6TB Helium-Filled Hard Drives Take Flight

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

6TB Helium-Filled Hard Drives Take Flight

Posted by samzenpus on Monday November 4, 2013 @04:26AM from the building-it-better dept.

An anonymous reader writes in with some exciting news if you are a storage array manufacturer with a lot of money to spend on hard drives."HGST Monday announced that it's now shipping a helium-filled, 3.5-in hard disk drive with 50% more capacity than the current industry leading 4TB drives. The new drive uses 23% less power and is 38% lighter than the 4TB drives. Without changing the height, the new 6TB Ultrastar He6 enterprise-class hard drive crams seven disk platters into what was a five disk-platter, 4TB Ultrastar drive."

71 of 297 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Helium Leaks by bfmorgan · 2013-11-04 04:30 · Score: 5, Insightful

Helium love to leak. How long will these have the He pressure they need to work?

--
I hope this caused some synapses to fire.
1. Re:Helium Leaks by SternisheFan · 2013-11-04 04:38 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  They do have a 5 year warranty.
2. Re:Helium Leaks by Big+Hairy+Ian · 2013-11-04 04:40 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Now I know where to store all my high pitched MP3's :D
  
  --
  Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
3. Re:Helium Leaks by Nerdfest · 2013-11-04 04:54 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  You should Rush right out and get one.
4. Re:Helium Leaks by bob_super · 2013-11-04 04:55 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Can I call this planned obsolescence yet?
  I have drives much older than that, and I'm not worried that they are engineered to fail soon (they will, but not by design)
5. Re:Helium Leaks by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-04 04:59 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Geedy Lee hates you and your slight. You should consider yourself lucky to ever hear such wonderful music in the first place, loser.
6. Re:Helium Leaks by dcollins117 · 2013-11-04 05:01 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  That's the main drawback of these drives. They can make Barry White sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks.
7. Re:Helium Leaks by MightyYar · 2013-11-04 05:22 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  So, when a drive fails and I lose time/data
  I'm not hiring you to set up my systems.
  Most sane people would take a spare off the shelf and pop it into the array and drop the bad drive into the dead soldiers pile for later RMA.
  
  --
  W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
8. Re:Helium Leaks by isorox · 2013-11-04 05:26 · Score: 2
  
  So, when a drive fails and I lose time/data
  I'm not hiring you to set up my systems.
  Most sane people would take a spare off the shelf and pop it into the array and drop the bad drive into the dead soldiers pile for later RMA.
  And when they al start failing at the same time with the same fault, and you lose your 3rd drive in your 8 drive raid 6 in a few hours?
9. Re: Helium Leaks by Guy+From+V · 2013-11-04 05:27 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Christ, Sterling Mallory Archer, what part of its helium not hydrogen don't you understand?
10. Re:Helium Leaks by MightyYar · 2013-11-04 05:32 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I thought conventional wisdom was to at least mix batches, if not brands.
  
  --
  W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
11. Re:Helium Leaks by Lumpy · 2013-11-04 05:41 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  about 24 hours longer than the warranty.
  
  --
  Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
12. Re:Helium Leaks by Lumpy · 2013-11-04 05:42 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  You can get a REFURBISHED equal drive that has a higher chance of dying. Oh and the replacement has no warranty. The dark underbelly of hard drives is you get a single replacement, the replacement has a 90 day on it and that's it.
  
  --
  Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
13. Re:Helium Leaks by nabsltd · 2013-11-04 05:49 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  The dark underbelly of hard drives is you get a single replacement, the replacement has a 90 day on it and that's it.
  Every Western Digital replacement drive I have received has had the longer of either the remaining original warranty or one year.
  These are all drive in their "Black" line, so that might make a difference.
14. Re:Helium Leaks by ShanghaiBill · 2013-11-04 05:55 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Provided that atmospheric pressure works the fact that helium leaks is irrelevant: helium leaks into the harddrive just as easily as it leaks out of the harddrive. All you have to do is make sure that the harddrive is leak-tight for everything but helium - fortunately this is pretty easy to do as helium is the only gas that leaks as easily as it.
  This is completely wrong. I assume you slept through your class on partial pressures. The helium would leak out until the concentration of helium inside equals the concentration of helium outside. The presence of other (non-leaking) gases is irrelevant. Since helium constitutes only 0.00052% of the atmosphere, that would result in a very high vacuum.
15. Re:Helium Leaks by Lord+Apathy · 2013-11-04 06:02 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  You can get a REFURBISHED equal drive that has a higher chance of dying. Oh and the replacement has no warranty. The dark underbelly of hard drives is you get a single replacement, the replacement has a 90 day on it and that's it.
  Not true. I had a seagate with a 5 year warranty go out 2 years into its life. The replacement had a 90 day warranty or what ever was left on the original warranty, which ever was greater.
  
  --
  Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification
16. Re:Helium Leaks by Valdrax · 2013-11-04 06:03 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Oh the bright side, they make Alvin and the Chipmunks inaudible.
  The downside? Mysterious uptick in neighborhood dog noise.
  
  --
  If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
17. Re: Helium Leaks by jd2112 · 2013-11-04 06:06 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  It actually makes all your MP3s sound like they were recorded by Alvin and the Chipmunks.
  
  --
  Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
18. Re: Helium Leaks by FilmedInNoir · 2013-11-04 06:13 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Oh the high-pitched and squeaky humanity.
  
  --
  Sig. Sig. Sputnik
19. Re:Helium Leaks by ArcadeMan · 2013-11-04 06:28 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  And Darth Vader will sound like an angry Jerry Seinfeld.
  
  --
  Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
20. Re:Helium Leaks by bluefoxlucid · 2013-11-04 07:24 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  If their drive costs more than a RAID6+0 or something else on a high-end SAN, you'll just buy cheaper drives. If their drive is less reliable and bigger, then you're in danger of more drive failures and a total failure while replacing them (rebuilding a 3TB enterprise-class Seagate drive takes up of 72 hours) and so there's too much risk unless you buy a lot more of them and make crazy shit like RAID6+0. They can't just price them obscenely expensive to make up for constantly giving out free ones.
  That all means they have to reliably provide for a minimum of failures over 5 years to make sure their warranty doesn't bankrupt them. This is why warranties actually work: the "invisible hand of the market" is a thief and a charlatan, but it works pretty well when bound in a rather nasty glove that inflicts great pain when it misbehaves.
  
  --
  Support my political activism on Patreon.
21. Re:Helium Leaks by epyT-R · 2013-11-04 07:39 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Uh no. If the warranty is 5 years, I expect it to last at least that long, if not longer. If the drive fails within 5 years, I expect a new drive since I purchased a guarantee of uninterrupted operation for 5 years. If I didn't get it with the first drive, or the second, or the third, then I expect them to keep sending me drives until they get it right or refund my money. If they go out of business doing this with too many customers too much of the time, then they should have as their products suck.
  That is how you honor warranties the right way. Of course, companies cheap out on them now, and it's getting real bad with things like computer components, notably, motherboards, video boards, and hard disks. A new product was paid for, and it was faulty, and they send a refurb? I did not buy a refurb! Many times the refurb shows up half broken (motherboard manufacturers are famous for using 3rd party 'fufillment centers' that do this) or as DOA as the one sent in. It's such a damn hassle get them to act honorably. Of course, this drives me to say 'fuck it' and buy the ultra cheap ones with the expectation of early failure, but then I'm supporting the anti-quality trend in the consumer market. Really, the constant cross shipping and down time costs both manufacturer and consumer more money than getting it right in the first place would.
  Barring a RARE fluke, there's no reason every hard disk shouldn't last at least 5 years now, but again they cheap out on the manufacturing process to save a few pennies. There was a time when getting 10 years out of a quality disk was reasonable.
22. Re:Helium Leaks by omnichad · 2013-11-04 08:37 · Score: 2
  
  You have to keep the serial number / invoice for the original drive to get them to honor the longer warranty period.
23. Re:Helium Leaks by Kjella · 2013-11-04 09:57 · Score: 2
  
  Uh no. If the warranty is 5 years, I expect it to last at least that long, if not longer. If the drive fails within 5 years, I expect a new drive since I purchased a guarantee of uninterrupted operation for 5 years. If I didn't get it with the first drive, or the second, or the third, then I expect them to keep sending me drives until they get it right or refund my money. If they go out of business doing this with too many customers too much of the time, then they should have as their products suck. That is how you honor warranties the right way. Of course, companies cheap out on them now, and it's getting real bad with things like computer components, notably, motherboards, video boards, and hard disks. A new product was paid for, and it was faulty, and they send a refurb? I did not buy a refurb!
  A five year warranty is not a guarantee of five years of uninterrupted operation, only that they'll fix any problems you have with it the next five years. Otherwise I bet you'd see a lot of "accidents" around the four year, eleven months mark. And while it might have been a new drive when you bought it, if you need a warranty repair after four years and eleven months it's now a four years and eleven months old drive. Do you think your car insurance company should give you a totally new car when your 20 year old car is totaled by a drunk driver? Same with warranties, they are only intended to reinstate you to where you are now, not where you were almost five years ago.
  Yes, the refurb should absolutely be tested and working. If it has any metric of how "worn" it is, it should be no worse than what you sent in. But I think you have an exaggerated view of what a warranty could and should do. Particularly if you apply it to the product as a whole, if your laptop broke you should get a new one? They can't just swap the faulty RAM stick for a new one and ship the rest back to you? I mean your operation of the laptop was interrupted right, try again? And while computer equipment tend to fail catastrophically it'd be even sillier to apply this to consumer goods as a whole. I find it quite okay that their choices are:
  1) Repair - if you want to swap a broken component, fine no matter if it's one capacitor or one motherboard.
  2) Replace - that's how I have a WD SSD in my machine though I bought a OCZ SSD
  3) Refund - if all else fails, hand the money back. But not just because you'd like to see the sale "undone".
  I feel we here in Norway have very strong consumer protections in law, but still nothing like you imagine them to be. And I don't think it would be very healthy for the market if they were.
  
  --
  Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Great... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-04 04:30 · Score: 2, Funny

another way to squander our helium reserves :s
1. Re:Great... by bobbied · 2013-11-04 04:51 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Well, we could use just plain H. Wouldn't Hydrogen be better? After all it's lighter. It could make a drive failure a bit more obvious and fun...
  (Sarcastic grin)
  
  --
  "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
2. Re:Great... by SuricouRaven · 2013-11-04 05:02 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  It's also even harder to contain than helium - and that's quite an achievement. Hydrogen is quite happy to leak through solid metal, given a bit of time. The atoms are so small, they fit *between* the atoms of a metal, and in the spaces between crystal grains.
3. Re:Great... by Plazmid · 2013-11-04 05:27 · Score: 2
  
  Except that hydrogen can do some [a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_damage#Shatter_cracks.2C_flakes.2C_fish-eyes_and_micro_perforations"]rather nasty things to metals[/a].
  Although, hard drives don't get very hot or experience high stresses, so it might not effect it.
4. Re:Great... by ericloewe · 2013-11-04 05:53 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  We're talking about small quantities. Think of how many drives you could fill with one balloon's worth of Helium.
  But yes, I get seriously pissed off when I see precious helium that could've been used as a coolant for superconductive magnets (and HDD filler, it seems) being used to fill balloons. If you must absolutely have a stupid floating balloon or massive balloon parade, use hydrogen. When something happens, people will be so scared (even though a large hydrogen fire in an open space or a small one indoors aren't particularly dangerous by fire standards) they'll never want a balloon again unless it's filled with air.
  Sure, it might ruin little Jimmy's birthday party, but a spectacular hydrogen fire is mostly spectacular and is not a waste of Helium.
  If you ever participate in the usage of Helium you will probably be partly responsible for the day when:
  a) An MRI cannot operate because its superconductive electromagnet is not superconductive because it's not cool enough - liquid Helium cools it. (Yes, there are permanent magnet MRIs, but from what I've heard, most powerful MRIs use superconductive electromagnets).
  b) A particle accelerator cannot operate because its superconductive electromagnets aren't being cooled by liquid helium.
  Compared to those, lower capacity HDDs are a nuisance and not having floating balloons is a miniscule price to pay.
5. Re:Great... by ShanghaiBill · 2013-11-04 06:05 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Which makes me wonder WHY He and not Xenon or another far easier to contain gas.
  Xenon makes no sense whatsoever. It is heavier and infinitely more expensive than air. It is also a poor heat conductor, which is why it is sometimes used in sealed triple pane windows. It would be a terrible choice.
  The point of using helium is that it is light, has low viscosity, high thermal conductivity, and is cheap enough to use in party balloons. Hydrogen is better on all these counts, but leaks more easily, can chemically react with some lubricants, and causes metals to become brittle. The only reason to even consider using any other heavier gas, would be if even helium leaked too much. But apparently they have that problem licked. So helium wins.
6. Re:Great... by danlip · 2013-11-04 06:09 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  This is not squandering, this is a good use and a great example of why we should not be squandering our helium reserves. And you could probably make a 100 drives for the amount of helium in 1 birthday balloon (the open space in a drive is a rather small percentage of the drive, which in turn is much smaller than a balloon).
7. Re:Great... by ShanghaiBill · 2013-11-04 07:06 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Not entirely true, hydrogen gas is pairs of hydrogens forming a molecule whereas helium is single atoms floating around making it much smaller and much harder to contain.
  No, this is wrong. H2 is more permeable than He through almost any material. In particular, helium will not permeate through bulk metal that is carefully annealed to contain no microscopic cracks. Hydrogen, on the other hand, will slowly permeate directly through most (or maybe all?) bulk metals.
8. Re:Great... by ShanghaiBill · 2013-11-04 07:30 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  What the hell does this have to do with money?
  So you believe that in the future helium will be scarce but cheap? Or maybe plentiful but expensive?
  
  Yes, it's theoretically possible to gouge future generations when Helium starts running out
  Look, the US government maintained helium reserves for decades, and continuously lost money doing so. The reason is that we are NOT running out. There is plenty that is co-produced with natural gas, and there is plenty more in deeper deposits where it is naturally produced by alpha emission from radioactive substances, primarily thorium-232. In recent years the price of helium has gone up, but that is not because we are "running out", but the opposite: many of the Helium producing wells in Texas have been capped because they cannot compete with the price of shale gas. So more helium is staying in the ground.
  History is full of chicken-little prognosticators that think they are smarter than the people actually willing to invest their money in their beliefs. If you really believe we are running out of helium, then you are free to invest your money in that belief. Someday you can sail your yacht pass all of us Pollyannas and say "I told you so."
9. Re:Great... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-04 08:08 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  " but leaks more easily"
  No it does not. Helium is mono-atomic and has the smallest atomic radius of the mono-atomic gasses. This is why it leaks more than anything.
  Hydrogen may be the smallest di-atomic molecule.
10. Re:Great... by LoRdTAW · 2013-11-04 08:42 · Score: 2
  
  ... and you also get hydrogen embrittlement. Which means that over time the metal parts become brittle and subject to fracture. That is why gas or flux shielding is so important in welding. The water in the air separates in the arc and the hydrogen gets embedded into the weld pool weakening it.
Disks with helium? by buchner.johannes · 2013-11-04 04:31 · Score: 5, Funny

Finally a real cloud drive!

--
NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
1. Re:Disks with helium? by Andrio · 2013-11-04 05:16 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  If they're taking flight, then they used too much helium.
  
  --
  The Internet King? I wonder if he could provide faster nudity.
What the helium actually does by TWiTfan · 2013-11-04 04:32 · Score: 5, Informative

Here is a relevant portion FTA on what the helium actually DOES (unfortunately not mentioned in the summary):

At one-seventh the density of air, helium produces less drag on the moving components of a drive - the spinning disk platters and actuator arms -- which translates into less friction and lower operating temperatures.
The helium-drives run at four to five degrees cooler than today's 7200rpm drives, HGST stated.

--
The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
1. Re:What the helium actually does by pla · 2013-11-04 04:46 · Score: 2
  
  At one-seventh the density of air, helium produces less drag on the moving components of a drive - the spinning disk platters and actuator arms -- which translates into less friction and lower operating temperatures.
  
  Or even better, a vacuum of 0.147psi has one-one-hundredth the density of air. Both a vacuum and filling it with helium require making the drive air tight; and at least with 3.5" drives, they have an impressively strong frame that could certainly withstand a modest vacuum. Or better yet, do both! Fill it with low pressure helium, saving helium and getting even more reduction in friction.
  
  All that aside, though, I don't quite get the capacity boost - Drive capacity results from the number of platters and the areal density of bits on a platter. Friction has nothing to do with either of those constraints.
  
  Still, not complaining - About time I upgraded the drive size in my home file server. Funny how that works - Every year or so I add another drive, and then every five years or so I replace the whole array with two new drives having more total capacity than what I replaced.
2. Re:What the helium actually does by dcw3 · 2013-11-04 04:56 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  This might help you... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_height
  Heads fly, and you don't "fly" in a vacuum.
  
  --
  Just another day in Paradise
3. Re:What the helium actually does by SJHillman · 2013-11-04 05:13 · Score: 2
  
  Just means we need to strap tiny rockets to our hard drive heads.
still a few kinks to work out by Thud457 · 2013-11-04 04:33 · Score: 5, Funny

all the MP3 sound like The Chipmunks.

--
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I can envision the advertisement for this product. by Applehu+Akbar · 2013-11-04 04:35 · Score: 2

The message would of course be delivered by Melissa Rauch:
"I was so tired of having to vacuum around Howard's RAID drives. Now we just keep them on the ceiling!"
Helium hard drive technology limitations... by Robotbeat · 2013-11-04 04:36 · Score: 4, Interesting

Helium tends to like to leak out of things. One has to wonder if the power consumption and reliability and speed of the drives will worsen after, say, a decade deployed in the field as the helium gradually is replaced by air. I suppose that has the added benefit for the hard drive manufacturer of a pretty firm drop-dead (or at least significantly reduced performance) date.
But the increased complexity of the technical approach, i.e. cramming more platters (and using fancy technical tricks like using helium) versus just increasing platter areal density, portends an end to the incredibly fast reduction in storage costs over the last three decades.
Another option may be to operate the devices in a soft vacuum (back-filled with a little bit of helium, perhaps). That may further reduce drag. However, I believe the heads rely on an air cushion in order to avoid contact with the platters, so there would be a limit to this.
1. Re:Helium hard drive technology limitations... by sjames · 2013-11-04 04:49 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Depending on the seal, the drives likely will end up in a soft vacuum as the helium diffuses out but air cannot diffuse in as quickly. That might cause a head crash or it might cause a heating problem for internal components. Helium is a decent thermal conductor.
2. Re:Helium hard drive technology limitations... by Dracolytch · 2013-11-04 05:23 · Score: 2
  
  "portends an end to the incredibly fast reduction in storage costs over the last three decades."
  Disagree, it's just taking a turn you're not looking at. Solid state has just really started to take off in the mainstream. As the years go on, it will continue to get faster, cheaper, and more reliable. In a couple short years, we've already broken the $1/gig barrier.
  After that... Well, it's hard to tell. Many consumers are already running out of things to store on their computers. Heck, I'm in basically the same boat. Even corporations are getting comfortable "big data" setups for reasonable prices. I wonder how much longer until our storage systems get "big enough" for all but the most intense scientific and global data-mining applications...
  
  --
  This sig has been enciphered with a one-time pad. It could say almost anything.
3. Re:Helium hard drive technology limitations... by Robotbeat · 2013-11-04 06:25 · Score: 2
  
  "portends an end to the incredibly fast reduction in storage costs over the last three decades."
  Disagree, it's just taking a turn you're not looking at. Solid state has just really started to take off in the mainstream. As the years go on, it will continue to get faster, cheaper, and more reliable. In a couple short years, we've already broken the $1/gig barrier.
  After that... Well, it's hard to tell. Many consumers are already running out of things to store on their computers. Heck, I'm in basically the same boat. Even corporations are getting comfortable "big data" setups for reasonable prices. I wonder how much longer until our storage systems get "big enough" for all but the most intense scientific and global data-mining applications...
  For a while in the 1990s and 2000s, disk capacity was getting cheaper and denser faster than transistors were. Going to solid-state would mean a slowing of the rate of storage cost reduction (though there was already a slow-down exacerbated partially by that huge Thailand flood), not an increase. Besides, there are some big problems with scaling down the cell size in NAND flash while keeping the same error rate. If a significantly new technology doesn't rescue flash, we could be looking at an end to rapid cost reduction in data storage, or at least it would be slower than Moore's law.
  Which isn't to say I'm arguing that spinning disks will out-compete SSD. I expect solid-state to continue to eat away into spinning disk from here on out. Spinning disks have the big disadvantage of basically being up against pretty hard mechanical limits on latency and seek-time while SSD can improve continually in that regard.
Fuck everything, we're going to 7 platters. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-04 04:37 · Score: 5, Funny

And helium. Shut up I'm telling you how it works.
1. Re:Fuck everything, we're going to 7 platters. by Lumpy · 2013-11-04 05:53 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  and an 8th platter on the back for hard to reach data.
  
  --
  Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
2. Re:Fuck everything, we're going to 7 platters. by EmagGeek · 2013-11-04 07:13 · Score: 2
  
  Screw that. My hard drive goes to eleven.
10 Years of Research & unpressurised by tomxor · 2013-11-04 04:43 · Score: 5, Informative

They spent 10 years researching how to reliably seal it into an enclosure...
Also it is not under the same requirements of a compressed gas canister. The whole point of using helium is for the advantages of it's fluid dynamics compared to a normal air mixture, that's why it's not pressurised.
I've always wondered why they didn't just use a near vacuum enclosure, but i suppose it's much easier to not deal with pressure difference and use a super low resistance fluid instead at the same atmospheric pressure.
1. Re:10 Years of Research & unpressurised by SuricouRaven · 2013-11-04 05:01 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  They don't work in vacuum.
  Fluid interaction between spinning platter, gas and the heads creates an air bearing effect that holds the heads at a precisely determined (for a given linear velocity) height away from the disc. It's a stable system, so any slight vibration will be quickly compensated. Without a fluid filling, the heads would crash into the platter.
2. Re:10 Years of Research & unpressurised by ShanghaiBill · 2013-11-04 05:03 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  I've always wondered why they didn't just use a near vacuum enclosure
  Because the head would crash. The head does not just magically float a few micrometers above the disk platter. There is no way that any machine could be build so precisely. Instead of floating, it flies. The head is shaped like a tiny airfoil, and it use the ground effect of the air/helium/whatever to maintain the proper distance from the platter. This would not work in a vacuum.
3. Re:10 Years of Research & unpressurised by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-04 05:24 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Without a fluid filling, the heads would crash into the platter.
  It seems the universal secret to success, whether you're throwing a ball or building a hard disk drive, is to bring the liquor out early and keep it comin'!
4. Re:10 Years of Research & unpressurised by bzipitidoo · 2013-11-04 05:44 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Yes, and if you take a conventional spinning platter hard drive to high altitudes, they will fail. At 17,000 ft, the atmosphere is too thin for them.
  
  --
  Intellectual Property is a monopolistic, selfish, and defective concept. It is "tyranny over the mind of man"
5. Re:10 Years of Research & unpressurised by Lumpy · 2013-11-04 05:44 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  They cant, hard drive absolutely rely on the Bernoulli principle to fly the heads, you have to have an atmosphere inside the drive for them to work.
  
  --
  Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
6. Re:10 Years of Research & unpressurised by Solandri · 2013-11-04 07:37 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  They don't work in vacuum.
  That's true for a regular hard drive, but I'm not sure that's true in this case.
  
  e.g. A computer used at the ski resort in Mammoth Lakes experiences an air pressure about 25% less than sea level. So the volume of air inside the HDD enclosure wants to expand until it's 33% greater. With a regular HDD they just put in a filtered breathing hole to allow air in or out to equalize the pressure. This equalization is why the drive won't work in a near-vacuum.
  
  If they'd filled this with helium, I can think of two ways they're handling this expansion problem. They're either using a bladder with regular air inside, and the breathing hole goes to the bladder. That's the way we handled the problem in submersibles - oil compresses slightly more than water, so if you simply seal your thruster motors in an oil bath, the water pressure will crush them and cause the rotating parts to bind. Instead, you attach the oil reservoir to a flexible oil-filled bladder exposed to water. The bladder shrinks under pressure, equalizing the oil pressure inside the motor with the water pressure outside, without contaminating the motor with water.
  
  But since the HDD is bathed in a gas instead of a liquid, that wastes a lot of interior space - at least 33% if you want the drive to work at about 8000 ft, more if you want it to work higher. I'm not sure they have that much space available if they've crammed in 7 platters. So the other possibility is they've completely sealed the helium inside and the drive maintains the same internal pressure even at altitude.
  
  Either way, there's a minimum pressure below which the inside of the drive won't drop. In the latter case the pressure is constant. In the former case the minimum pressure is simply the pressure when the bladder is completely emptied of outside air - i.e. even in a vacuum there will still be pressure inside the drive. And if they're having to do that anyway, they'd be smart to make sure that low pressure was still sufficient to allow the drive to operate. That would make this drive the only (relatively) cheap large-capacity drive capable of being used in low ambient pressure applications which normally have to use flash storage or an SSD.
7. Re:10 Years of Research & unpressurised by dacut · 2013-11-04 09:24 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Not Bernoulli; Navier-Stokes. The flyheight is regulated in a manner similar to fluid flow between parallel plates; Bernoulli uses lift generated by flow around a single wing with differential path lengths.
8. Re:10 Years of Research & unpressurised by MozeeToby · 2013-11-04 10:16 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Very nice, insightful post, but not really what the parent posts were getting at. The original post that started the chain was something like "why don't they make the interior of the drive a vacuum rather than helium filled?" The answer was that the heads and the platters maintain proper distance using aerodynamic affects which wouldn't work if the drive were emptied of all air.
Re:A new spin on 'my hd exploded' by nctritech · 2013-11-04 04:43 · Score: 5, Funny

You're thinking hydrogen. This is HELIUM!
H = OH THE HUMANITY
He = OH THE CHIPMUNK HUMANITY
Re:What took so long? by sjames · 2013-11-04 04:44 · Score: 5, Insightful

Actually it's deceptively hard. Helium has a way of diffusing right through an air tight seal.
No Vacuum by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-04 05:01 · Score: 4, Funny

I've always wondered why they didn't just use a near vacuum enclosure
The heads have to have air or some gas to make them "fly". In a vacuum, the heads grind the oxide off the platters.
Re:What took so long? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-11-04 05:03 · Score: 2

Welcome to Slashdot... where every advance is obvious and every technology is attempted to be debunked by high school level science knowledge.
Re:A new spin on 'my hd exploded' by Minwee · 2013-11-04 05:14 · Score: 2

Madness? THIS IS HELIUM!
Reminds me of... by LongearedBat · 2013-11-04 05:15 · Score: 2

I know more discs actually do make a difference, but it did remind me of this...
http://www.theonion.com/articles/fuck-everything-were-doing-five-blades,11056/
WD knows by frovingslosh · 2013-11-04 06:25 · Score: 2

Yea, nothing new here. Back in the mid 1970's I had a big 10 meg helium filled hard drive where I worked. Had it's own helium tank on it and the pressure gauge had to be checked regularly because helium can pretty much get through anything. That was a drive that was priced in the six figures, I doubt if WD is going to be doing any better even several decades later on a drive that costs a few hundred bucks and doesn't even have an extra helium tank. They more likely than not are counting on the leaking as a planned obsolescence issue.

--
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
Re:What took so long? by sjames · 2013-11-04 06:34 · Score: 2

Yes, there will be a soft vacuum. Of course, that vacuum will further challenge the seals air tightness. Essentially, in spite of a partial vacuum in the drive, a helium atom will have a non zero chance of diffusing out of the seal while a molecule of air will have a much much smaller chance of diffusing in.
Re:What took so long? by jones_supa · 2013-11-04 06:56 · Score: 3, Funny

Welcome to Slashdot... where every advance is obvious and every technology is attempted to be debunked by high school level science knowledge.
Additionally, if some technology is not 100% perfect, it's automatically completely useless. :P
Re:Nitrogen reacts with stuff? by jo_ham · 2013-11-04 08:04 · Score: 2, Informative

When they talk about "nitrogen enriched" fuel they are talking about nitrogen compounds like NO2 and others - precisely because nitrogen *wants* to be N2, plus it's a good source of oxygen too. You absolutely want nitrogen compounds that are going to assist in the oxidation of those "energy rich" carbon chains, by bringing along oxygen and decomposing into N2 releasing gobs of energy.
It's why explosives work too - pack your compound full of nitrogen in such a way that it will stoichiometrically decompose into a miscellaneous product and nitrogen gas, then give it a kick and let that massive triple bond enthalpy do the work for you.
There's a reason high explosives are usually very high in nitrogen per unit mass.
No dishonesty in labeling, just a misunderstanding of the chemistry involved.
Re:What the hell is a helium bomb? by acsinc · 2013-11-04 08:16 · Score: 3, Informative

Most bombs become useless shortly after their first use anyway.
Re:The head never moves, the disk spins under it. by foobar+bazbot · 2013-11-04 11:11 · Score: 4, Informative

The head never moves, the disk spins under it. Putting a wing shape on the head wouldn't do anything.
It's too bad the disk doesn't drag some air along with it as it spins. If there was a layer of moving air along the boundary between the solid and gas, the heads could fly in that region.