Toshiba to Make Industry's Largest Hard Disk Drive

Toshiba Corporation, a Japan based computer manufacturer, has announced its plan to manufacture its latest line of 2.5 inch hard disk drives which includes the MK3252GSX, which has a capacity of 320 GB. At 320 GB, the MK3252GSX has the largest capacity for a 2.5 inch hard disk drive commercially available, while MK2049GSY, another hard disk drive model, features a 7,200 rotational speed. According to Toshiba, they will mass produce the hard disk drives starting November.

Hard disk drives are internal storage devices usually found in computers, notebooks, and other consumer electronics. According to Wikipedia.org, the largest 2.5" hard disk drive to date is 250 GB from Samsung and Western Digital.

To achieve the MK3252GSX's 320 GB capacity, Toshiba will use an improved read-write head and enhanced magnetic layer to boost areal density. The MK2049GSY on the other hand, offers a rotation speed of 7,200 rpm and has an integrated capacity 16 MB buffer memory which, according to Toshiba, can speed up processing of large volumes of data. Tests done by Toshiba on the MK2049GSY showed that the drive's fast rotation speed and high buffer memory has improved the maximum internal data transfer rate by around 46% and increased the average random access time by 8%.

Toshiba's MK3252GSX hard disk drive, aside from featuring a 320 GB formatted capacity, will also have specifications of: 2 platters, 4 heads, average seek time of 12ms, ATA8 interface with interface speed of 3 Gbps, rotational speed of 5,400 rpm, 8 MB of buffer memory, shock resistance of 350G when in operation and 900G when not in operation, and will weigh in at 102g.

The MK2049GSY hard disk drive will have a 200 GB and has roughly the same specifications as the MK3252GSX except for the rotational speed and buffer memory which as mentioned earlier, will be at 7,200 rpm and 16 MB and will weigh in at 115g.

Other models to be manufactured by Toshiba together with the MK3252GSX and MK2049GSY are (formatted capacity in parenthesis): MK2552GSX (250 GB), MK1652GSX (160 GB), MK1252GSX (120 GB), MK8052GSX (80 GB), MK1649GSY (160 GB), MK1249GSY (120 GB), MK8049GSY (80 GB). The GSX models have the same seek time, interface, interface speed, rotational speed and buffer memory as the MK1652GSX while the GSY models will share the same specifications as the MK2049GSY. The number of platters, number of heads, and weight may vary according to model.

According to Toshiba, they will showcase the new hard disk drives at the IFA 2007, a consumer electronics trade fair that will be held in Germany on August 31 to September 5. No pricing has yet been announced by the company.

SOURCE:

Toshiba, Toshiba's New 320GB 2.5-inch HDD Offers Industry's Largest Storage Capacity. URL: (http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2007_08/pr2101.htm)

Hard disk drive, Wikipedia.org. URL: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk)