4 concerns about faster spinning hard drives
There is no doubt SSDs are the new darlings of the PC industry, especially for laptops and mobile applications. As projections predict cost effectiveness and a major SSD assault by 2011, suppliers like Samsung and SuperTalent are rushing to promote new promising products.
So where does this leave traditional hard disc manufacturers? They are probably very scared and despite their standard response that they offer capacities that SSDs cannot match, nobody is convinced that this is critical for the average user, especially for mobile applications where energy efficiency is of paramount importance.
Apparently, the main worry for hard discs is read-write speeds, and for this very reason Western Digital is responding with a 20,000rpm Raptor model, in an effort to match speeds. Is it going to work? Yes, but there are so many concerns:
- Noise: Insulation has to be really good, unless the discs machine their way out of the PC or the server, in which case nothing can be done.
- Heat: Similarly with noise, dissipation needs extra attention.
- Energy consumption: Unlike SSDs, even when there is no read-write action hard discs consume significant energy amounts, especially at 20,000rpm Ferrari level speeds.
- Price: Raptor models have never been accessible to the average user and the higher engineering precision of faster spinners is not going to help with cost control.
Hard drive mechanical limitations are so tight, that spinning at higher rpm is the only way to improve data rates. But this at a very heavy price for all other parameters. Hard disc evolution is clearly hitting a technical dead end. There is still a time margin for hybrid drives or a complete switch to flash based products. The march towards solid-state is relentless…
