Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Western Digital Ultrastar HE6: The first hard disk with helium

The idea of ​​injecting helium into hard drives has been gaining traction in recent months , and now we have the new Ultrastar HE6 , developed by HGST subsidiary of Western Digital. What's in this album with helium ? Less than two additional courses , totaling 6TB capacity .

In recent weeks , the only hard drives that have come into my possession are 2.5 inches. Obviously , fit a larger bay is a minor problem compared to the challenges facing the business environment, focused on a demand that is growing , and infrastructure to the limit . One or two hard drives do not cause major problems, however, when we speak of a hundred or more disks , heat, and energy storage density become critical parameters. In this case , less is more vital among manufacturers , and to achieve an ally comes directly from the periodic table: helium .

In September 2012, HGST (now under the wing of Western Digital) announced the development of hard disks injected with helium. This provides immediate benefits to the design , starting with an increase in the number of plates , from five to seven. HGST efforts materialized in the new Ultrastar HE6 , that with the help of seven courses can offer a capacity of six terabytes , retaining the traditional format of 3.5 inches. The Ultrastar HE6 is 50 grams lighter compared to similar drives , works at a lower temperature (between 4 and 5 degrees below average ) , Standby consumption is only 5.3 watts and generates 30 percent less noise . To this is added a "time average " between failures of two million hours , and five years official warranty .

There are already several very high caliber names Ultrastar evaluating the HE6 , among which we find HP , Huawei , Netflix and even the CERN . Needless to say , not a hard drive to install on a desktop system , and although Western Digital did not reveal the official price per unit, imagine that must be higher than normal, because the injection of helium and sealed sealing made ​​more complex production line . I also understand that there are scientists concerned about the current use of helium, but the design of the Ultrastar HE6 appears to be very efficient at that point , since a conventional tank enough to make ten thousand units.

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