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Hitachi working on 5TB hard drive, halfway to human brain capacity
Just when solid-state drives were about to catch up to the spinners, Hitachi has gone and announced that it is working on a 5TB hard drive. It says the drive should be available by 2010 in a 3.5-inch format and will use perpendicular CPP-GMR tech to achieve some serious density. Just to show off, Hitachi's Yoshiro Shiroishi pointed out that the human brain has been estimated at (only?) around 10TB. So there we have it -- we're halfway to intellectual obsolescence. Don't say we didn't warn you![Via TechDigest]
Western Digital doubles HDD storage densities
It seems like hard drive manufacturers are all about the bold claims this week -- hot on the heels of Hitachi's promise to deliver 4TB drives in 2011, Western Digital is doing a little chest-thumping over its "successful demonstration" of a drive with a storage density of 520 gigabits per square inch. That's more than double today's max of 200Gb per square inch, and WD says cramming bits in that tight will result in 3TB 3.5-inch drives by 2010. Hmm, 1TB less one year sooner? Storage fanboys, to the comments!
Toshiba's DTR technology hints at 240GB iPod drives by 2009
With Apple launching their new iPod classic, pretty much everybody is now aware that 1.8-inch hard disks max out at 160GB. Thing is, that disk -- be it from Toshiba or Samsung -- is actualy spinning a pair of 80GB platters at its core. So what would you say to Toshiba's announced 120GB single-platter drive? Hoozah, seems appropriate. The new prototype applies Discrete Track Recording (DTR) technology to boost the areal density of perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) techniques by a full 50% -- that's 516Mb per square millimeter (333Gb per square inch). Tosh plans on mass producing the 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch (laptop) drives in 2009 which means that a 240GB "iPod HD" can't be too far away, eh Apple?
Western Digital's 250GB perpendicular Scorpio heads for laptops
Late last year, Western Digital decided to make the leap to the land of perpendicular magnetic recording with its 160GB Scorpio, and now the firm is stepping it up to a full quarter terabyte with its latest rendition. The 2.5-inch SATA drive fits nicely within the confines of most lappies, sports 8MB of cache, a 12-millisecond access time, spins at 5400RPM, and touts the company's WhisperDrive technology so you'll barely know its there. Additionally, the ShockGuard and SecurePark systems tag team to keep your data safe during turmoil, and the IntelliSeek system reportedly "calculates the optimum seek speed of the read / write head actuator to help reduce noise and power consumption." So if you're looking to up the storage capacity of your mobile machine, you can snag WD's latest right now for a penny under $200.[Via MacWorld]
Samsung's 60GB 1.8-inch hard disk now shipping -- PSP2, you listening?
While everyone is waiting for the price of 128GB SSDs or hell, the 32GB variety to bottom-out, Samsung and others have been quietly beefing up their slim, 1.8-inch N-Series hard drives from 20 to 30 to 40 and now... 60GB using perpendicular recording techniques. Better yet, Sammy's drives are just 5-mm thin, spin at 4,200rpm, and feature a (relatively) quick 7.14-millisecond average seek time and a 2MB data buffer. It's not silent like an SSD but they do squeeze the noise down to 1.8 dB -- just above the human threshold for healthy ears (read: not yours). Of course, Sammy calls it a world's first even though Seagate began shipping their 5-mm, 60GB, single platter 1.8-inch hard drive more than two weeks ago. Ah well, so goes the hyperbole. While we're waiting for Tosh's chubby (8-mm thick) 100GB cousin to get an iPod fitting, the skids are now greased for a 60GB PSP on the quick... or not.
Fujitsu achieves another storage milestone using patterned media technology
Although it seemed that Seagate was comfortably at the forefront of magnetic recording developments, Fujitsu is hoping that its latest "breakthrough" will add a little friction to the areal density competition. Using patterned media technology, the firm "was able to achieve a one-dimensional array nanohole pattern with an unprecedented 25 nanometer pitch," which essentially means that recording one-terabit per square inch onto HDDs of the future is now realizable. Additionally, the company also revealed a new development "involving perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) read / write operation on random patterned media," which utilizes the soft underlayer (SUL) as the PMR media. As expected, the presenters weren't as forthcoming about when we'd actually see these achievements make a difference in our laptops, servers, and other HDD-equipped devices, but the sooner the better, okay Fujitsu?
Seagate unveils "world's fastest" 2.5-inch 15k RPM hard drive
Ah, companies and their bragging rights. Looks like today's self-proclaimed champion is none other than Seagate, as the firm has claimed that its newly-unveiled 2.5-inch Savvio hard drive spins quicker than any other drive on the block. The Savvio 15K expands upon the existing 2.5-inch "SAS enterprise hard drive series" with a pair of new 15,000 RPM models that could theoretically fit inside a laptop, but are clearly designed for blade servers and enterprise applications. As expected, these drives are built on perpendicular magnetic recording technology (PMR), and are only available in sizes of 36GB and 73GB, which is (understandably) smaller than the 146GB option in the 10K Savvio. Seagate claims that these diminutive speed demons consume 25-percent less power than the company's 3.5-inch Cheetah 15K.4 drives, offer 10-percent faster seek time, and provide 40-percent faster sustained data transfer rates. Seagate declined to mention hard details in regard to pricing, but did state that customers would face "a premium" for the newfangled speed, but hey, you gotta pay to play.
Western Digital intros its first perpendicular drive, the 160GB Scorpio
Better late than never, right? Apparently Western Digital is just fine with this mantra, as it finally got around to releasing its very own perpendicular hard drive, the 2.5-inch SATA Scorpio. This 160GB HDD matches Fujitsu's MHW2160BH, but lacks the space found in Toshiba's offering, though we're certainly not ones to complain about more competition. The specs aren't anything extraordinary, as it sports 8MB of cache, 150 MB/s transfer speeds, and spins along at 5,400RPM. WD does attempt to add an element of distinction by marketing it as the "quietest 2.5-inch hard drive" around, care of its "WhisperDrive" technology, and the "ShockGuard" feature should enable it to handle the bumps of everyday life just fine. While there's nothing definitive concerning pricing or availability, the WD1600BEVS should check in just below competing alternatives, and will likely pop up in notebooks everywhere real soon.
Fujitsu gets perpendicular with 160GB 2.5-incher
They promised 200GB by 2007, and it looks like we're getting 160GB in 2006. We can't quite tell if we're supposed to be disappointed by the missing gigabytes, or excited by the launch date, but with 160GB of perpendicular data spinning at 5,400 RPM you can't go far wrong. Of course, Hitachi announced a 5,400 RPM 160 gigger earlier this year, so we're not sure why Fujitsu is trying to pass off their new MHW2160BH's speed as some sort of record. Fujitsu is also dropping an 80GB MHW2080BH based on the tech, and both drives will be available in October.[Via gizmag]
Hitachi sez: 1TB drives by end of year
We don't pretend to attract too many readers who were around when IBM unleashed their model 350 hard disk in the RAMAC some fifty years ago. So you regular, mild-mannered geeks probably aren't aware that the original magnettic spinner featured no less than 50, 24-inch platters for a whopping (at that time) 5MB of storage. Why 24-inches? Easy, the disk was engineered to be "small enough" to fit through a standard door frame! My my, how times have changed. Today we're squeezing 12GB of storage into Jetsonian 1-inch drives while Seagate merrily stuffs a full 750GB of perpendicular goodness into a 3.5-incher. And with drive capacities effectively doubling every two years, it comes as little surprise to hear a product VP from Hitachi predicting a 3.5-inch drive sporting 1TB (1,000GB) before the year is up. Still, it's always good to get the poop direct from the source, so to speak.
Toshiba's 200GB 2.5-in perpendicular drive
This whole perpendicular recording affair may have started with some dopey, bit-dancing hype, but things sure have gotten serious, fast. In the last month, Seagate dropped that big bad 750GB 'cuda while Hitachi slipped us their 5400RPM, 160GB 2.5-incher. Now, Toshiba announces their MK2035GSS which packs in 200GB of 2.5-inch SATA disk spinning at 4200RPM with a 150MB/sec transfer rate and 12-millsecond mean seek time. No word on price, but you can expect 'em to drop for mass production in August hitting your favorite laptop soon thereafter.[Via Impress Watch]
Hitachi rolls out Travelstar 5K160 160GB 2.5-in perpendicular drive
It's about time. Hitachi may be the granddaddy of perpendicular media (if not, they're certainly the technology's biggest booster), but the company has been a little slow to shrink its high-capacity drives down to 2.5 inches. But the company is now prepared to follow such competitors as Seagate and Toshiba, with its own 160GB, 2.5-inch drive. The 5400RPM Travelstar 5K160 drive is expected to sell for $270 to OEMs and $300 to consumers. Hitachi plans a 1.8-inch version by the end of the year; they're playing catchup there as well, since Toshiba's 1.8-incher is already on the market.
Seagate's 750GB Pushbutton Back-up Hard Drive
We'd heard it, it leaked, it got reviewed, then announced, now it's time to get your 750GB perp drives on people. Seagate's new 750GB Pushbutton Back-up Hard Drive isn't by an means out of the ordinary -- it's an external drive with USB 2.0 and FireWire, the only difference is it's 750GB in a single drive, not two drive in RAID 0. For what you're getting the $559 doesn't even really seem that out of control, and you'll have your chance to get one starting next month, according to Seagate. We're not going to ask what the hell kind of data you've got that requires you to go buy a 750GB drive (or a couple of 'em for an array, as it were), but copious storage early adopters, we tip our hats to you.
Seagate's Barracuda 750GB drive reviewed
No doubt you remember the leaked specs on Seagate's new Baracuda 7200.10 series of perpendicular drives. Well, Seagate just made it officially, uh, official and PC World has a review for ya just to prove it. Now, we already knew it would be the biggest 3.5-incher around, but PC World tells us that it might also be the best. In a "first look" of the SATA/300, 16MB cache version, PCW found the new 'cuda to scream across the spectrum of tests ranking it first overall among the bevy of 7200rpm spinners they've tested, bested only be the 10,000rpm Raptor X. Expect the 750GB model they tested to hit the streets for about $590, or $0.79/GB, which isn't really that bad.
Seagate ships first 3.5-inch perpendicular drive
Ever since we saw that flash movie from Hitachi, the incredibly educational disco-tinged animation that practically inspired the perpendicular "revolution" as we know it, we've been waiting for the tech to make residence on those huge 3.5-inch platters in our desktops. Well, that time has finally come, with Seagate dropping their new Cheetah 15K.5 drives with up to 300GB of space. The 15,000 rpm drives claim to offer 30% better performance than their predecessors, and have a sustained data rate around 73-125 MB/s. You'll of course need SCSI, Ultra320 SCSI or fiber hookups to enjoy this speed, and you should be able to nab you very own 300GB, 147GB or 73GB drive this June. No price is announced as of yet, but it doesn't look like they'll be giving these away.
