Seagate Barracuda the eighth generation

Evgenie Rudometov

http://www.rudometov.com

Developing the bar of models of hard disks Barracuda, company Seagate has released the 3,5-inch arrangement with traditional interface Parallel ATA and size of 400 Gbytes. The new model possesses not only high size, but also high efficiency

In the course of evolution of computer processing techniques varied not only the architecture and design of systems, step-by-step varied criteria of an estimation of consumer usefulness of systems. The functionality linked to information processing of different type began to play all great value. During present time, first of all, it concerns processings of a multimedia content.

However possibilities of computer systems are substantially defined, as is known, entering into their structure of accessories. Giving due to all computer units, it is necessary to mark, what not the last role among them is played by hard disk drives. By the way, the given disk drives often name simply as hard disks (HDD) or hard disks. These arrangements are one of the major accessories, making a basis of modern computer systems, not only purely computing, but also multimedia.

By the way, in due time academician Andrey Petrovich Ershov, one of founders of modern computer science, has named the invention of hard disk drives as outstanding reaching, more revolutionary, than, for example, processor creation. By the way, in those days, to which the given thought concerns, the information capacity of disk drives was calculated by units of megabytes. Since then this metric has increased in hundred thousand times (to think only, modern HDD on information capacity it is equivalent almost to hundred thousand hard disks of twenty years' prescription. Same the whole car of arrangements which power supply would need power station!).

Hard disk drives are intended for writing, reading and the non-volatile information storage which sizes increase from year to year. The given prompt growth is powerful stimulus for perfection of the architecture of these major accessories. Thus perfection is routed on growth of their size, productivity and dependability of operation.

Estimating possibilities of the given arrangements of an information storage, it is necessary to remind, that each of hard disk drives consists of four basic elements which bring the contribution in technical and operating performances. These units are: the magnetic medium of the information presented by magnetic disks (from one to five), magnetic read/write heads, a positioner (aktuator), installing a head on the necessary track and the built in controller on the specialised chips, providing handle and data transfer.

Productivity of disk drives on hard disks is defined by a number of parametres, major of which are the bit density, access time to data, the cache memory size. Besides, productivity is influenced by control algorithms disk drive units, and also used internal and data transfer front ends. Each of the enumerated components brings the contribution to hard disk drive productive work.

Access time to data consists of time of head positioning for the necessary track and a latency (latency) the necessary sector under a head. It is obvious, that the latency depends on speed of rotation of magnetic disks, and rate of data transfer on other subsystems of the computer depends on the front end. Besides, rate depends on speed of the internal information transfer depending not in the last instance from a bit density.

Considering resources of an external information transfer, it is necessary to mark, that traditionally greatest distribution was found by models with parallel interface ATA — Parallel ATA (PATA, it IDE, EIDE, ATAPI). The Transfer rate permanently increased and has reached values of 100 Mb per second and even more. And though speed of reading of the information from magnetic disks, as a rule, does not reach even value of 100 Mb per second, models with PATA - the interface of 133 Mb per second are actively announced .

The bit density increase allows to increase size and a transfer rate at the same speed of rotation of disks. Thus in last years of hard disks of ten size with amazing persistence doubled each 9-12 months.

Estimating the given rates of growth, it is necessary to mark, that the last two-three years rate of overgrowth of size has a little decreased, that testifies to reaching of some limit for existing processing techniques of a data recording/reading. But, despite it manufacturers continue to release more and more perfect arrangements, increasing their information capacity and changing criteria of an optimality.

Really, optimal for desktop computers models of disk drives on hard microfloppy magnetic disks with speed of rotation of disks of 7200 rpm, the built in cache memory of 2 Mb and size of 100‑120 Gbytes until recently were   . Any time such arrangements were considered quite sufficient for storage of programs and data of different type.

However company Seagate Technology which is one of the largest manufacturers of hard disk drives, has declared recently the beginning of deliveries to Russia the first-ever drive with a bit density of 100 Gbytes on one 3,5-inch slice. It became possible thanks to application of the leading-edge technologies in the field of record heads and magnetic media. The upper model of disk drive Seagate which are a part of the bar, received name Barracuda 7200.7, is capable to store 200 Gbytes of the information in the presence of only two slices. The given model with interface PATA and size of 200 Gbytes is supplied by the cache memory-buffer in size of 8 Mb. As a recognition of indisputable advantages of the given model, many experts predicted to it high level of popularity among users.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.8

Despite rather high efficiency of high model of bar Barracuda 7200.7, company Seagate has not stopped on reached and recently has declared new modification of bar Barracuda which have received name Seagate Barracuda 7200.8.

Among disk drives with interface PATA high model Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 is the model with information capacity of 400 Gbytes and the built in cache memory in size of 8 Mb (a Fig. 1 – a Fig. 3).

Photo 1. Hard disk drive Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 with informational size of 400 Gbytes, interface PATA, the cache memory-buffer in size of 8 Mb

Photo 2. Built in controller PATA of model Seagate Barracuda in 7200.8 size of 400 Gbytes

Photo 2. Marking of 400 Gbytes of model Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 with interface PATA

Besides this model, in the popular bar of disk drives Barracuda 7200.8 are available PATA variants in size of 300 and 250 Gbytes.

On all disk drives of the given bar according to the order bookings the five years' guarantee of the manufacturer extends, that indirectly testifies to high dependability of the given arrangements.

Barracuda 7200.8 set drives differ high efficiency and are the most reliable in branch, soaking, by the way, as well as their predecessors Barracuda 7200.7, loads to 350 G in a non-working state. Here it is necessary to add, that they besides are also one of the most silent disk drives of a form factor of 3,5 inches created on the basis of hard magnetic disks. Really, in the order bookings as audio parametres value 2,5 bell is resulted.

High parametres of productivity, size, dependability and noiselessness are reached, according to creators, thanks to application of the whole set of firm processing techniques.

High efficiency of the given model of the disk drive is promoted by considerable speed of rotation of a spindle of the engine which makes 7200 turns in a minute, and also the cache memory in size of 8 Mb and the optimised control algorithms mechanical and electronic units of the disk drive.

As to concrete values of productivity in widespread applied tasks they can be received only in the course of testing. Thus as the measurement standard it is possible to take the high representative of prior bar Barracuda 7200.7 — model 200 of Gbytes, as it has been fulfilled.

Results of the led testing of disk drive Seagate Barracuda in 7200.8 size of 400 Gbytes and its matching with model Barracuda in 7200.7 size of 200 Gbytes (Table 1, Table 2, a Fig. 4, a Fig. 5) are more low resulted    . It is necessary to mark, that the selected standard model differs rather high efficiency that creates certain problems for lead of new model.

Testing Seagate Barracuda of 7200.8 400 Gbytes

Pattern of the system used in testing

r    the Motherboard: ASUS P5AD2 (chip set I925 X, memory DDR2).

r   the Processor of Intel of Pentium  4 with clock rate of a kernel of 3,4 GHz (LGA 775, kernel Prescott, the bus of 800 MHz, processing technique Hyper-Threading),

r    the Disk drive on hard disks 1: HDD Seagate ST3400832A (Barracuda 7200.8, 400 Gbytes, 8 Mb of the cache memory, 7200 rpm, UltraDMA/100).

r    the Disk drive on hard disks 2: HDD Seagate ST3200822A (Barracuda 7200.7, 200 Gbytes, 8 Mb of the cache memory, 7200 rpm, UltraDMA/100).

r    Dynamic storage: 2X512 Mb, DDR2 533.

r   ASUS EXTREME AX 600 XT Videoadapter (chip ATI Radeon X600 XT, bus PCI Express x16).

r   CD-ROM: ASUS CD-S400/A (40x).

r   OS: Windows XP.

As exercisers used WinBench  99 and High-End Disk WinMark  99.

Table 1. Results Disk Transfer Rate

Fig. 1. Results of performance of test Winbench 99 Disk Transfer Rate

Table 2. Results High-End Disk

Fig. 2. Results of performance of test Winbench 99 High - End Disk WinMark 99

The disk drive on hard disks Barracuda in 7200.8 size of 400  Gbytes has been given by German representation of company Seagate