Notebook Hard Drives combine disc storage with flash memory.
Press Release Summary:
Placing commonly used hard drive data onto 256 MB flash memory, Momentus® 5400 PSD Hard Drives can boot-up files of flash memory to minimize delay. Once drive spins up, computer files are pulled simultaneously from spinning media and flash. In hybrid mode, hard drive's spindle motors spin down, minimizing power requirements and extending battery life. Drive locks read-write heads in place, enabling drive to withstand 900 G of shock.
Original Press Release:
Notebook Computers Go Green - Seagate Hybrid Hard Drive Ushers in New Era of Power-Thrifty, Higher Performance Mobile Computing
Seagate ships energy-efficient, fast-responding Momentus(R) 5400 PSD notebook hard drive; heralds new generation of computer storage for laptops, other computers
SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., Oct. 8 / -- Seagate Technology (NYSE:STX), the world's number one hard drive maker, today launched a new era of digital storage by shipping in volume hybrid notebook disc drives that combine disc storage with flash memory to deliver ultra power efficiency, faster boot-ups and greater reliability for the exploding laptop PC market.
"With instant access to content, an increasingly essential part of the digital lifestyle, laptop users expect systems with snappy response, longer battery life and new levels of durability," said Tom Major, Seagate vice president, Personal Compute Business. "Seagate is delivering in volume worldwide the best of two worlds -- hard disc drives and flash memory -- to enable laptop PCs with cutting-edge capabilities and tighten the connection between users and their information."
Seagate has been at the forefront of introducing energy-saving features on its hard drives, and the new Momentus 5400 PSD hard drive ends the perennial trade-off for notebook PC makers. Laptop users want faster systems, but boosting laptop PC performance with higher speed components has traditionally meant higher power consumption and shorter battery life, raising the question: How do you reduce power consumption while delivering faster access to notebook data?
Combine power-efficient, quick-response flash memory with a fast hard disc drive.
The new Momentus 5400 PSD (Power Savings Drive) hard drive uses non-volatile cache, or flash memory, to cost-effectively deliver the benefits of solid state disc drives. The Momentus hard drive places commonly used hard drive data onto a large 256MB flash memory to deliver these capabilities:
Faster boot-up -- Once a notebook is turned on, a traditional hard drive's platters must spin up before boot-up can begin. Hybrid hard drives load boot-up files on the flash memory to minimize this delay. Once the drive spins up, computer files are pulled simultaneously from the spinning media and the flash.
Lower power consumption -- Seagate's Momentus 5400 PSD hard drives reduce hard disc drive power draw by up to 50 percent and extends battery life -- especially important in mobile applications -- by reducing platter spin time. In hybrid mode, the hard drive's spindle motors spin down, dramatically reducing the drive's power requirements.
Greater reliability -- Reducing platter spin time extends drive life by minimizing wear and tear. In hybrid mode, the drive locks its read-write heads in place, enabling the drive to withstand 900 Gs of shock, the rough equivalent of dropping a laptop from a height of six feet to a hard surface.
Higher performance -- Hybrid hard drives also quicken access to laptop data. Windows Vista's ReadyDrive technology uses Vista Superfetch to analyze computer usage patterns -- such as how frequently a worker accesses certain files -- and place commonly accessed user data in the flash memory to shorten system response time.
"We're thrilled Seagate is bringing to market hybrid hard drives that take full advantage of Windows Vista," said Dennis Moulton, product manager of Windows Client marketing at Microsoft. "It is this type of innovation in the ecosystem that helps move the bar, and we're excited about the productivity gains this helps bring to our customers in combination with Windows Vista."
All versions of Windows Vista deliver native support for hybrid drives, so system builders and end users alike can take advantage of hybrid hard drive technology today. Hybrid technology also delivers benefits for desktop, enterprise and other hard drives. Look for hybrid technology on other Seagate drive platforms in the future.
About Seagate
Seagate is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of hard disc drives, providing products for a wide-range of applications, including Enterprise, Desktop, Mobile Computing, Consumer Electronics and Branded Solutions. Seagate's business model leverages technology leadership and world-class manufacturing to deliver industry-leading innovation and quality to its global customers, and to be the low cost producer in all markets in which it participates. The company is committed to providing award-winning products, customer support and reliability to meet the world's growing demand for information storage. Seagate can be found around the globe and at http://www.seagate.com/.
Seagate, Seagate Technology and the Wave logo are registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC. Momentus is a trademark or registered trademark of Seagate Technology LLC. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. One gigabyte, or GB, equals one billion bytes when referring to hard drive capacity. Accessible capacity may vary depending on operating environment and formatting.
CONTACT: Michael Hall of Seagate Technology, +1-831-439-2731, michael.l.hall@seagate.com
Web site: http://www.seagate.com/
