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The "A-Drive", one of the world's thinnest 5 mm hybrid hard drive in a 2.5" form factor, was officially launched by Mr. S. Iswaran, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Trade & Industry, to commemorate the Data Storage Institute's (DSI) 20 years of R&D in the area of data storage capabilities.
The "A-Drive" represents the next generation of storage innovation providing capacities of up to 1 TB Hard Disk Drive (HDD) with 32 GB Solid State Drive (SSD). This potentially allows the "A-Drive" to store over 250,000 songs in its 5 mm body. The "A-Drive" also addresses limitations of the popular, yet expensive, flash-based SSD, as well as the conventional HDD for the consumer and business industry.
DSI's "A-Drive" is set to change the consumer and enterprise landscape, targeted specifically for tablets, ultrabooks, and future data centres. With its slim form factor, the "A-Drive" could fit into tablet devices, greatly expanding its storage space while extending battery life by up to 30%. The "A-Drive" will be a cheaper alternative to the SSDs currently used in ultrabooks, offering the same instant-on capability but with larger storage capacity. In addition, the "A-Drive" can be extended for enterprise storage applications, reducing power consumption by up to 50%, resulting in greener and more efficient data centres with better optimisation of the already limited rack space.
"Today, our year-long vision of creating a 5 mm thin hybrid hard drive in 2.5" form factor with increased storage capacity and reduced power consumption at a lower cost for manufacturers has become a reality," said Dr. Pantelis Alexopoulos, Executive Director of DSI. "We have managed to fit an amazing amount of innovation and advanced technology into a thinner, cheaper, and faster design, and we think the consumer and enterprise impact will be significant."
One of the main challenges in reducing the thickness of current 7 mm hard disk drives by almost 30% without compromising on its performance and stability is its spindle motor design. To achieve a reduction in size, DSI researchers developed a proprietary axial field motor which runs smoother, quieter, more efficiently, lowering power consumption by up to 70% yet at a fraction of the cost of SSDs. The motor's design has been patented, along with 30 other unique designs for the "A-Drive". In addition, DSI has collaborated with multinational corporations and local companies, such as Seiko Instruments, Miyoshi, and Unisteel, to develop key components for the "A-Drive".
"Our capabilities today have been the result of two decades of collaboration with industry partners around the world. This has enabled DSI to develop groundbreaking solutions like the 'A-Drive'. We look forward to future partnerships as we continue our drive towards new innovations that will shape the data storage landscape," said Dr. Alexopoulos.
View at TechPowerUp Main Site
The "A-Drive" represents the next generation of storage innovation providing capacities of up to 1 TB Hard Disk Drive (HDD) with 32 GB Solid State Drive (SSD). This potentially allows the "A-Drive" to store over 250,000 songs in its 5 mm body. The "A-Drive" also addresses limitations of the popular, yet expensive, flash-based SSD, as well as the conventional HDD for the consumer and business industry.
DSI's "A-Drive" is set to change the consumer and enterprise landscape, targeted specifically for tablets, ultrabooks, and future data centres. With its slim form factor, the "A-Drive" could fit into tablet devices, greatly expanding its storage space while extending battery life by up to 30%. The "A-Drive" will be a cheaper alternative to the SSDs currently used in ultrabooks, offering the same instant-on capability but with larger storage capacity. In addition, the "A-Drive" can be extended for enterprise storage applications, reducing power consumption by up to 50%, resulting in greener and more efficient data centres with better optimisation of the already limited rack space.
"Today, our year-long vision of creating a 5 mm thin hybrid hard drive in 2.5" form factor with increased storage capacity and reduced power consumption at a lower cost for manufacturers has become a reality," said Dr. Pantelis Alexopoulos, Executive Director of DSI. "We have managed to fit an amazing amount of innovation and advanced technology into a thinner, cheaper, and faster design, and we think the consumer and enterprise impact will be significant."
One of the main challenges in reducing the thickness of current 7 mm hard disk drives by almost 30% without compromising on its performance and stability is its spindle motor design. To achieve a reduction in size, DSI researchers developed a proprietary axial field motor which runs smoother, quieter, more efficiently, lowering power consumption by up to 70% yet at a fraction of the cost of SSDs. The motor's design has been patented, along with 30 other unique designs for the "A-Drive". In addition, DSI has collaborated with multinational corporations and local companies, such as Seiko Instruments, Miyoshi, and Unisteel, to develop key components for the "A-Drive".
"Our capabilities today have been the result of two decades of collaboration with industry partners around the world. This has enabled DSI to develop groundbreaking solutions like the 'A-Drive'. We look forward to future partnerships as we continue our drive towards new innovations that will shape the data storage landscape," said Dr. Alexopoulos.
View at TechPowerUp Main Site
