Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Perpendicular Hard Drives - Storage on the Up and Up
Posted by Chris Gohlke in "HARDWARE" @ 11:00 PM
"As hard drives pass the 500 GB mark, they are starting to reach a limit on the density that information can be packed on magnetic platters. Specifically, a problem called the superparamagnetic effect starts to become a concern, as ambient heat causes the tiny magnetic particles to "flip their bits" from 0 to 1 or vice versa, damaging data integrity. One solution, which we reported on in January, is to arrange these magnetic particles vertically instead of horizontally on the surface of the platter, allowing greater information density without losing integrity. Seagate delivered the first high-end SCSI drive using perpendicular technology in April of this year, and announced their first consumer drive, a 750 GB SATA model, shortly thereafter. Overall, the drive performed well, and at a retail price around US$414 (US$0.55 per GB), it is competitive with 500 GB drives from other manufacturers, which cost about US$0.52 per GB. For people who have high storage needs, a 750 GB drive makes a lot of sense at these prices."
With 750 GB out now, that means we will be seeing a 1 TB drive soon! I sure don't need that kind of space on my computer (for now), but having that in my DVR would be sweet.
With 750 GB out now, that means we will be seeing a 1 TB drive soon! I sure don't need that kind of space on my computer (for now), but having that in my DVR would be sweet.
