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An idea of things to come
A press release I found on new IBM Hard drive technology. Looks like
their next subnotebook model after the 510 will have a 720MB hard drive
as an option.
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IBM ANNOUNCES PACE-SETTING DISK DRIVES FOR OEM PCS,
WORKSTATIONS, SERVERS
October 11, 1994
SAN JOSE, Calif., October 11 . . . IBM Corporation today introduced
new families of 2.5- and 3.5-inch disk drives that deliver
unparalleled data storage capacity, reliability and performance across
a broad spectrum of systems. These important additions to IBM's disk
drive portfolio for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) include:
- the Travelstar LP family, which offers the highest-capacity,
highest-performance, most-robust 2.5-inch low-profile drive in
production anywhere. This is a slim-line, 1/2-inch (12.5
millimeters) high, 720 megabyte (MB) drive for notebook and
sub-notebook computers, with an 11.1 megabyte per second (MB/sec) data
transfer rate and the ability to tolerate non-operational shock loads
up to 500G (500 times the force of gravity);
- the Deskstar XP family, a selection of 1-inch high, 3.5-inch
drives -- including a 1.08 gigabyte (GB) model with just two platters --
that, for the first time, gives users of high-end desktop systems and
entry-level servers and workstations the speed and transfer rates of
high-end workstation drives and network servers -- at affordable
prices;
- the Ultrastar2, a high-speed drive with a 10.8GB capacity -- the
highest capacity yet announced for a 3.5-inch drive -- and
the Ultrastar2 XP, an 8.7GB high-performance drive. The 10.8GB and
8.7GB drives come in a package only 1.6 inches (41.3 mm) high and are
targeted for the high-end server marketplace.
"Manufacturers of notebook and desktop computers, workstations,
network servers and high-end systems are increasingly turning to
storage as a means of differentiating their product offerings," said
Ed Zschau, general manager, IBM Storage Systems Division. "With the
products announced today, OEM customers will be able to specify
2.5-inch and 3.5-inch drives with IBM's most advanced technology to
achieve the capacity, reliability and price/performance they need to
stay competitive in the dynamic and rapidly changing computer market."
As another sign of IBM's long-term commitment to compete aggressively
in the hard disk drive marketplace, IBM products will now utilize
"family" names to help OEM and distribution customers better recognize
and understand the various attributes associated with the disk drives.
The Travelstar family is IBM's series of 2.5-inch disk drives used
mainly for mobile computing; the Deskstar name refers to IBM's
3.5-inch offerings aimed at desktop computer and entry-level server
platforms, while the Ultrastar family -- a group of drives with
capacities of one gigabyte and above -- is aimed at high-end desktop
and workstation users. The Ultrastar XP series includes IBM's highest
performance drives for high-end computing requirements.
The Travelstar and Ultrastar families include drives that are
already being marketed under other designations, as well as the new
drives announced today.
"The family names for our new disk drive products speak to the
positions we expect them to achieve as we continue our aggressive push
into the OEM marketplace," said Fred Wiele, vice president, worldwide
sales and marketing for storage products. "We've demonstrated
leadership in bringing to market a complete line up of disk drives
with IBM's proven magneto-resistive head technology, and we think that
will cause customers to recognize our drives as true 'stars' in the
industry."
The new IBM disk drives announced today are aimed directly at the
marketplace for manufacturers of 486-, Pentium- and PowerPC-based
mobile and desktop computers. Makers of workstations and network
servers, and manufacturers of storage subsystems are also expected to
find these drives attractive for use in their products.
All drives announced today use the industry's most advanced data
storage technologies, including IBM's No-ID sector formatting and
advanced magneto-resistive (MR) head technology, which is key
to achieving very high densities of data storage. All are designed
for pace-setting levels of quality and reliability.
Travelstar LP
HIGHEST-CAPACITY, HIGHEST-PERFORMANCE,
MOST-ROBUST 2.5-INCH DRIVES,
MODELS DBOA-2360, DBOA-2540 AND DBOA-2720
Members of IBM's new Travelstar LP family of 2.5-inch disk drives
store up to 720MB of data in a two-disk package only 12.5mm
(1/2-inch) high -- a capacity 300MB greater than any other
12.5mm-high, 2.5-inch drive in the marketplace.
The Travelstar LP drives use IBM's space-saving No-ID sector
formatting and advanced magneto-resistive (MR) head technology to
store data at an industry-leading areal density of 644 million bits
per square inch. This provides the drives with storage capacities of
360MB per disk -- 70 percent more capacity than the 210MB per-disk
capacity of a 2.5-inch drive recently announced by a
competitor. As a result of today's announcement, users of notebook
and sub-notebook computers now have the data storage capacity and
performance they need to run the newest, most powerful desktop
operating systems and storage-intensive application programs.
The new Travelstar LP drives, with capacities of 360MB, 540MB and
720MB, operate at data transfer rates as high as 11.1 MB/sec, making
them the fastest 2.5-inch drives in the marketplace. They are
equipped with an AT interface.
An important attribute of these drives is their ability to tolerate
non-operational shock loads as high as 500G without degradation of
product specifications. This is 200G higher than the load tolerated
by any other announced 2.5-inch drive and is intended to ensure data
integrity while the system is in transit. In addition, the drives
incorporate shock sensors that cause data writing to be interrupted so
that data on the disk will not be damaged as a result of operational
shocks as high as 100G. Also adding to their outstanding suitability
for use in mobile computing is the fact that the drives weigh only 140
grams.
The drives offer exceptional power management features and are
specified at 300,000 hours mean time between failures. For ease of
integration, they are built to the mounting standards of the
Manufacturers Compatibility Committee (MCC).
The Travelstar LP family of 2.5-inch drives is available now
in volume to OEM customers. Model DBOA-2360 is priced at $395,
Model DBOA-2540, at $595, and Model DBOA-2720, at $695.
Deskstar XP
AFFORDABLE 3.5-INCH LOW-PROFILE DRIVES BRING
WORKSTATION PERFORMANCE TO DESKTOP SYSTEMS:
MODELS DPEA-30540, DPEA-31080, DPES-30540 AND DPES-31080
With their popular capacities and competitive prices, members of IBM's
new Deskstar XP family of low-profile 3.5-inch disk drives bring to
high-end desktop computer and entry-level workstation and server users
the performance normally specified for drives used in more powerful
workstations and network servers.
Deskstar XP drives provide a single-disk capacity of 540MB and a
two-disk capacity of 1.08GB. They operate at 5400 RPM and support bus
data transfer rates as high as 11.1MB/sec across an AT interface and
up to 10MB/sec with a SCSI-2 interface. More importantly, with their
high linear recording density, these drives deliver sustained data
rates of 3.2 to 4.0MB/sec.
The Deskstar XP drives reach new levels of performance in providing
cost-effective, high-speed data storage across a wide range of
systems, and can easily meet the data storage demands of entry-level
technical and engineering workstations, desktop publishing,