Icy News: HighPoint Shipping RocketRAID 2711 HBA

"4-port SAS 6G PCIe 2.0 x8 RAID

HighPoint Technologies, Inc. is shipping its latest SAS 6Gb/s HBA, the RocketRAID 2711. 

Designed for workstations and entry-level servers, the RocketRAID 2711 is an external 4-port, SAS 6Gb/s PCI-E 2.0 x8 RAID controller supports SAS/SATA devices in a variety of storage configurations including direct connectivity, SATA JBOD, and SAS expansion.

External SAS 6Gb/s Storage for PC and Mac
The RocketRAID 2711 delivers enterprise management and connectivity features at entry level costs. The industry standard external Mini-SAS port (SFF-8088) simplifies installation procedures and is compatible with a range of storage devices available for Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and Mac platforms, including the recent Mac OS X Lion. The low-profile design allows the card to be integrated into a variety of rack-mount and chassis designs.

The RocketRAID 2711 can support SAS and SATA devices in a multitude of configurations, including non-RAID JBODs, single disks, and RAID arrays including 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 and 50, and includes Highpoint's Unified Web-Based Management interface, which allows to configure, manage and monitor storage configurations.

Integration with Existing Storage Infrastructure
The RocketRAID 2711 is backwards compatible with SAS/SATA 3Gb/s devices, PCI-Express 1.0 motherboards, and can be integrated into existing storage infrastructure. Clients benefit from the upgrade path; storage configurations can be scaled, shared, and migrated between all RR2700 series HBA's, including future product releases." - via storagenewsletter.com

HighPoint has always been one of the top RAID  controller card companies. With their new 4-port SAS 6G PCIe 2.0 x8 RAID you can have enterprise level performance for a lower consumer grade price. HighPoint has loaded their new card with features found on higher end cards. Let us know if you will be purchasing one of HighPoint's new cards. 

Icy News: Toshiba Canvio External Hard Drives Released with Cloud Backup

"Backing up data to an external drive is a good idea, but backing it up to an external drive and the cloud is even better. That's the spirit behind Toshiba's latest release of the the Canvio line of hard drives. Ranging in size from 500GB to 1TB and with a selection of colors, the drives now support USB 3.0 and come preloaded with the Windows-based NTI BackupNow EZ software.

Dubbed the Canvio 3.0, they also come with integrated cloud backup capability and a 30-day free subscription to the service. Pricing for continuing the cloud backup service were not announced. If the software and cloud backup capabilities aren't of interest but the addition of USB 3.0 is, Toshiba has you covered. The Canvio Basics 3.0 line features the faster port, a smaller enclosure and comes only in black. 

The drives are shipping now. Prices for the Canvio 3.0 drives are $89.99 (500GB), $109.99 (750GB) and $139.99 (1TB). The Canvio Basics 3.0 prices are $10 less for each size" - via StorageReview

There has been a push to get the external hard drive market in gear with addition of the cloud storage feature. With the nature of external portable devices, will the average user want to spend the extra money in order to get this feature? Feel free to let us know what you think!

Icy News: Hitachi SSDs Shipping in HP 3Ppar

"Hitachi Global Storage Technologies announced its 3.5-inch FC Ultrastar SLC-based SSDs are shipping in HP 3PAR F-Class, T-Class and the new P10000 V-Class storage systems for enterprise and cloud datacenters, as well as for SMBss. 

Developed in conjunction with Intel, the Hitachi Ultrastar SSD400S SSD family provides value to OEM customers who are increasingly looking for high-performance, high-endurance enterprise-class SSDs for integration into new or existing enterprise storage systems or designs..." - via Storagenewsletter 


With Hitachi revealing their support in HP's server's, this makes a big move onto the SSD. How long will it take before SSD's are in and the spindle is out? Let us know!

Icy News: Half of IT Decision Makers Favor SSD Technology

"IBM survey conducted by Zogby International

IBM Corp. released the findings of a customer survey that demonstrates pent-up demand for SSD technology as a successor to flash and hard-disk drives.

Customers are embracing high-performance SSDs to support growing data storage demands driven by cloud computing and analytics technologies.
 
More than half of the customers surveyed (57 percent) responded that their organization needs to develop a new storage approach to manage future growth. The survey of 250 U.S. IT professionals in decision-making positions was conducted by Zogby International in August 2011 on behalf of IBM.

The survey demonstrates a need for a new class of storage that can expand the market for SSDs by combining their ability to speed the delivery of data with lower costs and other benefits. Nearly half (43 percent) of IT decision makers say they have plans to use SSD technology in the future or are already using it. Speeding delivery of data was the motivation behind 75 percent of respondents who plan to use or already use SSD technology. Those survey respondents who are not currently using SSD said cost was the reason (71 percent).

Anticipating these challenges years ago, IBM Research has been exploring storage-class memory, a new category of data storage and memory devices that can access data significantly faster than hard disk drives-at the same low cost.

Racetrack memory, a solid-state technology, is a potential replacement for hard drives and successor to flash in handheld devices. A storage device with no moving parts, it uses the spin of electrons to access and move data to atomically precise locations on nanowires 1,000 times finer than a human hair. This technique combines the performance and reliability of flash with the low cost and high capacity of the hard disk drive. It could allow electronic manufacturers to develop devices that store much more information - as much as a factor of 100 times greater - while using much less energy than today's designs. Racetrack memory is featured as one of IBM's top 100 achievements as the company celebrates its Centennial this year. 

These new storage technologies could also alleviate critical budget, power and space limitations facing IT administrators. Today, an average, transaction-driven datacenter uses approximately 1,250 racks of storage, taking up 13,996 square feet and 16,343 kilowatts (kw) of power. By 2020, storage-class memory could enable the same amount of data to fit in one rack that takes up 11 square feet and 5.8 kws of power.

"Technology shifts and market forces are fundamentally changing the composition and design of storage systems," said Bruce Hillsberg, director of storage systems, IBM Research, Almaden. "Evolving current storage technologies alone would not answer customers' diverse and rising data storage demands. We're constantly researching new materials and processes to extend existing storage technologies and get ahead of the performance and capacity requirements of future systems."

In the last year, IBM Research recorded a number of storage breakthroughs including a 29-gigabit per-square-inch tape demonstration; a world record of scanning 10 billion files on a single system in 43 minutes; and the creation of a 120-petabyte data system that is roughly 10 times larger than the biggest single data repository on record.

IBM storage products also include more than five significant storage innovations invented by IBM Research. One example, IBM Easy Tier, automatically moves the most active data (such as credit card transactions) to faster SSDs to prioritize and provide quick access to data for emerging workloads like analytics. The system moves secondary data (less urgent data to be saved, for example, for regulatory requirements) to more cost-effective storage technologies. This is an important technology in preventing what IBM characterizes as 'SSD sprawl' or the overuse of the technology, helping clients use SSDs appropriately to maximize data access while keeping costs in check.

The survey also found that:

Nearly half (43 percent) say they are concerned about managing Big Data.

About a third of all respondents (32 percent) say they either plan to switch to more cloud storage in the future or currently use cloud storage

Nearly half (48 percent) say they plan on increasing storage investments in the area of virtualization, cloud (26 percent) and flash memory/solid state (24 percent) and analytics (22 percent).

More than a third (38 percent) said their organization's storage needs are growing primarily to drive business value from data. Adhering to government compliance and regulations that require organizations to store more data for longer - sometimes up to a decade - was also a leading factor (29 percent)." 

- via storagenewsletter.com

With SSDs slowly taking over the storage market is strange to see only half of IT professionals favoring SSDs. This survey is primarily based on corporate applications, but how do you feel about the issue with your home computer? Do you have the same issues as the IT professionals? Let us know how you feel about switching to SSDs. 

Icy News: Kingston Digital 6Gb SATA SSD With SandForce Controller

"Kingston Digital, Inc. is shipping the SSDNow KC100, the company's first SATA Rev. 3.0 (6Gb/s) business-equipped SSD.

KC100 utilizes the SandForce controller. This SSD delivers boosts the productivity of any client system.

KC100 is backed by a five-year warranty to match the industry average for product refresh cycles in the enterprise. Utilizing SandForce's DuraClass technology, KC100 delivers data integrity protection. Corporations can rest assured their data is safe as the drive offers advanced wear leveling and garbage collection to maintain optimal endurance and performance. Data integrity protection runs transparently in the background so it never disrupts daily business.

KC100 offers enterprise-level S.M.A.R.T attributes. The SSD's usage statistics, health and life stage can be monitored with industry standard and publicly available S.M.A.R.T monitoring tools. This provides peace of mind for IT departments knowing their employees are taken care of as the KC100 client-side SSDs are reliable and running optimally.

"Kingston is thrilled to offer the new business-equipped KC100 SSD to enterprises," said Ariel Perez, SSD business manager, Kingston. "Data integrity is important to every company and the KC100 is sure to deliver the highest standards of data protection on the client systems in which it is installed. Users can rest assured that with the combination of its endurance, reliability and performance, KC100 will become a very important asset in the workplace."

The new KC100 self-encrypts to provide client-level data encryption. With two embedded encryption engines, running in both AES-128 and AES-256, encryption is performed at the drive level without draining host system resources and slowing down data transfer rates. KC100 is also backwards-compatible with current SATA 2 systems for the next client system upgrade.

SSDNow KC100 ships in 120GB, 240GB and 480GB capacities, as a standalone or as an upgrade bundle kit. It is backed by a five-year warranty, 24/7 tech support and legendary Kingston reliability.

Kingston SSDNow KC100 Features and Specifications

Sequential Reads 6Gb/s:

SATA Rev. 3.0 - 120GB & 240GB: 555MB/s; 480GB: 540MB/s

SATA Rev. 2.0 - 120GB, 240GB & 480GB: 280MB/s

Sequential Writes 6Gb/s

SATA Rev. 3.0 - 120GB & 240GB: 510MB/s; 480GB: 450MB/s

SATA Rev. 2.0 - 120GB, 240GB & 480GB: 260MB/s

Sustained Random 4K Read/Write:

120GB: 20,000/60,000 IOPS

240GB: 40,000/60,000 IOPS

480GB: 60,000/45,000 IOPS

Max Random 4K Read/Write:

120GB: 90,000 / 70,000 IOPS

240GB: 95,000 / 60,000 IOPS

480GB: 77,000 / 45,000 IOPS

Other Specs

Form factor: 2.5"

Interface: SATA Rev. 3.0 (6Gb/s), SATA Rev 2.0 (3Gb/s) and SATA Rev 1.0 (1.5Gb/s)

Guaranteed: five-year Kingston warranty, 24/7 tech support

Enterprise S.M.A.R.T Tools: Reliability Tracking, Usage Statistics, Life Remaining, Power Loss, Wear Leveling, Temperature, Drive Life Protection

Capacity: 120GB, 240GB, 480GB

Storage temperatures: -40°C - 85°C

Operating temperatures: 0°C - 70°C

Dimensions: 69.85mm x 100mm x 9.5mm

Vibration operating: 2.17G

Vibration non-operating: 20G

Operating shock: 1500G

Power specs: 0.455 W (TYP) Idle / 1.6 W (TYP) Read / 2.05 W (TYP) Write"

-via storagenewsletter.com

Kingston is now releasing an enterprise grade SSD that is backed by an excellent 5 year warranty. The drive is no run of the mill SSD with advanced wear leveling and garbage collection. The new SSD runs at blazing speeds with its 6Gb interface. Let us know what you think about Kingston's new SSD!

Icy News: Corsair Enters the Gaming Keyboard & Mouse Market with Vengeance

"In a private media event this week Corsair unveiled its latest contribution to the PC industry: gaming keyboards, mice and headsets. All of these new peripherals fall under the Vengeance brand. The motivation behind this move is simple: starting with memory and eventually expanding into power supplies, SSDs and cases, Corsair wants to be your one-stop shop for nearly everything you need for your PC. The CPU, motherboard and video card markets are either impossible to get into or undesirable for a manufacturer that doesn't already play in those spaces, leaving peripherals as one of the only options for expansion..." - via AnandTech

This is an interesting move by Corsair with dipping into Peripherals (Keyboards, mice and headsets). With the likes of Microsoft, Logitech and Razer, can Corsair create a market for their new products? Let us know what you think! 

Icy News: Intel Shows Off Thunderbolt On New Windows PCs (IDF 2011)

"Intel announced that Thunderbolt, their high speed I/O data port, will be coming to non-Apple computers at IDF 2011 today.  Thunderbolt, which is based off of Intel’s Light Peak, was demoed running off of their upcoming Haswell chipset, due in 2013. However, Acer and ASUS both have products planned for a 2012 launch supporting Thunderbolt.

Intel demoed Thunderbolt's capabilities on a Windows 7 system, streaming four uncompressed HD videos simultaneously over Thunderbolt. As you can see below, this interface has no trouble handling even the most demanding situations, averaging a continuous transfer rate of 726MB/s.

Thunderbolt itself is a high-speed I/O port with a mini-displayport interface and a 10Gb/s bi-directional data interface.  It allows for both high-speed data transfer and multiple displays to be connected via a single port. While Sony has a laptop with a high speed dataport based on Intel’s Light Peak, it is not Thunderbolt compatible, making Apple the only current computer manufacturer to implement it at the moment." - Storage Review

Light Peak is a very fast interface and with great promise. With Acer and ASUS both have planned products with the interface, will you be one to purchase? Or is it too soon? Let us know!

Icy News: Windows 8 Developer Preview: Come and get it

"Those of you interested in taking the current flavor of Windows 8 for a spin can now download and install the Developer Preview edition.

Being demoed at Microsoft's Build conference this week, the Developer Preview is a prebeta version showing off the operating system at its current stage. Though technically designed for developers, no registration is required, so anyone can download and install it.

The Windows 8 Preview is being offered in three different packages--a 64-bit version with various developer tools, a 64-bit version of just the operating system, and a 32-bit version of the OS.

All three come as ISO files--image files of the contents of a CD or DVD. Since each of the packages is several gigabytes in size, you'll need a DVD if you want to burn the files to a disc.

In Windows 7, you can burn the ISO file to a DVD by double-clicking it to open the Windows Disc Image Burner. For older operating systems, you can use a tool such as ISO Recorder to burn the file. Alternatively, you can use such utilities as Virtual CloneDrive or Daemon Tools to "mount" the ISO file as a drive, eliminating the need to burn it onto a disc.

Since this is a prebeta version, you'll want to install the OS on a spare PC or in a virtual environment so that it doesn't interfere with your production or work machine.

Those of you who want to know what you're getting into before you attempt to install the Developer Preview can check out a hands-on early look at Windows 8 from CNET's Seth Rosenblatt.

What's next after the Developer Preview?

Speaking at the Build conference yesterday, Steven Sinofsky, senior vice president of Microsoft's Windows division, confirmed earlier reports that Windows 8 will next segue into one beta version, followed by one Release Candidate. Assuming all goes well, we can then expect the final RTM (release to manufacturing) edition sometime after that.

Sinofsky didn't reveal a specific timeframe for the beta or Release Candidate. However, the company has been expected to launch the beta at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in January, according to WinRumors." -via news.cnet.com

It is finally here a preview version of the new Windows 8 OS! We can now finally see what this new OS is all about and see what rumors were true or false. Let us know if you have downloaded and tried the preview of the new OS.

Icy News: Corsair With 6Gb SATA 90GB SSDs

"Force Series 3 ($159) and GT ($199)

Corsair announced retail availability of Force Series 3 and Force Series GT SSDs in 90GB configurations.

Corsair Force Series 3 SSD upgrades have native support for SATA 6Gb/s, with a maximum sequential read speed of 550MB/s and a maximum sequential write speed of 500 MB/s.

The Force Series 3 uses asynchronous flash memory to provide performance.

Force Series GT, designed for enthusiasts who demand the fastest performance available, uses ONFI synchronous flash memory and boasts read speeds of up to 555 MB/s and write speeds of up to 505 MB/s. The use of synchronous flash memory makes the Force Series GT SSD particularly adept at reading and writing non-compressible data, such as video and music files.

All Force Series 3 and Force Series GT SSD models are also backward compatible with SATA 2, and include a 3.5" adapter for use in both notebook and desktop PCs.

"We're happy to add the world's first 90GB SSD to our product lineup," said Thi La, Vice President of Memory Products at Corsair. "With 50% more storage capacity than our 60GB models and at pricing significantly lower than our 120GB models, they help make the Force Series 3 and Force Series GT among the most robust and flexible SSD lines on the market."

The 90GB SSD configurations are available from authorized distributors and retailers worldwide at a US suggested retail price of $159 USD for the Force Series 3 90GB and $199 USD for the Force Series GT 90GB.

Note that stated capacities are unformatted and actual capacities will vary depending on the formatting and operating system used." - via storagenewsletter.com

Corsair is now releasing a 90GB SSD that is still high performance with read speeds of 550MB/s and Write speeds of 500 MB/s that is much cheaper than a comparable SSD. It seems that SSD manufactures are slowly bringing down the price of their SSDs without sacrificing performance. Who do you think will be the next manufacture to produce an inexpensive, high performance SSD?

Icy News: ADATA S510 SSD Released

"ADATA has expanded their 500 Series of SSDs with the S510, which slots in as a mainstream offering alongside their enthusiast class SSD, the S511. The S510 leverages a SATA 6Gb/s interface, SandForce SF-2281 processor and 25nm asynchronous NAND to deliver speeds of 550 MB/s read, 510 MB/s write and 4K random write IOPS of 85,000.

True to the plan of reaching out to mainstream users, ADATA has opted to offer a single capacity point of 120GB, which at this time is the sweet spot for SSDs interms of the capacity/price equation. The S510 comes with a three year warranty and ships with a 3.5" mounting bracket." - via Storage Review

With ADATA releasing their new S510, it's pretty spec'd to be very fast including with the SATA III standard. The size and speed seem to be good. Will you be purchasing this SSD or wait for others? Let us know!

Icy News: 4TB HDD - Record in Industry - by Seagate

"Seagate Technology PLC is shipping a new 4TB GoFlex Desk external hard drive - the highest capacity hard drive in the industry. 

This latest addition to the GoFlex Family of external hard drives showcases Seagate's new desktop design. It delivers a smaller footprint and better reflects the aesthetic of today's modern offices while providing the benefits of previous generations of the GoFlex drives. 

The new 4TB GoFlex Desk drive is now available and will beavailable from select online retailers within the month for a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $249.99 USD. The entire line of GoFlex Desk products will also adopt the new industrial design in the coming weeks. The GoFlex Desk for Mac external drive featuring both FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 will be available in Apple stores by the end of the month.

"Yet another industry first for Seagate, we have reached a new high-capacity in the 3.5-inch hard drive form factor. At Seagate, we are committed to pushing the limits for our customers and will continue to adapt and innovate our products based on customer needs," said Patrick Connolly, vice president and general manager of Retail products for Seagate. "This latest GoFlex Desk drive offering, with its new industry-leading capacity point, is a statement of our continued commitment to meet consumer needs."

The new GoFlex Desk 4TB drive has the space to contain over 2,000 HD movies. This new GoFlex Desk external drive comes at a time when people are archiving more of their memories in the form of digital photo and video.

"IDC foresees there being an increase in global demand for personal storage capacity driven by the growing creation and acquisition of digitized videos, photos and music," said Liz Conner, senior research analyst, Storage Systems, IDC.

Debuted in May of 2010, the GoFlex Family of hard drives provide an alternative approach to external storage solutions by allowing users to change interface adapters to stay current with the latest in interface technology. With USB 3.0 still undergoing adoption and the emergence of Thunderbolt technology in the coming months, the GoFlex adapter concept has been proven as an idea that works and Seagate plans to continue with this design for future iterations of the company's external hard drives. The GoFlex drives are also Windows and Mac OS X compatible and have the flexibility to go between both operating systems. In addition to cross-platform compatibility, the GoFlex Desk drive can also be utilized with the GoFlex Home adapter if one chooses to use it as a network drive.

With the pre-loaded backup software, the GoFlex Desk external drive provides automatic, continuous back with encryption for all files. The included USB 3.0 adapter also works with USB 2.0 ports to connect to your Windows or Mac computer. The adapter also features an illuminated gauge to display available space on the drive." - via Storage Newsletter

Just when 3TB hard drives were available, a 4TB has come out in the market! But when you look at the price, a whopping $249.99! 3TB haven't been out recently, is this too soon for a 4TB? Another thing to consider is will this be able to move with prices of 1TB and 2TB being lowered? Let us know!

Icy News: OWC 60GB SSD at $130 or $2.2/GB

"Other World Computing announced the $129.99 MSRP 60GB capacity model to its built in the USA OWC Mercury Electra 6G Solid State Drive line.

Offering a lower starting price point, the SandForce Driven 6Gb/s 60GB capacity OWC Mercury Electra 6G SSD utilizes quality components, including Tier 1/Grade A NAND, to deliver 556MB/s read and 523MB/s write sustained data rates for over 7X faster performance than a standard factory hard drive found in Mac and PC computers.

Two Consumer/Prosumer Models
in Seven Capacities Starting at $129.99
OWC Mercury 6G SSDs come in two models (Mercury Electra 6G and Mercury EXTREME Pro 6G) offering seven capacities from 60GB to 480GB, priced starting at $129.99.

Mercury Electra 6G SSD: offers over 500MB/s sustained data rate performance of a 6G SSD for high speed personal computing, home office environments, gaming, and production workstations, but is priced like a 3G SSD. In addition to single drive use, it can be incorporated into a RAID 1 or SPAN configuration and is available for ordering in 60GB, 120GB, 240GB, and 480GB capacities.

Mercury EXTREME Pro 6G SSD: offers prosumers and A/V, photography, and graphic production professionals professional grade SSD performance with over 500MB/s sustained data rates and up to 479MB/s incompressible data rates. In addition to single drive use, it can be incorporated into a RAID 0, 1, 10 or SPAN configuration, and is available for ordering in 120GB, 240GB, and 480GB capacities.

"Our newest 60GB Mercury Electra 6G SSD is priced aggressively to offer one of lowest price points on the market for one of the highest performance SSD available," said Larry O‚Connor, Founder and CEO, Other World Computing. "Then factor in our best in class warranty coverage and support services reputation and it‚s safe to say this new model represents the best value on the market for a 6G based SSD".

Maximizes Computer's 1.5G, 3G, Or 6Gb/s Data Bus
Whether a consumer has a Mac or PC with the SATA Revision 2.0 (3Gb/s) data bus or the latest SATA Revision 3.0 (6Gb/s) interface, the OWC Mercury 6G SSD line is able to deliver near bus saturating speed when installed in either interface. OWC benchmark testing confirms OWC Mercury 6G SSDs delivers sustained data rates over 275MB/s in the '3G's' 300MB/s max speed bus. Taking advantage of '6G's' interface‚s maximum bandwidth of 600MB/s, Mercury 6G SSDs provide up to 559MB/s sustained reads and 527MB/s writes.

Doesn't Slow Down With Use Like Ordinary SSDs
Ordinary SSDs offer fast read/write performance during first initial uses, but can then experience significant write speed degradation over repeated, long-term usage. Independent simulation tests by drive performance experts confirm OWC Mercury SSDs‚ efficient block management, wear leveling technologies, and real-time data redundancies enable high performance and extreme reliability, both of which are maintained over long-term intensive use.

Up To 100X Greater Data Protection
Thanks to SandForce DuraClass technology, OWC Mercury 6G SSDs are able to provide up to 100X higher data protection than provided by ordinary SSDs as well as enterprise class hard disk drives. By combining ECC and SandForce RAISE (Redundant Array of Independent Silicon Elements) technology along with 7% over provisioning reserve/overhead flash allocation, OWC Mercury 6G SSDs provide RAID like data protection and reliability in a single drive application.

Risk-Free 30-Day Satisfaction Guarantee
OWC is extending its 30-Day Money Back Guarantee to include the new Mercury Electra 6G 60GB model. If a consumer is not completely satisfied with any OWC Mercury 6G SSD for any reason, they need to contact OWC's Customer Service department - which offers 24/7 Live Chat support - to request a full refund." - via storagenewsletter.com

Our friends over at OWC are bringing the price of SSDs down without sacrificing performance. With their own line of SSDs the OWC Mercury Electra 6G Solid State Drive will run you about $130 or $2.2/GB. The price per gigabyte is lower than many other SSDs on the market today. Let us know what you think about OWC's new SSD.

MB974SP-B review - posted by storagereview.com

The Icy Dock 4-in-3 backplane gives users easy access to four hard drives in the space occupied by three 5.25" drive bays in a typical PC case. The unit is highlighted by tool-less/tray-less hard drive slots and dedicated SATA connections making it an ideal RAID backplane. Icy Dock has also thrown in a bunch of extras like.......read the full review

Icy News: Hitachi GST With 1TB Per 3.5-Inch Disk Platter

"As the first to ship a multi-disk 1TB HDD in 2007, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies has achieved yet another 1TB milestone by squeezing it on a single disk. The new one terabyte per platter, one-disk, Deskstar 7K1000.D drive family is now shipping worldwide. Featured in both Deskstar and CinemaStar brands, Hitachi is providing a range of capacities, 250GB - 1TB, on both low RPM CoolSpin and 7,200 RPM platforms.

Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.D

With the addition of the new Deskstar and CinemaStar drives, which are first in a family of 1TB/platter drives, Hitachi continues to offer a product lines for desktop and mobile solutions. For the ultra thin and light notebook market, Hitachi delivers the 7mm z-height Travelstar Z5K500 drives (636Gb/in²). And now, for high-performing desktop computers and the CE market, Hitachi presents the new 1TB/platter Deskstar and CinemaStar family drives (569 Gb/in²).

"The areal density race continues and while having the highest capacity is appealing, reaching 1TB per platter is equally important as it serves a full range of applications and opportunities across the industry's largest market volume," said Brendan Collins, vice president of product marketing at Hitachi GST. "As we ship our first 1TB per platter drives, we know we're delivering capacity, reliability and value to a broad customer base. Not only are we shipping our 1TB per platter drives to our own Branded Business, but we are shipping to our channel partners as well, enabling them to design affordable HDD-based solutions at attractive price points."

Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.D and Deskstar 5K1000.B
with Coolspin Technology
The Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.D hard drive family provides the combination of performance, capacity, reliability and value required for today's power-friendly consumer and commercial desktop computers, as well as external storage solutions, PC gaming systems, and desktop RAID arrays. Built using Hitachi's 7,200 RPM platform, the drive delivers speed with a 6Gb/second Serial ATA interface and a 32MB cache buffer.

With eighth-generation power management technology and power-saving HiVERT innovations, this new drive provides up to 15 percent idle power savings over the previous model. Hitachi is also offering the new Deskstar 5K1000.B drive family with low power and cool operation. With CoolSpin technology, along with other Hitachi power management techniques, the Deskstar 5K1000.B delivers a 23 percent idle power savings over the Deskstar 7K1000.D, enabling a new generation of cool and quiet personal computing devices. The low power profile of both the Deskstar 7K1000.D and the Deskstar 5K1000.B drives helps reduce overall system power requirements for developing energy-efficient systems.

Hitachi CinemaStar 7K1000.D and 5K1000.B
HD, IPTV and Internet TV growth are driving the demand for cost-effective storage-based TVs and DVRs for consumers to record, playback, surf and stream their favorite movies and shows from their TVs. In the CE space today, approximately 90 percent of HDD demand is for single-disk capacities ranging from 250GB to 500GB, which can be served by Hitachi's new 1TB/platter CinemaStar family. The new CinemaStar 7K1000.Dand 5K1000.B product lines give customers a dedicated 3.5-inch family that delivers a balance of performance, power, acoustics and capacities that is optimized for this market. With more than 10 features and technologies optimized for A/V streaming, the new CinemaStar 7K1000.D and 5K1000.B offer capacity and RPM choices for DVRs, set-top boxes and video surveillance systems. All 1TB/platter 7,200 RPM and Coolspin versions ship with a 32MB cache buffer and a 6Gb/s SATA interface.

The Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.D and 5K1000.B CoolSpin versions are shipping to distributors and channel partners. CinemaStar drives are expected to ship in the Fall." - via storagenewsletter.com

They did it again! Hitachi will begin releasing 4TB drives in the Fall. With Hitachi beginning the first what brand will be next? With the new release will there be 4TB compatibility issues as many found when using 3TB drives? Let us know what you think about the bigger and better drive. 

Icy News: Samsung Intros Wireless Optical Drive and Portable Blu-ray Writer

"Samsung has introduced two new optical drives: the USB-powered SE-506AB slim Blu-ray writer for Macs and PCs and the SE208BW DVD writer. What makes the SE208BW special though is that it is a dual-purpose optical drive and wireless access point.

Samsung has introduced a new slim portable Blu-ray writer for traveling PC and Mac users. The USB-powered SE-506AB is available now for $140.

The SE-506AB supports a variety of speeds across different media types. Specific speeds include: 6X BD-ROM, 24X CD-ROM, 24X CD-RW reading and 6X BD-R, 6X BD-R Dual layer, 4X BD-R Quad layer, 8X DVD±R, 5X DVD-RAM, 6X DVD+R Dual layer, 6X DVD-R Dual layer, 8X DVD+RW, 6X DVD-RW recording.

The SE-208BW is not only a CD/DVD writer but also a wireless access point. It features an Ethernet port and can serve as a repeater for those who already have a wireless router, amplifying signal strength. The SE-208BW can also act as a server; a USB storage drive can be connected and accessed wirelessly.

The drive is USB-powered and supports all major operating systems including Windows 7 and Mac OS. It will be available at the beginning of 2012 for an unspecified price." - via Storage Review

Is Blu-ray still alive? It seems that more and more, users tend to either rent movies or stream them online. The nice thing is that Samsung included a wireless access point which is a neat feature. Will it be enough to give people a reason to buy? Let us know!

Icy News: OCZ RevoDrive Hybrid 1TB Released

"At Computex in July, OCZ announced the RevoDrive Hybrid PCI Express storage solution, along with their updated family of RevoDrive 3 SSDs. The RevoDrive Hybrid is now shipping, and offers a unique combination of 1TB 2.5" hard drive coupled with a 100GB OCZ SSD on a PCIe card. The drives combined with caching software can deliver 1TB of storage at 120,000 IOPS and read speeds up to 910 MB/s and writes of 810 MB/s. 

OCZ is leveraging Dataplex caching software from NVELO on the RevoDrive Hybrid. Dataplex uses algorithms to determine which data is used more frequently, placing those files on the SSD to leverage the speed benefit, while lesser requested files remain on the hard drive. The caching is dynamic and adaptive based on specific user habits.

SSD caching solutions have been around for some time, as users struggle with the balance between SSD performance and hard drive capacity. The OCZ solution is unique in that it offers both the hard drive and SSD on a single PCIe card, taking up minimal space in a PC. On the hard drive side, OCZ is leveraging a 2.5" 5,400 RPM drive. The SSD contains 25nm MLC NAND and a pair of SandForce SF-2281 processors. 

OCZ RevoDrive Hybrid Specs

• Usable Capacities (IDEMA) - 100GB SSD+1TB HDD
• 25nm MLC NAND
• PCI-Express Gen. 2 x4
• PCIe FullHeight
• SandForce 2281 x 2
• Hard Drive Rotational Speed - 5,400 RPM
• Dataplex Caching Software
• 167.64 x 98.42 x 22.15 mm (dimensions do not include bracket)
• 289g
• Power Consumption - Idle: 8.1W Active: 10W
• MTBF - 600,000 hours
• Read unrecoverable bit error rate (UBER) 10e-16 (<1in 1016 bits read)
• 128-bit & 256-bit AES-compliant
• 3-Year Warranty

Pricing and Availability

The OCZ RevoDrive Hybrid 1TB comes with a three-year warranty and has an MSRP of $499.99." - via Storage Reivew

This is an interesting read, the technology used and the outputs are is amazing with reads up to 910MB/s and writes up to 810MB/s. We are also concerned about the seemingly steep price tag of $499.99, which is more for the high end audience of course. What do you think about this? If you had one, would it make a difference in your everyday use? Let us know!