Toshiba storage breakthrough could bring 10TB HDDs

Matthew DeCarlo

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Toshiba has announced a storage breakthrough that it will demonstrate today at a conference in San Diego. By using a technique called bit-pattern recording, the prototype to be shown boasts an areal density of 2.5Tb per square inch. That's about five times more than the company's existing products, meaning three-platter 10TB hard drives are entirely plausible, and Toshiba is working on doubling that density to 5Tb per square inch -- just when we thought HDDs were on their way out.


Today's drives have a uniform magnetic coating that makes up the recording surface and each bit of data is stored in hundreds of grains across the disk. Bit-pattern media is more efficient. It breaks that recording surface up into numerous magnetic "bits" consisting of a few magnetic grains. Each "bit" holds one bit of data and they are organized into rows. The gaps between those rows act as markers, allowing data to be located quickly. Toshiba expects the technology to appear in hard drives as early as 2013.

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Wow! This just made me clench up a bit when I read it. This actually has me excited - too bad we won't see it before 2013.
 
Correct me if I am wrong but wont they have to replace BIOS (32bit) to run drives much bigger than 2 gig .
 
I bet before 2013 they'll find a way to solve the 32-bit issue, I guess after this achivement that problem is just a piece of cake...
 
I wonder what the defrag/Virus scan protocol for a couple of 10 TB drives would be? right now its rather lengthy for the 2TB i have now......not to be a downer or anything.
 
LOL....these guys are going to put themselves out of business. It's kind of like inventing a tire that will go 250,000 miles before you need to replace it.
 
I wonder what the defrag/Virus scan protocol for a couple of 10 TB drives would be? right now its rather lengthy for the 2TB i have now......not to be a downer or anything.

It would be one of those, set it to run defrag then jet off for a suntan for 2 weeks affairs I think.... ;) pmsl.

Seriously though, 10TB... Thats mad! I've found the bigger I've done for HDD's, the more junk I collect. lol.
 
It would be one of those, set it to run defrag then jet off for a suntan for 2 weeks affairs I think.... pmsl.
I think so yes!
Seriously though, 10TB... Thats mad! I've found the bigger I've done for HDD's, the more junk I collect. lol.
I think that falls under The old adage "any job will immediately expand to fill the time afforded "

LOL....these guys are going to put themselves out of business. It's kind of like inventing a tire that will go 250,000 miles before you need to replace it.

yes, 10TB and a six year warranty.....you can hear the Toshiba pink slips being written.

You guys keep typing GB - this is TB we're talking about!

EDIT ********I would like to point out that 3 of the 4 I typed I had as TB :) ...okay LNC, Fixed******
 
TomSEA said:
LOL....these guys are going to put themselves out of business. It's kind of like inventing a tire that will go 250,000 miles before you need to replace it.
Of course there is the point to be made of the massive initial demand from datacenters and businesses to upgrade for better [insert type] efficiency and more storage that might offset the lower turnaround rate. Also, as businesses and information increasingly becomes digital, there will always be the need for more space. If magnetic platter HDDs stay competitive with SSDs in price and relative capacity and performance, it'll keep them around that much longer (and hopefully forcing SSD's price point farther down).
 
If magnetic platter HDDs stay competitive with SSDs in price and relative capacity and performance, it'll keep them around that much longer (and hopefully forcing SSD's price point farther down).

That's a good point, but I don't see how they possibly can remain viable if only from a maintenance and reliability standpoint.
 
That's a good point, but I don't see how they possibly can remain viable if only from a maintenance and reliability standpoint.

SSD's aren't long term tested though are they?

Only time will tell how they turn out, but I have say I regret purchasing mine when I could have had 3 Velociraptor's with change to spare.
 
Of course there is the point to be made of the massive initial demand from datacenters and businesses to upgrade for better [insert type] efficiency and more storage that might offset the lower turnaround rate. Also, as businesses and information increasingly becomes digital, there will always be the need for more space. If magnetic platter HDDs stay competitive with SSDs in price and relative capacity and performance, it'll keep them around that much longer (and hopefully forcing SSD's price point farther down).

That's what i say.
 
SSD's aren't long term tested though are they?

well put in practice no, they obviously cant be, but, they have been tested for a read/write longevity and it is on the average they will long outlast HDD's. SSD's have something HDD's do not, wear leveling. (and being solid state as opposed to mechanical) They do not write to the same cells over and over. so a 100,000 R/W SSD will be difficult to wear out. The controller will tank first. I guess we will see. But when was the last time a stick of memory 'wore out' on you, I mean the the actual module, not something else taking it out like bad power delivery, the controller going boots up, a bad MB,or OC'ing the begeesus out of it
 
@Red.

True, sorry I should have been clearer and stated in real conditions, but you worked that out anyway. :)

Time will tell, I must admit I prefer them to SATA hard discs using conventional mechanical technology, but I've only ever used 5400/7200rpm drives so can't really personally compare them to anything else.

Its just a shame they're so much money right now really.

In an ideal world I think I'd prefer having higher capacity SSD's for storage needs, if only for the performance enhancements.
 
@Red.

True, sorry I should have been clearer and stated in real conditions, but you worked that out anyway. :)

Time will tell, I must admit I prefer them to SATA hard discs using conventional mechanical technology, but I've only ever used 5400/7200rpm drives so can't really personally compare them to anything else.

Its just a shame they're so much money right now really.

They have been un-traditionally slow to come down in price, I don't know if people are not trusting them or why they have not followed the path of most other components.
 
I'd actually be interested to see the percentages of sales to OEMs vs. individual sales vs. commerical (servers etc) sales.

I could be totally wrong about this, but I get the impression quite a few are shifted with OEM systems these days - But like everyone has come to realise, you have to pay pretty decent money to get the true advantages of the SSD write/read speeds.
 
the larger the better
I think the new technology affects the capacity not the longevity of the drive
 
the larger the better
I think the new technology affects the capacity not the longevity of the drive

what we were discussing was not the new tech effecting the longevity of the HDD's, but SDD's VS HDD's longevity as it is.
 
the larger the better
I think the new technology affects the capacity not the longevity of the drive
Do you see where this line of thought could get you into trouble? You would likely need more time to fill a drive of this capacity, yet if if can't be expected to have a longer service life......, a failure becomes a manifold disaster, compared to a piddling, oh say, 1TB drive.

Um, I know it's corny, but as they say, (or said in my day), "the bigger they are, the harder they fall". Sorta like Blu-Ray, you save time and trouble by only having to lose 1 disc, instead of going to the trouble of losing 10 DVDs.
 
Do you see where this line of thought could get you into trouble? You would likely need more time to fill a drive of this capacity, yet if if can't be expected to have a longer service life......, a failure becomes a manifold disaster, compared to a piddling, oh say, 1TB drive.

Um, I know it's corny, but as they say, (or said in my day), "the bigger they are, the harder they fall". Sorta like Blu-Ray, you save time and trouble by only having to lose 1 disc, instead of going to the trouble of losing 10 DVDs.

Leave it to you to find a new perspective, but that's a good one. I 'compute quite a lot, but I think it would take me 4 years to fill a 10TB HDD, and if I didn't, and as HDD's do not have 'wear leveling', as SSD's do, unless the thing had a 10yr warranty it would be useless. This may be only good for server environments or making 1 and 2TB drives 1 platter. Did that make sense? Vicodin is amazing.....I want to be a skyscraper.....now I am....WOW! what a view!
 
Is This real I said? I pinched myself to find out, nope didn't feel that either...

Vicodin is amazing.....I want to be a skyscraper.....now I am....WOW! what a view!
Indeed, just ask Michael Jackson. If I might be so bold, (how's that for deadpan), I suggest putting a brick in each back pocket, then enjoying the head "rush" at ground level.
 
Indeed, just ask Michael Jackson. If I might be so bold, (how's that for deadpan), I suggest putting a brick in each back pocket, then enjoying the head "rush" at ground level.


ROFL, I guess my broken ribs warranted it. (wheres the smiley with dilated pupils?)
 
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