Seagate breaks 1TB per platter barrier

Computerworld - Seagate today unveiled the first 3.5-in. hard-disk drive (HDD) featuring 1TB of storage capacity per disk platter, breaking a previous area density benchmark.

Seagate's GoFlex 3.5-in. HDD line is the first to deliver capacities of up to 3TB and an area density of 625 gigabits per square inch.

Seagate plans to begin shipping the technology with its flagship Barracuda desktop hard drive through its distribution channel in mid-2011. The drive will also be available in 3TB, 2TB, 1.5TB and 1TB capacities.

The Barracuda XT 3TB, three-platter hard disk drive.

Rocky Pimentel, Seagate's executive vice president of worldwide sales and marketing, said the drive will go a long way in helping users deal with data growth, because it will make it possible to store more data in a smaller footprint.

The GoFlex drives include an NTFS driver, which makes the drives compatible with both Windows and Mac OS X systems with no need for reformatting. The sleek black GoFlex Desk external 3.5-in. drives are designed to sit either vertically or horizontally to accommodate any desktop environment.

Seagate did not disclose pricing for the new drives.

Lucas Mearian covers storage, disaster recovery and business continuity, financial services infrastructure and health care IT for Computerworld. Follow Lucas on Twitter at @lucasmearian or subscribe to Lucas's RSS feed . His e-mail address is lmearian@computerworld.com.

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