Storage World

Bigger. Faster. No, we’re not talking about the new breed of NFL linebacker, but about hard drives, which are quickly reaching record-breaking heights in both capacity and speed.

Since Seagate began shipping 750GB hard drives in April 2006, no manufacturer has released a drive that has hit the hallowed 1TB mark. However, Seagate has announced that it will begin shipping 1TB drives in the first half of this year, and the drives will use perpendicular technology, which is increasingly allowing hard drives to shatter previous capacity records.

The company’s current 750GB drives also use perpendicular recording, which allows more data to be stored on disks than traditional longitudinal recording. Seagate claims that its 1TB drives will also use fewer heads and disks than drives of similar capacity that are expected to be released, which will help to increase drive reliability and reduce operating temperatures, power consumption, noise, and weight.

Seagate is also making moves on the speed front, announcing a new 2.5-inch, 15,000rpm drive that the company claims is “the world’s fastest hard drive.” The Savvio 15K drive features a seek time of just 2.9ms (milliseconds), or far less than the roughly 8.5ms seek times found in 7,200rpm drives. On the downside for consumers, the new drive uses an SAS (Serial Attached SCSI [Small Computer System Interface]) interface and is initially aimed at data center customers.

While regular backups aren’t quite yet second nature among consumers, many users understand that the task is crucial for protecting data, because no one can predict when a hard drive will fail or a system will grow otherwise unstable. Now that hard drive capacity is growing so quickly, it would seem that backups could grow more challenging than ever. We spoke with Jim Thomas, technical support manager for FarStone Technology, to discover what developers are doing to ease the process of backing up data amid the challenges posed by today’s technology.

Thomas says that incremental backups, or sector-level snapshots, record only changes to an established baseline. “The entire hard drive, bit for bit, regardless of size, is not required to be duplicated . . . nor is it constantly backed up in its entirety,” Thomas says. “This conserves the amount of space needed to store backups.” Today’s incremental technology also reduces the time to create backups and dramatically reduces recovery time. Further, Thomas explains that whether backups are deployed locally in a hidden or protected area on the user’s computer or stored online with an ISP (Internet Service provider) or storage provider, only the data between the last backup (or baseline) and the present time are recorded.

Sans Digital’s MobileSTOR Series MS2C1 is a dual-bay external RAID 0 and JBOD solution designed for video editing and other serious data storage needs. Simple and flexible, the MS2C1 is equipped with two swappable and lockable 3.5-inch drive trays and three interface methods: USB 2.0, 1394a, and 1394b. Utilizing cutting-edge serial-ATA technology, the MS2C1 provides top-notch performance, while meeting the data-intensive needs of the most demanding consumers.

The MobileSTOR MS2CI offers:

• Two swappable 3.5-inch drive bays
• Support for SATA I and SATA II
• An onboard power supply, with power switch
• 40mm ball-bearing cooling fan
• Temp and fan failure detector, with light
• Removable trays for quick access and troubleshooting
• Support for both Windows and Mac OS

Supporting RAID 0 or JBOD and sporting an onboard power supply in a stylish aluminum housing, the MobileSTOR MS2C1 provides high performance, unparalleled versatility, and the ultimate in security.

Click here to view Sans Digital MobileSTOR Series MS2C1 – Hard drive array – 2 bays ( SATA-300 ) – 0 x HD – FireWire 800, Hi-Speed USB, FireWire 400 (external)

Form and functionality converge with style in Vantec’s NexStar 3 external hard drive enclosure. With its mirror finish, sleek curves, and bold colors, the NexStar 3 stands out from the crowd. The sturdy drive cage protects your hard drive, while the aluminum case effectively draws away heat.

• Aluminum case cools your hard drive
• Transfer rates up to 480Mbps with USB 2.0 (12Mbps with USB 1.1)
• Easily add storage to any system via USB ports
• Hot-swappable: Plug And Play without rebooting
• Attractive blue LED indicates power and drive activity
• Supports hard drives up to 750GB

Each unit includes a driver disc, users manual, 3.5-inch drive enclosure, power adapter, power cable, USB cable, vertical stand, and screws. The NexStar 3 is available in four vivid colors (Steel Grey, Onyx Black, Brilliant Red, and Midnight Blue), so you can store your data in an enclosure that matches your style!

Click the image to place order now at lowest price.