Seagate has introduced two new HDD models with 16 and 18 TB capacities with speeds similar to a linked SSD, making them the world's fastest HDDs.
The new hard drives are equipped with MACH.2 Exos 2X16 and 2X18 technology and SATA (6 Gb/s) and SAS (12 Gb/s) connections. A year ago, Seagate debuted MACH.2 technology, which employs two logical discs to greatly accelerate data transfer and access. In theory, the acceleration process is performed via a system similar to RAID. Previously, this line's products were limited to 14 TB, however the second generation includes two 16 and 18 TB models with SATA 6 Gbps and SAS 12 Gbps interfaces (with own encryption). They are Datacenter-specific machines with 7200 rpm, 256 MB cache, PowerChoice and PowerBalance energy management systems, and Hop-Plug connectivity.
These new models from Seagate are intended for cloud data centres, content networks, and hyperscale and big data applications. Seagate says that the Exos 2X18 hard drives have a total cache of 256MB and a maximum transfer rate of 545MB/s utilising SATA. With SAS, they could achieve sequential read and write speeds of up to 554 MB/s, competing with SATA SSDs in this market class. In addition, they assure that these hard drives have a very long usable life, since their MTBF rating is 2,500,000. (mean time between failures).
Features of Seagate Exos 2X18 HDDs
- Hyperscale hard drive with MACH.2 technology for simultaneous data transfer, increasing IOPS and doubling the performance of traditional hard drives.
- SSD-like performance in a 12Gb/s SAS 18TB and 16TB SATA solution that efficiently utilizes full hard drive capacity without sacrificing latency, with lower TCO and perfect for data centers that run demanding applications.
- MACH.2: The Exos 2X18 has twice the performance for sequential data rates and random IOPS.
- PowerBalance helps reduce TCO with a helium-sealed drive design for low power consumption and weight.
- With a five-year warranty, the hard drives operate in a temperature range of +5 to +60°C and an MTBF rating of 2.5 million hours.
- Maximum reading speed of 554 MB/s in the SAS version and 545 MB/s in the SATA versions (the fastest on the market today).
- Random read and write operations on 4 KB blocks for new products of 304 and 560 IOPS.
- 4.16 ms average latency, with 256 MB buffer and 512 byte sector size
