Seagate today revealed a new drive platform that not only promises improved performance, but also the ability to pack more storage in smaller physical spaces. The enterprise-class storage platform, based on a new 2.5-inch drive form factor, is the result of research and development efforts that includes collaboration with HP, Intel and Microsoft.
Due to hit data centers in 2004, the technology offers several benefits, chief among those being denser storage arrays and high-performance blade servers. The platform is being developed for Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) applications, with support for Fibre Channel and SCSI also in the works.
In addition to packing more storage capacity in smaller spaces, Seagate is also seeking to provide improved performance. New systems based on the smaller drives will realize gains of nearly 140% IOPS (input/output per second) per U when pitting a 2.5-inch drive 2U rack storage array against today’s common 3U implementations.
Besides storage assets that occupy less data center real estate, Seagate is also looking to make managing those assets less of a hardship for IT administrators. The drives require less power, take up 70% less space, and make less noise than their 3.5-inch counterparts, making them cheaper to keep online and easier to cool.
Jeff Jenkins, acting VP, Server Storage and Infrastructure, HP Industry Standard Servers, describes how the new storage platform benefits IT managers and impacts HP’s product line, “In a consolidated IT environment, our customers need to provide more I/O’s in the same rack space while being able to scale to higher I/O’s and capacity to meet future growth requirements without increasing their data center space.”
He adds, “The density-optimized HP ProLiant DL server line and the direct-attached storage systems can be optimized with 2.5-inch enterprise-class disk drives using future interfaces such as Serial Attached SCSI to enable our customers to receive performance enhancements without the expense of adding more racks or data-center floor space.”
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