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Miniature 5400 and 7200 RPM HDDs Reviewed

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the small-sizes-and-big-storage dept.

PReDiToR writes "At Tom's Hardware I found this favourable review of some remarkable Hard Drives. The article points out that with 40GB units suitable for server or desktop use, life with 2.5" drives could be just around the corner. Heat noise and power consumption are all apparently within acceptable tolerances."

4 of 235 comments (clear)

  1. USB Key's by Heartz · · Score: 5, Insightful
    With USB keys being much smaller and storage sizes increasing exponentionally,will the spinning disk still be a relavant tool for easy to carry around storage.

    USB keys are not only lighter, but you don't even have to worry about it fsckign because you shook it too much while you were on the bus.And they look waaay cooler too.

    1. Re:USB Key's by tomstdenis · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah, right until after you re-write a sector that 100k'th time......

      Normal IDE disks are rated for a billion re-writes at least. [provided the motor lasts that long]. That's why "them there funny rotating disc like objects" are used to store data.

      Until they invent a lower-power [recall flash requires around 10V or higher to write, from a 3V source that's a loss!] and longer-lasting high density flash you won't see "them funny discs" replaced any time soon.

      Tom

      --
      Someday, I'll have a real sig.
  2. Interesting, but what does it cost? by dphoenix · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You have to remember .. the "cost" figure is strangely omitted anywhere from his review. People will pay for performance, but only within reason! However, inevitably, price will drop on these things and you will see smaller systems (tablets, tiny desktop pcs, consoles). It would be nice to make an even smaller media center PC using one of these.

  3. A couple of points... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I am a storage consultant so I kinda know what I'm talking about here (just thought I'd get that in before I get slagged off) and assuming that you're not totally joking...

    1) The technology used within USB type memory keys is only good for about 10000 write operations max.

    2) They are very expensive

    3) I don't see any USB -> Fibre Channel converters and none of my suppliers have them on their hardware roadmaps (can't think why)

    4) They are staggeringly slow, even if you RAIDed a thousand of the buggers.

    5) If anyone took one of these keys into a datacentre in which I was responsible for the storage, I would do some painfully biological things to them.

    6) In modern datacentres the mass storage (and quite offen the local system disks as well) are supplied from a consolidated disk array which is hung off a fibrechannel network almost nobody who is anybody does JBOD for mass storage any more.

    7) RAID shouldn't ever be controlled by software for serious users

    8) can't be arsed to go on, but you get the general idea...