|
8/27/00
- By Dave
"Davo" Altavilla
Interface
Speed, Spindle Speed, Access Times and Data
Buffers, these are the major components driving
the performance levels of any given Hard Drive
technology. Not long ago we brought you a
full detailed review
of the latest technology in SCSI Interfaces,
Ultra160 and the Quantum AtlasV Ultra160 SCSI
Drive. The months have rolled on and
so has the product development cycle for
Quantum.
In
addition to this new found interface speed,
Quantum has been making strides in the other
sub-system components of their Ultra160 SCSI
Drives. The fruits of those efforts are
evident in their new high end Atlas 10K II
Family. Let's have a look.
 |
| Specifications
/ Features Of The Quantum Atlas
10K II |
| Redlining
at 10,000 RPM |
|
|
-
Storage
Capacity:
9.2 GB to 73.4 GB
-
Average
Seek Time: as low as 4.7 ms
-
Rotational
Speed: 10,000 RPM
-
Interface
Options: Ultra160, Ultra2, Ultra SCSI
68-pin Wide, SCSI 80-pin SCA-2
-
Shock
Protection System II
-
QDT
- Quite Drive Technology
-
Data
Protection System (DPS)
Atlas
10K II Family Line-Up
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Form
Factor |
3.5
inch
|
3.5
inch
|
3.5
inch
|
3.5
inch
|
| Interface |
Ultra160,
Ultra2, Ultra SCSI 68-pin Wide
Ultra160,
Ultra2, Ultra SCSI 80-pin SCA-2 |
| Formatted
Capacity (MB1) |
9,200
|
18,400
|
36,700
|
73,400
|
|
|
| Disks |
2
|
3
|
5
|
10
|
| Head/Recording
Surfaces |
3
|
6
|
10
|
20
|
| Maximum
Areal Density (Gb/sq. in.) |
7.7
|
|
Performance
Specifications
|
|
| Typical
Seek Times2 (ms) |
| Average
(read) |
4.7
|
4.7
|
4.7
|
5.2
|
| Track-to
Track |
0.6
|
0.6
|
0.6
|
0.6
|
| Full
Stroke |
12
|
12
|
12
|
13
|
| Average
Rotational Latency (ms) |
3.0
|
| Rotational
Speed (RPM) |
10,000
|
| Internal
Data Rate (Mb/sec) |
280
to 478
|
| Sustained
Throughput (MB/sec) |
24
to 40
|
| Data
Transfer Rates (Buffer-to-Host) |
| Ultra160
SCSI (MB/sec) |
160
|
| Ultra2
SCSI (MB/sec) |
80
|
| Ultra
SCSI (MB/sec) |
40
|
| Buffer
Size (MB) |
8
|
|
The Atlas 10K II
family has some major enhancements over the
Atlas V that we reviewed back in March this
year. First, the data buffer has been
doubled from 4MB to 8MB. This should
really help with the sustained throughput of the
drive which is 24-40MB/sec versus the Atlas V's
17-29MB/sec. Next, the spindle speed on
the Atlas 10K, as one would expect, is 10,000
RPM. As you may have guessed, with higher
spindle speeds come faster access times.
The 10K II is the first drive we have ever
tested here with an amazing sub 5ms. seek time.
The 10K II also
has a higher Areal Density at 7.7Gb (gigabits)
per square inch on the platters. This
means, that byte for byte, the 10K II is going
to cover more data area quicker and with less
effort than drives like the Atlas V. Here
is a brief comparison chart versus others in the
field. This shows the model we tested, a
36G drive, and the competition from Seagate and
IBM.
In
short, the Atlas 10K sports higher
densities per platter, fewer platters, deeper
buffer size, faster seek times and higher
sustained data rates, than these other top of
the line 10,000 RPM Ultra160 SCSI drives.
There is but one other drive that can compete
with these specs, the Seagate Cheetah X15.
This is a 15,000 RPM drive and is not quite
available yet. However, on paper, this
could be a formidable opponent.
**Update
- 8/28**
As a few readers have pointed out, the
Seagate Cheetah X15 is indeed now widely
available.
On
the other hand, specifications are not all that
you came here for. Let's look at the
"real world" performance of this hot
new drive from Quantum!
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