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Storage for the masses

by Staff Writers  on Jan 1, 1900
Tags: Storage | for | the | masses
The two main concerns an end user has with their hard disk, capacity and reliability, continue to improve with advances in technology. Every six months or so, there is an increase in the areal density
The two main concerns an end user has with their hard disk, capacity and reliability, continue to improve with advances in technology. Every six months or so, there is an increase in the areal density (capacity-to-disk surface ratio) driving the cost per megabyte down and increasing the drive's capacity.

This hard disk Labs asked the vendors for samples of Ultra-ATA/66 drives at 5,400rpm and 7,200rpm spindle speeds. This would equate to a manufacturer's response to the value market (5,400rpm) and to the performance market (7,200rpm). There was no correlation between the target market and the size of the drive, however no one submitted a drive smaller than 8.4Gb and we feel safe in saying that no one buying a new PC should be looking for anything less if they are serious about their storage needs.

7,200rpm drives were scarce and more of a novelty for techno-buffs this time last year but are becoming more mainstream this year. In fact, IBM's distributor Digiland refused to submit one of their 5,400rpm products as they will be phased out by the time you read this. However, one of the by-products of the higher spin speed is an increase in heat generation and it would not be a surprise if thermal dissipation issues became a concern for users with poor ventilation inside their PC cases.

On the score of reliability you will notice that every manufacturer represented now has some form of shock protection built into their drives. Shock and other physical trauma to a disk drive, which is a sensitive mechanical device, are still the main causes of drive failure. Manufacturers usually work on a basis of a return rate of less than two per cent for drives still in warranty and shock protection should reduce this rate significantly. The earliest shock protected drives are less than two years old, so it may be premature to make any prognostications just yet as the data is not reliable.

Even if you're an upgrader who has a motherboard that does not make full use of the Ultra-ATA/66 specification's transfer rate, it would still be worthwhile investing in one of the latest drives purely from a reliability perspective alone.

Labs Editor: David Lin
Contributors: Tim Dean, Tremayne Sargeant
This article appeared in the March, 2000 issue of PC Authority.


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