G
ggdbr01
Many in the industry seem to think that the "perpendicular recording
revolution" is upon us...
=== begin quoted passage ===
New Technology Boosts Hard Drive Capacity
By MATTHEW FORDAHL, AP Technology Writer 2 hours, 7 minutes ago
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Seagate Technology LLC has started shipping a
notebook PC hard drive that overcomes an obstacle many feared would be
a major roadblock to the further expansion of disk capacity - and the
overall growth of the storage industry.
The new approach that aligns bits of data vertically rather than
horizontally enables Seagate - and other drive vendors - to further
boost the density of drives without increasing the risk of scrambling
data....
By storing bits in a vertical, or perpendicular, arrangement, engineers
are able to boost capacity by taking advantage of the real estate that
is freed up....
It's a major change that all drive makers are in the process of
undertaking, said John Donovan, vice president at the research firm
TrendFocus.
"It a whole new way of doing things," he said. "Not only do you have to
change the thinking, but the tooling, the way the heads and disks
interact with each other."
Seagate's new drive, the Momentus 5400.3, was being shipped as of
Monday, the Scotts Valley, Calif.-based company said. The shift to
perpendicular recording allows it to bump up the maximum capacity of
its notebook drive to 160 gigabytes from 120 gigabytes.
The 2.5-inch drive costs $325, compared to about $240 for the 120 gig
model. Seagate plans to extend the new recording technology to other
notebook drives, as well its 1-inch drives used in handheld gadgets and
3.5-inch drives for desktop PCs....
Other drive makers also have either announced products or plans that
include perpendicular recording. At the Consumer Electronics Show
earlier this month, Toshiba unveiled its second 1.8-inch drive that
relies on the new technology.
Perpendicular recording has benefits beyond boosting storage density by
reducing the need for additional components, said Mike Hall, a Seagate
spokesman.
"If you can reduce the component count, you reduce the power drawn, you
reduce the heat and you reduce the wear and tear," he said.
In the next three to five years, the new technology is expected to
increase maximum drive capacities five fold, Hall said....
=== end quoted passage ===
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060116/ap_on_hi_te/seagate_drives
More information on the Momentus 5400.3 may be obtained at Seagate's
website:
http://www.seagate.com/products/notebook/momentus.html
"The industry's first perpendicular recording technology drive":
http://www.seagate.com/docs/pdf/marketing/PO-Momentus54.pdf
Datasheet:
http://www.seagate.com/docs/pdf/datasheet/disc/ds_momentus5400.pdf
Hitachi's perpendicular recording page:
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/research/recording_head/pr/index.html
PC World article on perpendicular recording technology:
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,120102,00.asp
PC World graphic on this:
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,120102,pg,2,00.asp
Interesting stuff!
revolution" is upon us...
=== begin quoted passage ===
New Technology Boosts Hard Drive Capacity
By MATTHEW FORDAHL, AP Technology Writer 2 hours, 7 minutes ago
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Seagate Technology LLC has started shipping a
notebook PC hard drive that overcomes an obstacle many feared would be
a major roadblock to the further expansion of disk capacity - and the
overall growth of the storage industry.
The new approach that aligns bits of data vertically rather than
horizontally enables Seagate - and other drive vendors - to further
boost the density of drives without increasing the risk of scrambling
data....
By storing bits in a vertical, or perpendicular, arrangement, engineers
are able to boost capacity by taking advantage of the real estate that
is freed up....
It's a major change that all drive makers are in the process of
undertaking, said John Donovan, vice president at the research firm
TrendFocus.
"It a whole new way of doing things," he said. "Not only do you have to
change the thinking, but the tooling, the way the heads and disks
interact with each other."
Seagate's new drive, the Momentus 5400.3, was being shipped as of
Monday, the Scotts Valley, Calif.-based company said. The shift to
perpendicular recording allows it to bump up the maximum capacity of
its notebook drive to 160 gigabytes from 120 gigabytes.
The 2.5-inch drive costs $325, compared to about $240 for the 120 gig
model. Seagate plans to extend the new recording technology to other
notebook drives, as well its 1-inch drives used in handheld gadgets and
3.5-inch drives for desktop PCs....
Other drive makers also have either announced products or plans that
include perpendicular recording. At the Consumer Electronics Show
earlier this month, Toshiba unveiled its second 1.8-inch drive that
relies on the new technology.
Perpendicular recording has benefits beyond boosting storage density by
reducing the need for additional components, said Mike Hall, a Seagate
spokesman.
"If you can reduce the component count, you reduce the power drawn, you
reduce the heat and you reduce the wear and tear," he said.
In the next three to five years, the new technology is expected to
increase maximum drive capacities five fold, Hall said....
=== end quoted passage ===
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060116/ap_on_hi_te/seagate_drives
More information on the Momentus 5400.3 may be obtained at Seagate's
website:
http://www.seagate.com/products/notebook/momentus.html
"The industry's first perpendicular recording technology drive":
http://www.seagate.com/docs/pdf/marketing/PO-Momentus54.pdf
Datasheet:
http://www.seagate.com/docs/pdf/datasheet/disc/ds_momentus5400.pdf
Hitachi's perpendicular recording page:
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/research/recording_head/pr/index.html
PC World article on perpendicular recording technology:
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,120102,00.asp
PC World graphic on this:
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,120102,pg,2,00.asp
Interesting stuff!