IBM is shipping a new hard drive for desktop computers that uses a
technology called "tag 'n seek," which increases its performance by
up to 20% over competing hard drives, according to the
company.
The Deskstar 180GXP tags commands sent to it from the host
processor in a desktop computer. By identifying and classifying
different commands issued to the hard drive, it can prioritise
those commands for more efficient processing of data, IBM
said.
This increases performance by allowing the host processor to take
on other tasks, and decreases the seek time, or the amount of time
needed to locate a specific piece of data.
The drive features a maximum capacity of 180Gbytes, with a base
capacity of 30Gbytes. It uses up to 8Mbytes of cache, and runs at
7,200 revolutions per minute.
NexSAN Technologies will use the Deskstar drives in new RAID
storage products, which will allow it to compete with SCSI and
Fibre Channel products.
IBM entered into an agreement earlier this year to merge its hard
drive operations, with Hitachi, which purchased the majority of
IBM's hard drive assets for $2bn (£1.3bn) in June. The deal is
expected to close at the end of this year.