History (1999): IBM, Hitachi and Seagate Put More Than 73GB in 3.5-Inch Box

Hitachi has exceeded the maximum capacity an a HDD of any kind, with 73.9GB, an absolute record.

At nearly the same time, Big Blue and Seagate announced almost as much, 73.4GB respectively.

The previous HDD record was held by Seagate, with 50GB on its Barracuda 50, launched a year ago. But the difference is that the Barracuda has been available now for several months, while IBM’s new model, which we expected sooner, will not start shipping before 1Q00, and Hitachi’s unit has been postponed until 2Q next year.

4.9ms average read
Like the Barracuda 50, IBM’s Ultrastar 72ZX comprises 11 disks and 22 (GMR) heads for a 41mm-thick drive. IBM continues to integrate glass substrate platters with individual capacity of 6.7GB in its high-end devices. Areal density is 7Gb per square inch (352,000bpi and 20,000tpi). As for interfaces, there is a choice between 1- and 2Gb FC-AL, as well as Ultra160+, which incorporates Ultra-3 SCSI’s 5 features, including packetization and quick arbitrate select, compared to only 3 offered up to now by Ultra160. Media data rates (banded) vary between 280 and 473Mb/s. Cache size is also impressive: 16MB.

On the Ultrastar 36LZX, at 9, 18 or 37GB, also at 1 0,000rpm for a 2.99ms average latency, the average read seek time drops to 4.9ms, no doubt another record.

For all its new high-end units, IBM has also announced a new technology, called Active Damping, which contributes to higher mechanical (servo) performance and helps the drive withstand temperature variations and vibration.

Hitachi needs one more platter
To attain its 73.9GB record, Hitachi needed 12 platters and 23 heads, more surface than on IBM’s drive. The new line is the first from Hitachi capable of attaining rotational speeds of 10,000rpm, compared to 7,200rpm for the previous fastest generation. The company is emphasizing the limited power consumption, 8.5W for the 18.4GB model, 15W for the 73.9GB device. All have a 4 MB buffer.

Last minute: 73.4GB for Seagate
Just as we were going to press, we learned that Seagate Technology will produce a 73.4GB HDD in 1Q00. It would have been quite odd for the company, which along with IBM is a major force in the WW market for high-end disk drives, to allow its rivals to continue unchallenged for very long. Indeed their lead only lasted a few days.

The new Cheetah drives, models 73 (73.4GB, $2,080 single unit OEM price), 36LP (36.7GB, $1,195) and 18XL (18.3GB, $859) revolve at 10,000rpm, and are equipped with 16MB of cache, in Ultra160 SCSI or 2Gb FC-AL interface. Meanwhile, Seagate will simultaneously introduce a new Barracuda, the 18XL 18.3GB, 5.9ms average seek time, 7,200rpm, $599.

This article is an abstract of news published on issue 142 on November 1999 from the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter.