Not quite done after releasing its 8TB capacity hard drive in last August, Seagate has outdone itself by producing a hard drive with a massive 10B capacity, which the company announced is already shipping. One feature which quickly becomes apparent is that company did not have to increase the size of the hard drive to make allowances for the increased capacity – it still comes in a standard 3.5-inch drive.
Seagate’s area of concentration, client-wise, is enterprise customers. I mean, who else is going to need all of that space, right? Besides, they might just be the client-set who can afford the hefty $700 price tag attached to the hard drives.
So what are the specifications of the hard drive? Seagate tells us themselves:
What’s in the Hard Drive?
- Fast 10TB nearline hard drives in a robust sealed-drive architecture
- At 550TB/yr, it’s 10× the workload rating of desktop drives
- Proven technology backed by highest field reliability ratings and the industry’s best MTBF at 2.5M hours
- SATA 6Gb/s interface for easy integration
- Excellent IOPS/TB storage for unstructured data
- Up to 21% improvement in IOPS/watt over similar 10TB HDDs on the market
- 5 watts less power than other drives—approximately a 6% savings for a 9PB 42U rack
- 10 grams lighter per drive—approximately a 2% weight reduction in a 9PB 42U rack
Some people still have reservations about helium drives, based on the notion that the helium will eventually seep through the cases and seals, even with a “perfect” seal.
Some also argue that 8TB hard drives currently go for about $300, with an ongoing downward review of the price. If this is the case, then purchasing two 8TB hard drives at $600 for a total of 16TB might be a better return on investment. The choice is yours, of course.