hdd
Latest
Watch a recycling machine shake apart old hard drives to recover components
A company called Garner Products has invented a machine that can shake traditional hard drives apart to help recover useful components. The DiskMantler can seemingly dismantle an HDD in as little as eight seconds.
Hard drives are about to get supercharged
HAMR and MAMR are a pair of new methods for writing data to hard drives that could boost capacity as high as 60TB per drive, or beyond.
The $300 PlayStation 4 Slim bulks up with a 1TB hard drive
Sure, it's simple enough to swap out the standard 500 GB hard drive in your PlayStation 4 for a bigger one, but sometimes you just don't want to go through the hassle. Well, thanks to the PS4 Slim being packed with a 1 TB drive as standard equipment now, that shouldn't be an issue in the future. Amazon is already cutting prices on the 500GB models (from $300 to around $250), and the 1TB flavor rocks a $300 MSRP. A 1TB PS4 Pro is still $400, however, and depending on your situation, might be the better buy at this point.
WD's G-Drive USB-C adds storage and power to your laptop
Apple's courageous decision to equip the MacBook with just one USB-C port for charging and external storage forced owners to carry a pricey dongle if they wanted to do both at once. If you're in that camp, or would rather not sacrifice a port on your MacBook Pro or other USB-C device, Western Digital has a drive that could make your day. The G-Drive USB-C gives you 4, 8 or 10TB of storage, while simultaneously charging your laptop with up to 45 watts of power.
The PS4 will soon support external drives and 3D movies in VR
It's been a little while since we last saw an update for the PlayStation 4, but that doesn't mean Sony hasn't been hammering away on new tweaks for the console. Today, the company unveiled plans for its version 4.50 (codenamed Sasuke) system update, confirming support for some oft-requested and useful new features like external hard drive support for games, custom wallpaper and and the ability to view 3D Blu-rays via PSVR. PS4 Pro owners will also be pleased to know that they may be getting some love too (more on that later).
WD's PiDrive gives your Raspberry Pi 314GB of storage
Sure, you can already add storage to your Raspberry Pi, but it's usually an exercise in trade-offs: SD cards don't hold much data, and USB drives (even the portable ones) tend to be too big and power-hungry for a mini PC. WD doesn't think you should have to compromise, though. It's shipping a new PiDrive that stuffs 314GB into a slim design that won't overwhelm the Pi's power system, but is fast enough to make full use of the USB connection. It even has a special version of BerryBoot (a multi-operating system tool) to help you load your platform of choice and fill that abundant space with apps.
Google wants hard drives designed to store your cloud data
Take a look at the hard drive in your desktop PC. It might hold terabytes of data, but the basic 3.5-inch design can be traced back to the early days of computing -- not really relevant in an era when a lot of your content sits in the cloud, is it? Google wants to change that. It's hoping to work with both the tech industry and researchers to design hard drives that are tailor-made for cloud-based storage. It wants to optimize the "collection" of disks instead of focusing on individual drives, and is more concerned about capacity and performance -- the things that matter most in a bustling data center -- over sheer reliability.
Flash-based drives may soon be as cheap as the spinning kind
If you've noticed that solid-state drives (and the PCs that include them) no longer cost an arm and a leg, you're not alone. Researchers at DRAMeXchange understand that the price per gigabyte of an SSD has fallen off a cliff in the past three years, and the trend is only accelerating. If the company's estimates are on the mark, these drives could cost just 11 cents more per gig than conventional hard drives by 2017. At that rate, you might not have to choose between high capacity and breakneck speed when you're on a budget -- you could easily afford both.
The PS4 will have a 1TB hard drive version very soon
Coming right on time after Microsoft's leak a few hours ago, some pre-E3 Sony news just popped up. An FCC filing reveals two new versions of the PS4 are on the way, and one of them is its first to come stock with a 1TB hard drive inside, twice the size of the current one. PlayStation gamers have already been able to crack the system open and swap in a larger/faster storage unit, but if you'd prefer to skip the hassle the option of having one from the jump will be nice, and current games fill up a 500GB unit all too quickly.
Which portable hard drives are worth buying?
With all our computers, phones and cameras, we create a lot of data. And while there are plenty of cloud-based options for storing all the information you generate, many people prefer something they can physically touch. A portable hard drive can give you plenty of control, while still making it possible to carry your data around in your bag. But which drives make it easy to transfer files to them in the first place? And which ones will survive the trips you take them on? We've taken a look at some of the better portable drives available now to find out which ones have the right stuff.
The NSA hides surveillance software in hard drives
It's been known for a while that the NSA will intercept and bug equipment to spy on its soon-to-be owners, but the intellgency agency's techniques are apparently more clever than first thought. Security researchers at Kaspersky Lab have discovered apparently state-created spyware buried in the firmware of hard drives from big names like Seagate, Toshiba and Western Digital. When present, the code lets snoops collect data and map networks that would otherwise be inaccessible -- all they need to retrieve info is for an unwitting user to insert infected storage (such as a CD or USB drive) into an internet-connected PC. The malware also isn't sitting in regular storage, so you can't easily get rid of it or even detect it.
Toshiba stuffs 3TB into its latest portable hard drives
Portable hard drives don't hold nearly as much data as their desk-bound counterparts, but Toshiba is closing that gap in a big way. Both its simple Canvio Basics drives and sharing-friendly Canvio Connect II models (shown above) are some of the first (reasonably) portable drives to carry 3TB. That's obviously quite a bit more than the 2TB models you've seen before, and enough for you to stash your 4K videos on. They don't have any fancy new tricks in store, although that extra space could come in handy for the Connect II's PogoPlug-based remote access and bundled backup software. Mum's the word on pricing at the moment. With that said, it's safe to say the 3TB models will cost more than a similarly sized disk for your desktop.
Seagate starts shipping 8TB hard drives that cost only $260
Here's something you can get for yourself these holidays: a 3.5-inch 8TB drive from Seagate that costs only $260 -- we didn't forget an extra number in that figure, promise. That's a lot cheaper than HGST's helium-filled 8TB disk drive, which is listed for $1,000 on newegg and just a bit more on Amazon. And, it's significantly more affordable than OCZ's 1TB SSD released only five years ago (remember when 1TB drives excited you?) for $2,200. This product is part of the brand's new Archive HDD line launched a few months ago, which uses Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) technology that can fit more data on a platter than the typical drive. The line also includes 6TB and 5TB options, if 8TB is already excessive.
IBM wants to kill the hard drive it invented
Saving files to memory is something that's supposed to be mostly invisible for the end user. We don't need to think about it; it just has to work. But whether it's a solid-state or hard disk drive, conventional storage solutions have their limitations -- namely, speed, rewritability and durability. A team at IBM Research's Almaden facility in California has a cure for all of that and it's called "racetrack memory."
8TB hard drives have arrived
We're sorry to break the bad news, but that 5TB hard drive you bought last week? Yeah, it's already obsolete. Seagate has started shipping the first-ever 8TB desktop hard disk, doubling the 4TB capacities that seemed huge just a couple of years ago. If it's any consolation, though, this machinery isn't ready to go inside your hot gaming PC. Right now, all those terabytes are destined for data centers where capacity trumps every other concern; Seagate isn't mentioning prices, but enterprise-class storage is rarely cheap. You may want to set aside some money all the same. These extra-roomy drives have a tendency to filter down to the mainstream pretty quickly, so you may soon have more free disk space than you know what to do with... at least, for a little while.
500GB Xbox 360 Media Drive unveiled, priced $110
Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Xbox 360. Its nine-year mission: to explore strange new games, and to seek out new hard drives to put them on. To boldly go where no console has gone before - 500GB! Yes, okay, other consoles have boldly gone onto 500GB but the new box is the biggest Media Drive yet for Xbox 360. It's also $20 cheaper than the current 320GB edition, coming in at $110 on retail shelves stateside. As for when it'll hit them, Captain Larry Hyrb simply says "it's on the way," while Xbox.com lists pre-orders as "coming soon." [Image: Microsoft]
Xbox 360 HDD now comes in 500GB format, costs less than 320GB version
Been taking advantage of the Xbox 360's "Games with Gold" deal? You might be running out of hard drive space, and Microsoft knows it: it just updated the Xbox website with a teaser for a 500GB hard drive. At $110 it's still more expensive than PC storage, but it's oddly cheaper than the 320GB Xbox 360 HDD that's currently on the market. It's not clear if the new drive will serve as a replacement or if the price is merely a placeholder, but we'll never scoff at more storage space. Unfortunately, you can't order the new drive just yet -- the product page just says that pre-orders are "coming soon." [Image credit: yum9me, Flickr]
Xbox One June update arrives so you can drop the nickname and add storage
Whether or not we love the update process, we're quickly getting used to the rapid pace of improvements coming to Microsoft's Xbox One. After the usual beta period, the promised June update is here, and brings several features we've been waiting for since launch. Old school automatic logins are once again an option, so even if your Kinect is unplugged (or nonexistent) all saves and settings will be available right away without any extra clicks. There's also support for up to two external hard drives, as long as they're USB 3.0 and at least 256GB. That's a boon not only for the extra storage space, but for speed too -- some beta testers reported faster loading times after adding 7200RPM drives that outpace the standard laptop option Microsoft put inside the XB1. The Xbox One version of Games for Gold and a new VIP section are here too, letting subscribers nab Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and Halo: Spartan Assault without spending another dime or try out Hulu Plus free for three months.
Upcoming Xbox One update might let you use external drives
According to Microsoft product director Albert Penello, external drive support for the Xbox One has always been on the company's docket to enable in a future update. That refresh looks to be on the horizon after an unnamed Xbox developer took to Reddit to tease an image showing that very feature in action. Members of the Xbox One preview programme are often privy to early features, which have recently included improved Party Chat and manual checks for system updates, but this leak will likely attract the most attention. Although the Xbox One ships with a 500GB internal hard drive, blockbuster games can command 50GB without breaking a sweat. That game storage, of course, adds up over time. Attaching an additional drive will not only stop you from running out of space, it'll also stop you from voiding your warranty with a do-it-yourself replacement.
Cloud storage meets old-school archiving with IDrive's new Safe service
An internet connection is usually the only thing between you and your remotely stored data. Not with IDrive's new "Safe" service, however, which is a strange mix of traditional archiving and newfangled cloud storage. For a one-off payment of $100, the company'll send you a physical 1TB hard drive to fill up, collect it from you, and store it indefinitely (with no recurring charge). With 24 hours notice, IDrive will dive into its warehouse, dig out your HDD and let you have at its contents through the magic of the interwebs -- higher pricing tiers are also available for individuals or businesses that require more frequent data dumps. We can almost see why some might prefer their very own HDD as opposed to an anonymous server rack, even if both are technically out of reach. Best to keep some treasured family photos backed-up though -- that flight isn't going to wait 24 hours for you to recover your e-ticket.
