Seagate debuts 300GB, 2.5-inch drive
Seagate on Monday debuted the Savvio 10K.3 drive, the first from the company to offer 300GB capacity in a 2.5-inch form factor, with full enterprise features, including the ability to attach to an array via the latest SAS interface.
While small-form-factor drives like the Savvio 10K.3 are usually used in desktop and, principally, laptop applications, Seagate's offering is designed to be used in enterprise-class applications. The drive also offers enterprise-class features, such as the Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) interface, high reliability (Seagate quotes a mean time between failures of 1.6 million hours) and full disk encryption.
One of the main advantages of the drive, according to Seagate, is a capability that allows users to increase the speed of access of the storage arrays without having to run the drives at an increased rotational speed. The speed at which drives have to rotate and accelerate is a factor in their energy efficiency.
The SAS 2.0 interface is also fast, with Seagate quoting a 6Gbps data rate. The 10K in the name of the drive refers to the 10,000rpm at which the drive rotates. Seagate said the Savvio 10K.3 "has 70 percent lower power and greater than 60 percent performance density over traditional 3.5-inch drives". The company also claimed it is the first 2.5-inch, self-encrypting enterprise drive with full disk encryption.
IDC has predicted that, by 2010, the number of small-form-factor drives (that is, 2.5-inch and below) shipped will, for the first time, be greater than the number of 3.5-inch drives shipped.
A spokesperson for Seagate told ZDNet.co.uk that pricing for the drive "still has to be confirmed". However, the Savvio 10K.3 is due to be available "during the second half of this year", the spokesperson said.
