History (1998): 30GB on 12-Inch WORM Optical Disk From Philips LMS

Beginning in June of 1999, Philips LMS will put its newest gen of 12-inch WORM disks and drives on the market.

The LD8000 has 15GB on each side, compared to 6GB for its current line of LD6000 disks. Total capacity per disk thus jumps from 12 to 30GB, with 2 recording heads in the drive, one for each side.

The technology is no longer based on thermic ablation, but on phase-change recording.

The sustained transfer rate is announced at 6.2MB/s in read, 2.5MB/s in write, with an average access time of 96ms, 30,000 hours MTBF and an FW SCSI 2 interface.

As for the LD6000 line, LD8000 drives can be integrated in the 1 drive/6 disks or 2/12 RapidChanger. 2/50 and 2-4/123 Infinity jukeboxes are also planned.

The first shipment of a beta unit was sent this month to an OEM.

According to a Philips LMS representative, the goal is here not to exceed the price of current 12GB units by more than 10%.

This article is an abstract of news published on issue 129 on October 1998 from the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter.