Whew, I thought that time of Spinning drives is slowly coming to an end until I saw news about HGST. WD subsidiary HGST’s 6TB SATA Drive was just released. Not only that, they had to use helium to achieve lower friction so that they could squeeze more platters.
HGST Say’s:
Why does helium make a di fference? Helium has only one-seventh the density of air. Replacing air with helium inside a hard drive dramatically reduces the turbulence caused by the spinning disk, cuts power consumption and results in a lower temperature within the disk drive.
The reduction in turbulence for the spinning disk allows HGST to offe r a seven-disk design in a traditional 3.5-inch form factor. In addition to being the world’s first helium- filled hard drive, HGST Ultrastar He6 is also the first hard drive in the industry to o ffer a 6 terabyte capacity.
This design offers a 50% capacity gain and still reduces the energy needed to run the drive by up to 23%.HGST had to design new seal for helium, if they only filled helium inside regular drive, helium would leak. They have designed new seal that is hermitically sealed.
By Using Helium HGST is able to achieve 50% more capacity, 23% lower Idle Power, 49% better watts/TB, 30% Quieter operation, reduce temperature for 4 degrees C, 50g lighter weight.
Warranty is 5 year limited.
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