Seagate Releases Hybrid Drives

October 10, 2007: After a long wait, Seagate has finally begun rolling out its new line of hyrbrid flash and magnetic disk hard drives, promising both performance increases and power savings for notebooks.

With its new 5400 rpm Momentus PSD (Power Savings Drive) Seagate claims it is launching “a new era of digital storage” thanks to this combination of 256MB of flash memory with traditional magnetic disc storage - a marriage that enables frequently accessed data to be stored on the flash instead of forcing the drive platters to be constantly spun up and down, wasting power and impacting performance.

What this means for the average Momentus-equipped notebook of the near future is faster boot-up speeds, significantly lower power use and greater reliability. Indeed, Seagate is heavily pushing the drive’s “green” credentials, claiming its power draw has been reduced by 50 percent.

The company is also keen to highlight the drive’s greater ruggedness, obtained when its heads are locked away in hybrid mode (when the flash is being used exclusively). This minimises wear and tear through reduced platter spin time and protects the disc from nasty scratches if the laptop is dropped. Seagate says in hybrid mode, the drive can withstand 900 Gs of shock – approximately the amount achieved if dropped from a height of six feet onto a hard floor.

The new Momentus also makes use of Windows Vista’s ReadyDrive technology to increase performance, along with Vista’s Superfetch feature which analyses computer usage patterns such as the frequency certain files are accessed, placing commonly accessed data in the flash memory to shorten system response time.

“With instant access to content… laptop users expect systems with snappy response, longer battery life and new levels of durability,” said Seagate’s Tom Major, vice president of its Personal Computer Business. “Seagate is delivering in volume worldwide the best of two worlds - hard disc drives and flash memory - to enable laptop PCs with cutting-edge capabilities and tighten the connection between users and their information.”

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