Hitachi 7K1000.B (second gen) and the "Tera Era" (

[Matija]

http://tinyurl.com/5z7g8s (link shortened because it's 511 characters long)

" ... Hitachi is announcing the Deskstar 7K1000.B, the world’s most energy-efficient 7,200 RPM one terabyte (1TB) hard drive ... The new three-disk design improves idle power consumption up to 43 percent over its 1TB predecessor (...) 375GB [platters]"


http://www.hitachigst.com/portal/site/e ... 2eac4f0a0/

Idle Power: 3.6W (<320GB)
4.4W (500-750GB)
5.2W (1TB)

[Jasper]

375GB [platters]

So that means (along with the power distributions) that we're getting 2-platter 750s now.

Using this technology, it would also be trivial for Hitachi to bring out a 4-platter 1500 gigabyte drive. Is there really that little demand for drives larger than a terabyte that even a simple upscale won't work economically?

[JazzJackRabbit]

375GB [platters]

So that means (along with the power distributions) that we're getting 2-platter 750s now.

Using this technology, it would also be trivial for Hitachi to bring out a 4-platter 1500 gigabyte drive. Is there really that little demand for drives larger than a terabyte that even a simple upscale won't work economically?

That's what Seagate is doing. 1.5TB four platter drive, supposedly available as soon as next month.

[whiic]

"That's what Seagate is doing. 1.5TB four platter drive, supposedly available as soon as next month."

Nice. Maybe I'll use it in my next build, along with 20krpm Superraptor.

Seriously, we shouldn't take any of these rumours too seriously. While 20krpm Raptop probably isn't going to surface any time soon (if ever), Seagate 1.5 TB is inevitable... but not necessarily within one month, without prior paper launch. Surely it can happen without prior warning but how reliable is this information about "next month"?

It is certain they are planning on releasing it (sooner or later). So are people at Hitachi GST. Heck, both of them most likely have 2...3 TB drives as prototypes already but mass-producing them just isn't economical enough - high cost of media, poor manufacturing yields and unreliability in operation.

I don't think it's a triviality to go from 2-platter 750GB to 4-platter 1.5TB. NRRO (Non-Repeatable Run-Out) due to increased amount of vibration might cause reduction in factory yield and/or field reliability. Hitachi has typically played "safe" with their flagships, using slightly lower areal density. 1.5TB from Hitachi will probably be using 5-platters instead of 4. Nevertheless, it's about time they'd release it.

________


EDIT: apparently we already have a paper launch by Seagate.
linky

Whether it actually becomes available to the public in August or whether the wide-scale availability misses next X-mas season, is still uncertain. Paper launches are paper launches.

[Jasper]

Seagate 1.5 TB is inevitable... but not necessarily within one month, without prior paper launch. Surely it can happen without prior warning but how reliable is this information about "next month"?

They've launched it earlier today, whether it's a paper launch or there will be ones in stores next week remains to be seen. Given the fact that two-platter 750s are unlikely to be paper (as they're an important part of sales these days), I'd still expect the drives to certainly be available in quantities by Christmas -- presumably they'll be priced so that supply keeps up with demand.

While scaling up from a 2x375 to a 4x375 might not be entirely trivial, it's not like 4-platter drives are new technology.