Microsoft almost doubles its HDD performance with Seagate's MACH.2 Dual-Actuator HDDs

[WYP]

Almost Double the IOPS with Seagate's Exos 2X14 enterprise drives.



Read more about Microsoft almost doubling its HDD performance with Seagate's MACH.2 Dual-Actuator HDDs.

 

[robbiec]

Don't understand this, I can right now pick up a Samsung PM1633 30TB unit in a 2.5" form factor, all flash with iOPs better by a factor. Its successor the PM1733, again in 30TB & 2.5" but with PCIe4 U.2 is due to hit the channel early 2020. Flash wins if you're space constrained or looking for iOPs so that data centre floorspace is effectively a fib. Price per TB sure I think, but don't mechanicals run warmer than flash and are these Seagate units 3.5 or 2.5s?

 

[WYP]

Don't understand this, I can right now pick up a Samsung PM1633 30TB unit in a 2.5" form factor, all flash with iOPs better by a factor. Its successor the PM1733, again in 30TB & 2.5" but with PCIe4 U.2 is due to hit the channel early 2020. Flash wins if you're space constrained or looking for iOPs so that data centre floorspace is effectively a fib. Price per TB sure I think, but don't mechanicals run warmer than flash and are these Seagate units 3.5 or 2.5s?

It about the balancing act. Speed, pricing and capacity all matter. These drives allow HDDs to be more viable over a wider range of workloads; especially as capacities increase with HAMR. This is an important factor for the long term viability of HDD technology.

If you have all the money in the world, yes, SSDs are better; but if you have a budget (which everyone ultimately does) you will go for HDDs if they meet your performance and capacity requirements. This tech allows HDDs to deliver more performance per drive, making the tech more viable. This is especially true as we move to higher capacity drives.

Yeah, you can get a 30TB of server-grade SSD from the likes of Samsung, but how much does that SSD cost? How much is 30TB worth HDD cost by comparison?

HDDs will remain relevant so long as it delivers on price/capacity and can offer enough performance to meet the requirements of enterprise/server workloads. This tech will help on the performance side, and HAMR will deliver on the capacity side.

 

[grec]

Also have to remember that in high temperatures and very demanding environments SSDs aren't really suitable for cold storage or long term storage beyond their rated life, HDDs are much more stable and "inert", less likely to slowly corrupt over time especially while turned off for long periods, which is another factor in why they're pretty much always still at the colder end of any secure cloud storage service.

 

[robbiec]

It about the balancing act. Speed, pricing and capacity all matter. These drives allow HDDs to be more viable over a wider range of workloads; especially as capacities increase with HAMR. This is an important factor for the long term viability of HDD technology.

If you have all the money in the world, yes, SSDs are better; but if you have a budget (which everyone ultimately does) you will go for HDDs if they meet your performance and capacity requirements. This tech allows HDDs to deliver more performance per drive, making the tech more viable. This is especially true as we move to higher capacity drives.

Yeah, you can get a 30TB of server-grade SSD from the likes of Samsung, but how much does that SSD cost? How much is 30TB worth HDD cost by comparison?

HDDs will remain relevant so long as it delivers on price/capacity and can offer enough performance to meet the requirements of enterprise/server workloads. This tech will help on the performance side, and HAMR will deliver on the capacity side.

€6500 for the 30TB Samsung if I use my corporate account. Cant get a HDD above 16TB right now but they come in at about €500 with a SATA interface. Add €75 if you want SAS. So 1/10 of cost. This time last year the Samsung cost €15K though.