Computer Cross Talk: HGST 10TB Helium hard drive
Western Digital’s division, HGST, has beenthe first company to release the first 10TB helium hard drive for ordinary usage.
Earlier this year, the company released another 10TB hard drive which was based on old technology. SGST’s rival, Seagate, has only managed to hit the 8TB mark.
HGST’s Ultra He10 is unique in that it crams 7 platters in the same 3.5 inch hard drive space. This is achieved by filling the inside of the drive with helium. Helium has a beautiful attribute; it offers significantly less air resistance to the squeezed spinning platters.
The SGST Ultra He10 uses a new technology called PMR other than HAMR technology. Never mind, you need not know what that means. All you need to remember is that PMR increases platter density substantially; from about 100GB per square inch to 1,000GB per square inch. What that gibberish means is that PMR can fit a lot of data on a very small space.
Seagate has announced that it would release a 10TB hard drive in 2016. It is very probable that the company will adopt the new technologies. By that time expect SGST to be working in the 15TB to 25TB space.
The 10TB helium drive is expected to cost $600. That is enough to afford you three laptops. That begs the question; who wants a 10TB hard drive? We live in a world where you no longer need massive storage. Why should you when on-line storage is almost free? As long as you are connected to the internet, you have various options.
The beauty about online storage is that one does not need to worry about the safety and integrity of the data. The online storage companies invest a lot in those areas to an extent that no one individual can beat their expertise.
Enterprises still need huge storage.
These big companies are online data storage companies in their own rights. Ironically, the online data companies need huge storage.
I need massive storage because I live in a country where internet is not as cheap as the oxygen I breathe. I need space for numerous downloads that I perform.
The SGST 10TB hard drive has an extended warranty of five years. That said, this is a spinning platter hard drive and is no solid-state drive. What that means is that you should never ever drop that hard drive; if you do, the warranty becomes void.
As of any new technology, it is expected that the price will drop soon after money spend on research and development has been recovered.
We are itching closer to Christmas; I will not mind an SGST He10 for a Christmas present.
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