New products of company Seagate

Evgenie Rudometov

In Moscow for representatives of mass-media company Seagate has held the press conference devoted to release of new products

Development of the architecture of computers is closely linked to perfection of their accessories. On these accessories depend both productivity, and functional properties. Perfection process has mentioned all components of permanently becoming complicated computing systems in which find incarnation the newest innovations of IT branches.

Recognising high rates of development of the architecture of processors and increase in number of their units, it is necessary to remind, that there are computer accessories, whose perfection and growth of possibilities occurs even faster. Such accessories are hard disk drives. Simultaneously with growth of their size the construction of disk drives, and their interfaces are perfected also. Speed of data access as consequence grows at constant reduction of the price of storage of unit of the information. In addition to it improvement of technical and operation parametres occurs simultaneously to evolution of their form factors therefore their sizes step-by-step decrease, expanding areas of usage of the given arrangements.

The functionality linked to information processing of different type began to play the increasing value. And, first of all, it concerns processings of a multimedia content and its operative and, of course, reliable storage, especially considering the high price of the information. Moreover, the information price quite often exceeds cumulative cost of hardware several times. As a result, hard disk drives are one of the major accessories. They make a basis of a non-volatile subsystem of memory of the big information capacity of modern computers. These computers use not only as calculators, but also as multimedia arrangements as a part of audio and video of complexes, game systems and multifunctional communication centres. Growth of the market of these products and increase in number of their release testifies to value of hard disk drives (a Fig. 1).

Fig.  1. Growth of number of released hard disk drives (on substances Seagate)

Understanding importance of hard disk drives, the leader of the market of these products — company Seagate permanently perfects production, offering new more and more perfect models.

It is necessary to mark, that the given company has the furcated system of the representations providing sale and support of products. It has very wide grocery bar closing practically all segments of the market, starting from servers, desktop PCs, transportable solutions and finishing the products oriented on bystrorazvivajushchijsja sector of consumer electronics. Besides production, company Seagate the big attention gives to scientific researches and development of new processing techniques. The received results immediately take root into new products which the given company announces with an enviable regularity.

And it is real, this month at press conference which already became traditional action in Russia, 10 new products of the company have been announced and presented, the majority from which are grounded on the newest processing techniques, such as, for example, processing technique of perpendicular writing.

The given processing technique, unlike traditional — parallel, carries out writing and reading in such a manner that the magnetic domains carrying the information, are allocated perpendicularly planes of magnetic slices. It provides essentially more high density of writing and, accordingly, the big information capacity, together with the big speed of operation of disk drives.

Implantation of perpendicular processing technique of writing also has given possibility to release new products which were shown by company Seagate in person Dzhoni Clark, the manager on marketing of company Seagate Technologies and Reginy Izrael, directors on corporate communications.

To representatives of mass-media products the arrangements carrying following names are presented: Pocket Drive, ST18, LD25.2, DB35, Savvio 10K.2, Barracuda ES, Momentus 5400 PSD, Momentus 7200.2, Momentus 5400.2 FDE, Mirra Sinc and Personal Server.

A series of arrangements Pocket Drive is a series of the compact disk drives grounded on usage miniature HDD of a form factor 1 ”. The disk of this form factor is presented in a Fig. 2. Arrangement Seagate Pocket Drive created on the basis of such disk is characterised very much by mesh sizes and weight. The hooking up interface — USB  2.0. Informational size of the arrangement — to 8 Gbytes. However, estimating possibilities of such arrangement, it is necessary to mark, that recently Seagate has declared development 1” HDD in size of 12 Gbytes.

Fig. 2. Miniature disk Seagate of a form factor 1 ”

A series of disk drives ST18 is HDD a form factor 1,8 ”. These are rather new for Seagate the arrangements oriented, first of all, on sector of consumer electronics. Disk drives of this series are completed now with disks in size of 60 Gbytes on each slice. Appearance time in the market — the first quarter 2007.

Series LD25.2 has appeared for support of game consoles and tsifro-household media centres. A series basis are compact nizkoprofilnye 2.5-inch disk drives with implementation of processing technique of perpendicular writing. The existing lineup will be enlarged by models in size of 60 and 80 Gbytes. Period of an output of the refreshed series on the market – the first quarter 2007. Speed of rotation of slices – 5400 rpm, a cache memory-buffer – 2 MB, level of working noise – 27 db, interfaces – SATA or PATA.

Series DB35 — the models of hard disks specially intended for usage in home arrangements. Disk drives of this series differ in the big informational size. Until recently topovoj model was the disk drive of 500 Gbytes. However thanks to implantation of processing technique of perpendicular size by high model already the disk drive in size of 750 Gbytes with speed of rotation of disks appearance Time in the market — the third quarter 2006 now is of 7200 ob./minutes .

One of such vysokoemkih HDD is presented in a Fig. 3.

Fig. 3. HDD Seagate with information capacity of 750 Gbytes

Series Savvio 10K.2 — high-powered disk drives of a form factor 2,5 ”with speed of rotation of a spindle of 10000 rpm. The lineup size is increased to 146 Gbytes. Thus, as it is informed, energopotreblenie it is lowered on 15 %. Interfaces — SAS or 4-GB Fibre Channel.

Series Barracuda ES — fast and capacious disk drives of a form factor 3,5 ”, intended for workstations and servers. A leader of this series is the disk drive with size of 750 Gbytes. Interfaces of disk drives of a new series – SATA II and Fibre Channel (for 400 Gbytes and 500 Gbytes of disk drives). The beginning of deliveries is not shined.

The set of transportable disk drives Momentus in the list of the newest products is presented by three series: Momentus 5400 PSD, Momentus 7200.2, Momentus 5400.2 FDE.

Series Momentus 5400 PSD — disk drives 2,5 ”, developed taking into account requirements of the expected operating system of Windows Vista. Characteristics HDD of this series oriented in main on the sector of transportable arrangements, are the raised productivity and energoekonomichnost, providing prolongation of period of operation of the transportable computer from the battery. As is known, a relation of these metrics – an eternal problem for the disks used in notebooks.

As is known, it is necessary to pay for productivity rise for battery operations. How to reduce a power consumption at rise of speed of call to the data stored on the transportable computer? The answer is simple — to bank economical in expending of energy the flash-memory with a fast hard disk, as has been made by engineers of company Seagate. New Momentus 5400 PSD (energosberegajushchy the disk) is grounded on this principle and combines a high-powered hard disk with the flash-memory in the uniform hybrid arrangement taking best from both processing techniques. Such HDD Seagate with speed of rotation of disks of 5400 turns in a minute duplicates most often required data from a hard disk on 256-megabajtnyj a non-volatile cache memory.

It provides the accelerated loading and renewal of operations. At inclusion of a notebook time for raskruchivanija before computer loading will start is required to a magnetic slice of a hard disk. Loading directly from a flesh-cache allows to avoid this delay. In the similar image hybrid disks allow to restore operation of a notebook after "zasypanija" on 20 % faster, than traditional models as most often required data are written to a flesh-cache before the computer "falls asleep".

Besides, thanks to the described construction the reduced power consumption is provided. Hard disk Momentus 5400 PSD reduces consumption of energy up to 50 % and prolongs battery lives – that especially important for transportable arrangements – by abbreviation of an operating time of a magnetic disk.

In addition to it raised dependability is provided. Really, abbreviation of an operating time of a magnetic disk prolongs his life. And the raised productivity is still provided. The hybrid microelectronic technique uses a non-volatile cache memory for rise of productivity and is capable to offer still bolshy races in speed at Microsoft Vista usage as the new operating system will involve entirely all of 256 Mb of the cache memory.

Series Momentus 5400 FDE — disk drives 2,5 ”, supporting processing techniques of protection of the information. Disk drive Momentus 5400.2 FDE offers simple, economic way to avoid unauthorized access to any information on a notebook, and not just to separate files and partitsijam. Effective protection is required in case the disk is lost, stolen, output from maintenance or sold. In a disk working with speed of 5400 turns in minute, complete hardware data encoding that creates stronger protection against breakings and openings, than in traditional approaches is provided. It is reached thanks to realisation of all cryptography operations and handles of keys in the disk. For complete access to the information it is necessary for user to type the password only whereas other arrangements offer such multifactor ways of authentification as checking of a fingerprint and smart card usage. Besides, for disk installation with enciphering it is not required any durable procedures on initialization or a disk pattern.

Momentus 5400.2 FDE can use with the software made by the third corporations. It is made to facilitate to the organisations installation and configuration of disk Momentus 5400 FDE, and also to automate protection and handle of passwords and enciphering keys.

Series Momentus 7200.2 — high-speed disk drives with disks of a form factor 2,5 ”. These disk drives possess for disks speed of rotation of 7200 turns in a minute, 8 Mb of the cache memory and thanks to processing technique of perpendicular writing — now to 160 Gbytes of an informational disk space. HDD Momentus 7200.2 it is developed for a wide range of systems, including notebooks, workstations, RAID-systems, and also for high-powered computers with a small form factor.

Mirra Sync and Share personal server is the product intended for integration into house networks. This small arrangement with HDD is inside hooked up from a computer network. It added with the appropriate software provides possibility of storage of great volumes of the information, backup and synchronisations of data. From the third quarter of this year models in size to 500 Gbytes are accessible .

In summary it is necessary to mark, that the enumerated novelties, the part from which is resulted in a Fig. 4, demonstrating of products Seagate was not limited.

Fig. 4. Company Seagate products

Representatives of the company have acquainted with serial products and have answered numerous questions. It is necessary to add, that, most likely, in the near future the band of products will be already increased. Bessomnenija, there will be even more capacious and efficient disk drives. It is quite probable, that this year we will see HDD terabajtnoj in size.