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Technology Stocks : Seagate Technology -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: manohar kanuri who wrote (6065)	10/22/1998 11:13:00 PM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 7841

Drive makers cite familiar refrain: raise capacity, cut power By Terry Costlow EE Times (10/22/98, 2:57 p.m. EDT) LAS VEGAS — Disk drive makers are gearing up for next month's Comdex conference by pushing up capacity and tweaking technologies to gain an edge in a troubled market. IBM remains the industry's technology leader, but Fujitsu is ready to make a strong move that could increase its presence. Both companies are set to make announcements next week. IBM Storage Systems Division (San Jose, Calif.) will leverage its strong position in giant magnetoresistive heads (GMR) to create a 2.5-inch drive that stores 5.7 Gbytes per square inch — an industry record — for a total capacity of 6.4 Gbytes. That model stands 9.5 mm tall. A version that is 17 mm high targets the portable drive segment and has a peak capacity of 14.1 Gbytes, which makes it the capacity leader for that segment. IBM's lead is being challenged by Fujitsu Computer Products of America (San Jose, Calif.), which made a bold move in GMR head technology by implementing the drive head technology in its entire product line. That enables Fujitsu to store 4.3 Gbytes in a 9.5-mm tall drive and 6.49 Gbytes in a 12. 5-mm drive. Those capacities exceed the storage volumes offered by the market's two other players in notebook drives, and trail only the capacities offered by IBM. Fujitsu, which has been one of the fastest growing drivemakers over the past two years, also beefed up its offerings in the high end with drives that hold up to 36.4 Gbytes and rotate at 10,000 rpm. The Allegro line uses 3-inch platters instead of 3.5-inch disks to lower power consumption and increase performance. The drives have an average seek time of 5.5 milliseconds — a rate that's quicker than what's found on drives with larger platters. Drives with smaller platters have less surface area, so the drive's heads can get to data more quickly than if they have to travel another half inch. The use of smaller platters also keeps power consumption down, so the drives don't consume any more power than those which spin at 7,200 rpm, making it easier for server designers to upgrade to the faster drives. Seagate Technology Inc. (Scotts Valley, Calif.), which unveiled the first 10,000 rpm drive, beefed up its Cheetah line with a 36-Gbyte model that aims to further reduce power consumption with what it calls a just-in-time (JIT) seek. A drive's head normally moves to another track as quickly as possible, then waits for the desired data to rotate under the head before it starts to read. With JIT seek, the drive's controller determines when the desired bits will spin under the spot on the disk where the head will land. The positioning arm then moves at a rate that assures its arrival in time; in effect, this means the arm can often move at a much slower rate than it did under the previous technique. This change can reduce power for the 10,000-rpm drive by 10-to-15 percent, leading to major savings in both heat and power usage in large server racks that have several drives. The Fujitsu and Seagate drives underscore a significant shift in the server-class portion of the market. Some analysts feel that 10,000-rpm drives will account for about half the drives sold in this segment next year. The introductions come as drive makers attempt to match their production to demand after a glut of drives caused a price war observers have called the most severe in an industry known for periodic pricing battles. Most drive makers have reduced their production, and some producers say the pricing battles are nearing their end. eet.com