IBM Corp launches three new disk drives, shows biggest ever OEM line at COMDEX
IBM Corp has announced three additions its OEM disk drive line. The new products, which are developed and manufactured in Fujisawa, Japan, are an entry-level 40Mb model and high-capacity 100Mb and 200Mb models of IBM’s slimline 3.5 drive. The new products, along with IBM’s 1Gb 3.5 drive, 2.5 drives, rewriteable optical disk drive and new disk arrays, were on show at the recent Comdex show, alongside eight other storage products – including 1,200Mb, 1,600Mb and 2,005Mb versions of the large capacity 3.5 disk drive and 60Mb and 120Mb models of the low-profile 2.5 drive. IBM claims that this has been its largest OEM exhibit ever. In addition to the storage products, IBM displayed several other OEM products from its Data Systems Division, Technology Products, Application Business Systems, Personal Systems and Networking Systems divisions. Those included the ES/9000 Model 150 and 320, the AS/400 Model D2, PS/2 models and semiconductors and sub-assemblies. The new 40Mb 3.5 disk drive is intended for entry-level personal computers, and samples at $200 for a single unit. In production quantities, IBM claims it will be one of the most competitively priced low-end drives in the industry. The drive features a 5Mbps transfer rate and a 17mS average seek time. It comes with either an AT interface (the Model WDA-L42) or a SCSI-2 interface (the Model WDS-L42). The new 100Mb and 200Mb 3.5 models (WDS-3100 and WDS-3200 respectively) feature a SCSI-2 interface and offer a 12mS average seek time and self-diagnostics. All three new drives are sampling now, due in production by year-end. IBM also said that it has begun volume ships of its 40Mb and 80Mb 2.5 disk products.
Hitachi pushes 5.25 form factor semiconductor secondary stores using 4M-Bit chips
Brisbane, California-based Hitachi America Ltd’s Peripheral Sales and Marketing group has announced a new 5.25 SV502 Series of Semiconductor Storage Devices using 4M-bit dynamics. The new SSD SV502 Series products, demonstrated for the first time at Comdex ’91. Use 4M-bit chips is said to reduce seek time, providing an access time of 0.35mS. The new storage devices come with single-ended or differential SCSI interfaces with a maximum SCSI bus transfer rate of 4Mbps in synchronous and 2.5Mbps in asynchronous mode. The products also feature an embedded SCSI controller and a Command Set which supports disconnect-reconnect, 2-bit error detection, 1-bit error correction, and allows for parity checks on key points during data passes. The SV502 devices have a 5.25 form factor in full or half-height configurations and come in 32Mb or 64Mb storage card versions. Total capacity depends on the number and type of storage cards used. The 32Mb storage card full-height version SV502C-32F can be expanded to 64Mb, 96Mb, 128Mb and 160Mb. The 32Mb half-height version SV502-32H is expandable to a total capacity of 64Mb. Additional storage cards are available for both models in 32Mb increments. The 64Mb storage card full-height version SV502C-64F can be expanded to 128Mb, 192Mb, 256Mb and 320Mb. The 64Mb version SV502C-64H is expandable to a total capacity of 128Mb; additional storage cards, again, are available for both models, in 64Mb increments. SCSI differential full-height versions are also available. The 32Mb SV502C-32D is expandable to 64Mb, 96Mb and 128Mb, while the 64Mb SV502C-64D can be expanded to 128Mb, 192Mb and 256Mb. Optional battery-powered back-up hard drives are available – back-up models SV-F501-18 (200Mb) for up to 64Mb storage capacity and SV-F502-18 (200Mb) for up to 192Mb. Additional hard disk capacity is accessible as additional hard disk storage. Sample quantities will be available in December. SV502 Series devices, in base storage configurations, are $9,200 for the full-height SV502C-32F and the half-height SV502C-32H; $16,350 for the full-height SV502C-64F and the half-height SV502C-64H; $9,350 for the differential 32Mb full-height SV502C-32D; and $16,500 for the differential 64Mb full-height S
V502C-64D. The SV502 Series Addit ional Storage Cards are $7,150 for the 32Mb board SV- F502-32 and $14,300 for the 64Mb board SV-F502-64. The SV502 Series Battery Back-Up Hard Drives are $2,700 for the SV-F502-18 200Mb with battery, for up to 192Mb SSD capacity; and $2,450 for the SV-F501-18 200Mb hard drive with battery, for up to 64Mb store.
Ardat has 12-cassette DAT autoloader
Archive Corp subsidiary Ardat Inc, based in Costa Mesa, California, says it has begun production ships of the Archive Python DAT AutoLoader. Designed to be integrated easily with standard 5.25 drives, the DAT AutoLoader features either five-cassette or 12-cassette magazines for up to 24Mb of unattended data storage on network, workstation or graphics systems. The DAT Autoloader costs from $2,400 in OEM quantities. It incorporates a 3.5 Archive Python 4mm DAT drive and a compact Archive AutoLoader mechanism. The system installs internally with a 3.5 protrusion and functions either horizontally or vertically. In addition to sequentially accessing a file on tape, the system also features a random access mode for high speed file recovery. In this mode, catalogue information is used to locate a file on tape. Once the file is located, the DAT AutoLoader can access the file on any tape in a five-cassette magazine in under a minute. Designed to accept single cassettes as well as multiple-cassette holders, the system uses a standard five-cassette magazine which holds either 1.3Gb or 2Gb cassettes for 6.5Gb or 10Gb of total back-up capacity. Additional magazines for up to 32Gb storage will be available early next year. At a speed of 650Mb per hour, over 10Gb of data can be backed up in one overnight session.
Content from our partners
Conner’s 120Mb 2.5 drive for notebooks
Conner Peripherals Inc, Fremont, has announced a 120Mb version of its Pancho Series of 2.5 disks for full-featured 80386 and 80486-based notebooks. The new patented 120Mb drive follows the launch of two previous generations of Conner’s Pancho Series, including an 85Mb version brought out in May at Spring Comdex. Conner claims that since releasing its first 2.5 Winchester drive in October 1989, it has shipped over 2m worldwide – more than five times that of all of its competitors combined. The new model offers 120Mb formatted storage and a sub-17mS average seek time in a 0.75 high package. The drive draws 1W of power in idle mode, requires a single source +5V power supply, can withstand up to 100Gs of shock when not operating. It has a recording density of 142M-bits per square inch. The new drive is available initially with an AT interface; additional interfaces will ship in the near future. Samples of the new drive, CP2124, will be available next month, priced at $550.
