National Semiconductor Corp’s National Advanced Systems unit has published details of the design and technology of its 7380 Disk Storage Subsystem K model answer to IBM’s new high-end 3380s, which was announced last October (CI No 800) and is due to be shipped in third quarter 1988. The Hitachi Ltd drives are claimed to introduce new levels of technology packaging with up to eight head-disk assemblies per cabinet. Using extensive very large-scale integration, new high-speed actuators and smaller, simplified head-disk assemblies, the NAS K model is claimed to provide the highest performance, largest capacity and highest overall value available in the marketplace. The 7380 K model, with capacity of 7.5Gb will utilize more compact 9.5 platters rather than the usual 14 platters, and thin-film heads in sealed head-disk assembles, and NAS says that the model K takes up just half the floor space of IBM’s 7.5Gb 3380 models. It also offers up to 21% reduction in power consumption and up to 25% less heat dissipation compared with industry standard storage subsystems. A 60Gb quad-port configuration requires only four cabinets rather than the eight required by competing offerings. The 7380 K has average access time of 12.5mS, 22% faster than the competition, and will support 4.5Mbyte-per-second data transfer rates on the existing 7880-3C cache controller beginning in the third quarter of 1988. No firm prices were provided.
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