolves. (Some accepted alternative adjectives include exceptional, outstanding, remarkable, notable, ​ noteworthy, memorable, and significant.) ​ ​ ​ DON’T: The Seagate Backup Plus Fast Portable Drive is the fastest portable hard drive on the market. ​ ​ DO: The Seagate Backup Plus Fast Portable Drive performs at up to 2x the speed of other portable hard drives. ​ ​

Avoid promissory statements. A promissory statement is one that states something to happen in the future as though it were fact when it ought to be presented as a forecast, belief, or assumption. DON’T: SSD drives will grow in popularity. HDDs will remain at 50% of the market. ​ ​ DO: Seagate predicts SDD drives will grow in popularity. Experts believe HDDs will remain at 50% of the market. ​ ​

Avoid market predictions without attribution. DON’T: Seagate expects the market for X to double in five years. ​ Avoid jargon and slang. DON’T: Let’s touch base with everyone next week to see if we can get buy-in for these paradigm shifting core ​ competencies that will better empower our team.

DO: Let’s have a meeting next week to review what soft skills everyone should have, what tasks everyone should be ​ ​ able to complete, and make sure we all agree with the direction we are taking.

All of the sentences in a paragraph should address a single idea. (Examples from http://saintleo.libguides.com/content.php?pid=75086&sid=2117307) DON’T: It rained a lot in 1816.... a lot - like everyday; the weather in Europe was abnormally wet because it rained ​ in Switzerland on 130 out of the 183 days from April to September. If I was Mary Shelley I might decide to write a book too. After all, it was the only thing you could do without TV or anything. She said that she "passed the summer of 1816 in the environs of Geneva...we occasionally amused ourselves with some German stories of

14 ghosts... These tales excited in us a playful desire of imitation" So, people were stuck inside and bored. Mary Shelley decided to write a book because it was so awful outside. I can totally see her point, you know? I guess I would write a novel if there was nothing else to do.

DO: The weather in 1816 Europe was abnormally wet, keeping many inhabitants indoors that summer. From April ​ ​ until September of that year, "it rained in Switzerland on 130 out of the 183 days from April to September" (Phillips, 2006). Unlike today, one could not simply turn on a television or click through the Internet in order to entertain oneself. Instead, it was much more common for the educated people of the day to spend time reading, discussing well-known authors and artists of the day, playing at cards, and walking in their gardens and walking paths.

If you were Mary Shelley in the company of Byron and others, you amused each other by reading out loud, sharing a common interest in a particular book, and sharing with the others your own writing. In her introduction to Frankenstein, her explanation of how this extraordinary novel came to be was due, at least in part, to the weather and the company (Shelley, 1816). "I passed the summer of 1816 in the environs of Geneva. The season was cold and rainy, and ...we occasionally amused ourselves with some German stories of ghosts... These tales excited in us a playful desire of imitation" (Shelley, as quoted in Phillips, 2006).

Use relative pronouns precisely. That introduces a restrictive clause, giving information that is essential to the ​ ​ identity of a noun. Do not use a comma before that. Which introduces a nonrestrictive clause, providing additional ​ ​ ​ ​ but not essential information about a subject. Put a comma before and after a nonrestrictive clause.

DO: The rest of the parameters are organized into pages that group them by function. ​ DO: I suggest you try the Desktop HDD, which is very fast, to upgrade your system. ​

Avoid using they and their as singular pronouns . Use gender-neutral language such as we, you, or they. ​ ​ ​ ​ DON’T: Each employee is expected to take his earned vacation in the current year. ​ DO: All employees are expected to take their earned vacation in the current year. ​

When discussing a product from Seagate or another company, avoid using the company as a possessive entity. DON’T: Seagate’s Wireless Plus lets you share a single Internet connection with up to 7 tablets, smartphones, and ​ ​ computers.

DO: The Seagate Wireless Plus lets you share a single Internet connection with up to 7 tablets, smartphones, and ​ computers.

Use the present tense and active voice to clearly indicate who or what is doing something. DON’T: If you forget this step, the program will display an error message. ​ DO: If you forget this step, the program displays an error message. ​

Do not change tense in the middle of a sentence or paragraph.

15 DON’T: After it has activated the printer, the program will print the message, and then you will be returned to the ​ system command level. DO: The program activates the printer, prints the message, and returns you to the system command level. ​

Use future tense only when you really mean it, or for a future occurrence. DON’T: You will finish these guidelines, then you will need to take a break. ​ ​ DO: After you finish these guidelines, you will need to take a break. ​

Compound Words

Compound words can be hyphenated, separate, or solid. Preferences change over time, so the best resource is an up-to-date dictionary. A good online resource is: http://www.merriam-webster.com/ The following rules are in no way comprehensive. Hyphenate the following combinations when they function as a compound adjective modifying a noun or when they act as a predicate adjective. noun + noun data-block size noun + adjective read-intensive application noun + participle user-defined drive type phrasal compounds track-to-track seek time Hyphenate certain adverb-participle combinations when they occur before (but not after) the noun. BEFORE: This is a well-known fact. ​ AFTER: The fact is well known. ​ ​ Do not hyphenate the combination of a participle and any adverb ending in “ly.” rapidly growing market When a series of hyphenated adjectives have a common element that appears only with the last word, suspend the hyphen after each adjective except the last. long- and short-term goals The use of certain compound nouns is so well established that you do not need to hyphenate them when they occur as compound adjectives. (Use sparingly. If you have any doubts, hyphenate.) hard drive hard disk drive word processing software

16

Numbers

Spell out the numbers one through ten in general text, except in the case of units of measure and other technical specifications (see section following). Only six customers failed to return the survey. EXCEPTION: The drive package includes a 4-foot USB cable. ​ ​ EXCEPTION: The Desktop HDD has 8 heads on 4 disks. ​ ​

Numbers in a series should agree. The cable length was 8 to 20 feet.

Insert a comma in numbers of five or more figures. 1000 Gs 10,000 feet

When stating a range, use to instead of a hyphen, except in the case of tables with very restricted space. ​ ​ 2TB to 10TB

In general text and tables, express percentages in figures with the % symbol. Do not use a space or hyphen with the % symbol. In a range or series, the % symbol follows each figure. Less than 2% of the drive is full (text), <2% (tables) 8% to 80% noncondensing

Leave a word space before and after each operational sign (such as +, –, ×, ±, and =, but not /) in an equation, but not before a positive or negative number. +5V ± 5% –40°C

Use figures to express amounts of money. State the amount in United States dollars with the abbreviation and symbol before the numerals: US$10,000 ​

Alternatively, you may use only the symbol ($) in text and call out a footnote at first use that states: All figures in USD. $50,0001 ​

17 FOOTNOTE: All figures in USD

When the day follows the month, use a cardinal figure (1, 2, 3, etc.) to express it. March 31, NOT March 31st ​ ​ When decades are expressed in numerals, no apostrophe appears between the year and the s. ​ 1990s, NOT 1990’s ​ ​ Do not use all-numeral dates. Spell out or abbreviate months as space allows and regional usage dictates. January 12, 2018 or 1 Jan 2018, NOT 1/12/2018 ​ ​ When time of day is used in text, it may be spelled out (even hours only) or used with lowercase abbreviations and periods. With limited exceptions for restricted space (such as a web banner) or a specific design preference, the abbreviations may be written in full capitals with no periods. eleven o’clock, 2:30 a.m., LIMITED EXCEPTION 5 PM, 8:30 AM ​ ​ For product specifications expressed in time, see Units of Measure. ​

Units of Measure Because units of measure used for product specifications in our materials have a technical significance, express them in figures (including 1 through 10). Abbreviations for units of measure are the same in the singular and the plural. Use abbreviations for the majority of units of measure in our materials. Write abbreviations in Seagate materials without periods, spaces, or hyphens in general text, technical text, and tables. Some units of measure are still written with spaces and/or hyphens as appropriate for the particular usage. The following sections show examples for the most commonly used units of measure cited in our materials.

Rounding For readability, use whole numbers wherever possible. If numbers after a decimal point are necessary, be consistent throughout that unit of measure. For physical width and depth expressed in mm, rounding is up to two digits following the decimal point, and when expressed in inches is up to three digits following the decimal point. Height (mm/in, max), FIPS Model 26.11/1.028 For weight in grams, rounding is to a whole number, no digits after decimal point. Weight in kilograms, rounding is up to one digit following the decimal point. For weight in pounds, rounding is up to three digits after a decimal point. Weight (g/lb) 115/0.254 Weight (kg/lb) 2.9/6.393 For quantities that are less than a whole number, a zero should precede the decimal point. 0.4 oz Technical documentation may have different needs than marketing documentation. Some technical documentation requirements may override the guidelines stated here.

18 Areal Density Express all measures of areal density without spaces or hyphens in text and tables. 394Gb/in2 ​ Capacity Express all measures of drive capacity without spaces or hyphens in text and tables. 80GB 1TB 8MB

Dimensions Most of the time, we spell out units of measure for distance in general text, but may abbreviate in technical text or tables where there are space restrictions. Abbreviate metric measures of distance in both text and tables. Do not express units of measure for distance as symbols (3.5" or 12'). 3.5-inch drive or 3.5 inches (in text), 3.5-in or 3.5 in (may be used in tables) 10,000-foot altitude or 10,000 feet (in text), 10,000-ft or 10,000 ft (may be used in tables) 20mm, 38cm, 85m (in text or tables) Units of measure for weight may be abbreviated in text and tables. Write English units with hyphens or spaces as appropriate. Write metric units without hyphens or spaces. 1.51-lb drive weight or only 1.51 lb 8-oz total weight or weighs less than 8 oz 655g, 98.8kg See beginning of this Units of Measure section for notes on rounding of dimensions. ​ ​ Electricity Write measures of electricity without spaces or hyphens in text and tables. 12V 1.0A

19 Performance/Speed Because we write higher spin speeds with the letter K, they need a hyphen or space for clarity. Therefore, express ​ ​ all measures containing RPM with the appropriate hyphen or space in text and tables. ​ DON’T: 7200RPM ​ DO: A spin speed of 7200 RPM or 7200-RPM spin speed ​ DON’T: 10KRPM ​ DO: A spin speed of 10K RPM or 10K-RPM spin speed ​ Other measures of performance or speed can be written without spaces or hyphens in text and tables. 6Gb/s 300MB/s 2370Mb/s 5.6ms

Power Dissipation Write measures of power dissipation without spaces or hyphens in text and tables. 1.54W 200kW 12kWh

Shock In our industry, we express gravitational units as Gs. Always use a space between the figure and unit of measure, ​ ​ ​ never close up the space or use a hyphen. Always use the plural. ​ ​ DON’T: 1000 G or 1000Gs ​ ​ DO: 1000 Gs of operating shock ​ ​ ​ Sound The term we use for sound, bels, is a word and not an abbreviation. Express it with the appropriate hyphen or ​ ​ space in text and tables. 2.3-bels sound power or 2.3 bels ​ Temperature Express temperature in Celsius, with no space between the figure and the symbol. 59°C

20 Time Units of measure for time are to be spelled out in general text. They may be abbreviated in technical text or tables where space is restricted. Write all units of measure for time with hyphens or spaces. 3-year limited warranty or warranty of 3 years, 3-yr or 3 yr (ok in tables) ​ 2-hour video or video lasting 2 hours (in general text), 2-hr or 2 hr (ok in tables) 60-minute music files or music files of 60 minutes (in general text), 60-min or 60 min (ok in tables) 30-second boot time or boots in less than 30 seconds, 30-sec or 30 sec (ok in tables)

Vibration Express measures of vibration without spaces or hyphens in text and tables. 400Hz

Lists

Seagate copy adheres to the following rules for lists: ➢ Begin each list item with an initial cap. ➢ If any list item is a complete sentence, end it with a period. [scannability, no periods in bullets] ➢ Make the list items parallel. Make them either all sentences, all clauses, or all phrases—each item starting with the same part of speech. ➢ Use bulleted lists to break up a sentence when you have a list of items. The sentence preceding the bulleted list ends in a colon. ➢ Use ordered lists (numbered lists) when a task needs to be performed in a procedural order (for example, if you must do step 1 before step 2) or to refer to an item from outside the list.

21 Capitalization

Use no more capitals than necessary. Choose lowercase whenever possible. Capitalize the first word of: ➢ Every sentence ➢ Direct quotations ➢ Items displayed in a list (such as a bulleted list or ordered list)

Use initial caps for the names of Seagate products and services (see Trademarks section) when referring to them ​ ​ specifically. When the reference is general, use lowercase. The Seagate Laptop SSHD offers blazing speed and high capacity. Upgrade your laptop drive to boost performance and capacity.

Use initial caps for a descriptor only when it is part of the name. Do not capitalize the descriptor when used generically. Multi-Tier Caching Technology AcuTrac technology Nytro XP6302 flash accelerator card

Use lowercase whenever possible for industry terms, even when capitalized abbreviations accompany these elements. network-attached storage (NAS) head/disc assembly (HDA)

In headings where initial caps are used, capitalize the word following the hyphen. Becoming a World-Class Manufacturer

Capitalize job titles only when the title precedes the name. Do not capitalize generic job classifications. District Manager of Communications Fred Schwartz Fred Schwartz, district manager of communications We need to hire a manager. Punctuation

Never insert a comma, semicolon, colon, or dash before an opening parenthesis. Periods and commas precede the closing quotation mark, except when describing keyboard input or computer code, when the punctuation should go outside. For example, use the command “fd”. Semicolons and colons always go outside the closing quotation mark. Question marks or exclamation points go inside the closing

22 quotation mark when they apply only to the quoted material and go outside when they apply to the entire sentence. Periods punctuate the items in a list when each item is a complete sentence. Use a single space after periods. Set punctuation in the type style of the preceding word. In the following example, the question mark is italicized because the word that precedes it is italicized. What is meant by active termination? ​ Apostrophes

Put an apostrophe after lowercase letters used as nouns (x’s and y’s). Uppercase letters don’t require this (Xs and Ys). Do not put an apostrophe before the letter s when forming the plural of an abbreviation or acronym, such as CPUs. ​ ​ However, use an apostrophe whenever the addition of the s turns the abbreviation into a word (for example, A’s ​ ​ ​ and i’s rather than As and is). ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Commas

Separate items in a series by commas. Use a comma (knows as a serial or Oxford comma) before the conjunction that joins the last two elements in a series. Large networks feature many processors, terminals, and peripheral devices. When elements in a series involve internal punctuation, separate items by semicolons.

Semicolons

Separate independent clauses with a semicolon when the coordinating conjunction is omitted. A required volume name is specified; it may be up to sixteen characters long. Separate independent clauses linked by transitional expressions with a semicolon. The new cache is more efficient; for example, it permits segmentation. Colons

Use a colon to separate two independent clauses when the second clause explains or illustrates the first. If the element introduced by a colon can stand alone as a sentence (or is a quotation), it should begin with a capital letter. Otherwise, it should begin with a lowercase letter. All cash advances must be countersigned by me, with one exception: when the amount is less than $50. There are several drawbacks to this proposal: First, it will tie up a good deal of capital for the next five years.

Use a colon after a complete sentence that introduces an example or list. The house has attractive features: cross ventilation in every room, a two-story living room, and two terraces.

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When we introduce a list or series by expressions such as namely, for instance, for example, or that is, do not use a ​ ​ ​ ​ colon unless the series consists of one or more grammatically complete clauses. DON’T: For example: A, B, and C. ​ ​ ​ ​ DO: For example, A, B, and C. ​ ​ ​ ​ DO: For example: there is an A, there is a B, and there is a C. ​ ​ Dashes

Use an em dash (—) in place of commas to offset nonessential elements that demand special emphasis. Otherwise, use commas. Do not insert spaces before or after the em dash. Use em dashes to indicate “not applicable” or “not available” in specs. Em dashes replace commas when nonessential elements contain internal commas. Use an en dash (–) or minus symbol ( ), not a hyphen (-), in equations and when showing a negative number. − –300m to 3040m Avoid using a dash as a replacement for the word and or to. For example: ​ ​ ​ ​ DON'T: Pins 1–2 ​ DO: Pins 1 and 2 ​ Parentheses

Parentheses enclose explanatory material independent of the main thought. Use them when dashes are too emphatic. Ellipses

An ellipsis consists of exactly three dots. Do not use the ellipsis symbol because it could convert improperly. Use three periods with no spaces before or after, and do not separate the periods with spaces. If it occurs at the end of a declarative sentence, do not add a period. Any other end-punctuation is included with no space before or after. Multiplication Sign

Do not substitute an uppercase “X” or lowercase “x” for the multiplication sign. Quotation Marks

Use smart quotes (curvy) for quotation marks and apostrophes. “It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood,” sang Mr. Rogers. Use straight quotes to indicate inches and feet. That’s a 2" × 4" × 6' board.

24 Italics

Emphasize a word or phrase by setting it in italics, never by enclosing it in quotation marks. Use italics to emphasize the first occurrence of key terms and terms with special meaning. Then, resume using normal type style for future use of the terms. Use emphasis sparingly. URLs

When referring to a URL, do not use underscoring. For readability, do not use http://.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

In general, spell out the full text followed by the abbreviation in parentheses the first time you use it. Do not introduce an abbreviation unless you intend to use it again in the document. Make an abbreviation plural by adding a lowercase s. ​ SSDs When the first use in full text is plural, do not use a plural of the abbreviation in parentheses. solid state hybrid drives (SSHD) Make the indefinite article agree with the accepted pronunciation of the abbreviation. Sometimes you’ll have to make an educated guess. The general rule for indefinite articles is to use a before consonants and an before ​ ​ ​ ​ vowels. The choice is based on how the acronym is pronounced, so try saying it aloud. EXAMPLE: An IT solution - because you pronounce IT by separate letters. ​ ​ ​ EXAMPLE: A LAN schematic - because you pronounce LAN as though it is a word. ​ ​ ​ Acronyms to Avoid

Do not use abbreviations that are not commonly known. The following is a list of abbreviations that should not be used when writing Seagate copy: DC, instead use data center SW, instead use software

25 Acronyms You Do Not Have to Spell Out

The following is a list of acronyms you are not required to spell out:

CPU IT PaaS PDF RAM ROI SaaS VAR URL WWW

Word List

The word list is a list of words where there may be some confusion as to how to present them in text. The list presents each item as though it were in the middle of a sentence. Thus capitalization of a word indicates that the word is always capitalized. If there are any special exceptions regarding capitalization on a word, they are noted by the word.

24×7 [NOT 24x7 (use × symbol, not x), NOT 24/7 (see LaCie exception)] ​ ​ ​ ​ 512n, 512e, or 4Kn (caps for # and lower case for (n)native or (e)emulation) 8-lane PCIe (NOT ×8 lane) ​ ​ ​ accelerator card [subsequent use can omit “accelerator”] and [NOT & (ampersand symbol); exception: very limited use in banner ads, tables, or other areas where space is ​ ​ an issue or where text can be considered a design element] back up (verb), backup (noun, adjective) big data cloud cloud computing device or component (Not “chip”) Data Age 2025 data center (NOT datacenter) ​ ​ defrag disk (NOT disc) ​ ​ 26 e-commerce email enterprise (and “enterprise class,” or “enterprise-class” if it’s a modifier) failures in time (FIT) file system (NOT filesystem) ​ ​ flash (NOT Flash) ​ ​ Format: 512n, 512e, or 4Kn (Caps for # and lower case for (n)native or (e)emulation) hard drive (NOT HDD or hard disk drive) ​ ​ hyperscale Interface: 12Gb/s SAS, 6Gb/s SATA (preference per organization) Internet, or internet I/O (input/output) (NOT IO) ​ ​ IOPS (Input/Output Operations per Second) (NOT IOPs) ​ ​ less (to describe countable units)/fewer (to describe abstract or inseparable quantities) less than (NOT under) ​ ​ mean time between failures (MTBF) more than (NOT over) ​ ​ multi-level cell (MLC) nonoperating (with no hyphen) nonrecoverable (NOT unrecoverable) ​ ​ nonvolatile on-the-go (retail rule, use hyphens in all instances) (see LaCie exception) plug-and-play rackmount read/write (NOT read-write) ​ ​ single-level cell (SLC) S.M.A.R.T. (NOT SMART) ​ ​ smartphone (NOT smart phone) ​ ​ SSD SSHD, etc. triple-level cell (TLC) use (NOT utilize) ​ ​ website

27 Sub-Brand-Specific Exceptions

In certain cases, it’s appropriate to break from Seagate editorial guidelines in order to accommodate the unique voice, target audience, competitive landscape, etc. of the sub-brands.

LaCie

Standard LaCie Seagate

24/7 24/7 24×7

Numbers in prose Spell out < than 10 Spell out 1 through 10

Acoustics dBA (decibels) — i.e. 10-20dBA, 2.3-bels sound power or 2.3 25dBA bels

On-the-go on the go on-the-go [retail]

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