2 terabyte external solid state hard drive western digital

The company has brought four of those platters to the table in the latest Caviar Black 2TB. Now, it’s Western Digital’s turn to show what it can do with 500GB platters at 7,200 RPM. Comparatively lethargic access times ultimately held back the drive’s performance under more strenuous loads. The 7200.12 wasn’t the performance revelation many had hoped, either. However, the ‘cuda was only available with up to two platters, capping the total capacity at just one terabyte. Seagate’s Barracuda 7200.12 cranked 500GB platters up to a full 7,200 RPM.

That’s just what you want for a closet file server, external enclosure, or home theater PC, but it’s not really fast enough for a performance-oriented desktop. Of course, the Green is one of those hippie low-power drives that’s most comfortable sitting quietly in the corner, its reflexes hindered by a slower spindle speed and probably more than a few bong hits. Western Digital was the first to squeeze 500GB onto a single disk with the Caviar Green 2TB. However, it looks like the two are in agreement on the next battleground: 500GB. They went their separate ways through the 300s, with WD offering 320 and then 334GB while Seagate jumped all the way up to 375GB. For example, Seagate and Western Digital both had drives with 125, 188, and 250GB platters. Sure, actual areal densities have varied a little, and each manufacturer has moved up the platter ladder at its own pace, but they’ve largely hit the same rungs. At the same time, it also facilitates improved performance by allowing the drive head to access more data over shorter physical distances.Ĭonveniently, at least for comparative purposes, drive makers have settled on similar per-platter capacities over the last few generations. Cramming more bytes onto each physical disk obviously enables greater storage capacities.

The progression of the mechanical hard drive market is fueled not by ever-increasing spindle speeds, but by the availability of higher-density platters.

2 terabyte external solid state hard drive western digital