HDDs
Data storage requirements have kept increasing over the last several years. SSDs have taken over the role of the primary drive in most computing systems. However, when it comes to sheer bulk storage, hard drives (HDDs) continue to be the storage media of choice in areas dealing with large amounts of relatively cold data. Since the release of the last HDD guide, we have seen the announcement of 24TB CMR drives from both Seagate and Western Digital. The 22TB and lower capacity drives have also seen price reductions. Meanwhile consumer SSDs have seen a resurgence of their own, thanks to a recent (and temporary) bust in flash memory prices. Even with this, it's not enough to challenge large HDDs on a $/GB basis, but it's...
Western Digital Teases 5mm Hybrid Hard Drive
Intel's Ultrabook push has forced hard drive makers to do two things: take hybrid drives more seriously (because of the Ultrabook performance requirements) as well as focus on thinner...
13 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 9/10/2012WD Introduces Red: NAS Optimized HDD Line
WD did everyone a favor when they reorganized their products under color-coded branding a few years ago. With the Blue (mainstream), Green (quiet and cool) and Black (performance) lines...
39 by Jason Inofuentes on 7/10/2012Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB (WD1000DHTZ) Review
There was a time when Western Digital's Raptor (and later, the VelociRaptor) was a staple of any high-end desktop build. Rotational media could only deliver better performance by increasing...
92 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 4/16/2012Western Digital To Sell Hitachi's 3.5” Hard Drive Business To Toshiba, Complete Hitachi Buyout
Almost exactly a year ago, Western Digital announced that they would be buying Hitachi’s hard drive division from Hitachi for $4.3 billion. Since then, the two companies have been...
9 by Ryan Smith on 3/6/2012Seagate 2nd Generation Momentus XT (750GB) Hybrid HDD Review
To say I liked the original Momentus XT would be an understatement. While Seagate had the lofty goal of negating the need for an SSD with its first mass-market...
98 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 12/13/2011Hard Drive Shortage Hits Intel: Q4'11 Earning Estimates Revised Down By $1B
It has been expected for some time now that the fallout from Thailand’s well publicized flooding and resulting hard drive shortage would have wider ramifications than just impacting the...
26 by Ryan Smith on 12/12/2011Seagate's 2nd Gen Momentus XT: More NAND, Larger Capacity
It's been over a year since I reviewed Seagate's first hybrid hard drive: the 500GB Momentus XT. At the time I felt that it wasn't nearly as good as...
39 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 11/28/2011Seagate Awarded $525 million in Arbitration with Western Digital
Western Digital announced today in a press release that the arbitrator for a Seagate vs. Western Digital complaint sided with Seagate and ordered an award of $525 million paid...
19 by Amman Sood on 11/21/2011Thailand's flooding and our HDD needs
This holiday season might be a big one for SSD manufacturers. Like most tropical regions, Thailand experiences dry and rainy seasons, which are somewhat predicable, with the rainy season...
10 by Jason Inofuentes on 11/18/2011Seagate's New Barracuda 3TB (ST3000DM001) Review
Platter density has been the crutch of hard drive makers in recent history. Increasing spindle speeds can reduce random access latency, but at the expense of cost and thermals...
77 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 11/2/2011Seagate Introduces New 1TB-Per-Platter Barracuda, Solid State Hybrid Version Coming
Yesterday Seagate had three members of its Barracuda family of 3.5" hard drives: the Barracuda Green, Barracuda, and Barracuda XT. Today, all three lines are being folded under the...
37 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 11/1/2011Western Digital My Book Studio Edition II 6TB Review
While we await more Thunderbolt storage devices, Western Digital grabbed headlines not too long ago for the announcement of its 6TB My Book Studio Edition II Mac-ready external drive...
34 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 9/10/2011Hitachi Ships First 3.5" HDD With 1TB Platters
Without increasing rotational speed the only hope for improving mechanical hard drive performance is through greater platter densities. There are other benefits realized through increasing platter density: larger capacities...
9 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 9/7/2011Seagate Ships World's First 4TB External HDD
Just over a year ago Seagate introduced the world’s first 3TB hard drive. Although it shipped in an enclosure for external use, the Seagate GoFlex Desk was available with...
10 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 9/7/2011HighPoint's RocketU 1144A PCIe x4 USB 3.0 Controller: A Big Back-end
Most USB 3.0 controller cards available on the market today utilize the PCIe x1 interface. With a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 5Gbps, it is possible that these controllers...
40 by Zach Throckmorton on 8/30/2011150GB & 300GB VelociRaptors Get SATA 6 Gbps, Larger Cache
While SSDs are all the rage these days, Western Digital is still making headway on their 10,000RPM VelociRaptors. The drives come in 150GB, 300GB, 450GB and 600GB capacities in...
28 by Saumitra Bhagwat on 7/28/2011Seagate GoFlex Slim 320GB: The World's Thinnest External HDD
As a desktop user I never really jumped on the external storage craze. I kept a couple of terabyte drives in RAID-0 inside my chassis and there's always the...
31 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 4/5/2011Seagate GoFlex Mac & Thin @ CES 2011
I met with Seagate briefly at the show and it gave me an update on additions to its drive lineup. Unfortunately there still are no updates to the Momentus...
15 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 1/10/2011Western Digital Caviar Green 3TB and My Book Essential 3TB Drives Reviewed
Two months ago I looked at the world’s first 3TB desktop hard drive. It was a 5 platter, 3TB Seagate Barracuda XT inside an external GoFlex Desk chassis. The...
48 by Anand Lal Shimpi on 10/19/2010Seagate GoFlex Home 2TB Reviewed
If you’ve got more than one PC in the home, having a network drive to share files, stream media and create backups can make a lot of sense. Seagate...
30 by Rajinder Gill on 10/10/2010