Seagate launches 60-GB-per-platter disc drive 

Seagate has launched the Barracuda ATA V disc drive, the first hard drive to achieve 120 Gbytes using only two discs.

Barracuda ATA V will also offer a native Serial ATA interface - a faster, simpler, more intelligent technology designed to replace today's Parallel ATA hard drive interface. Barracuda ATA V will begin shipping next month with the Ultra ATA/100 interface; the native Serial ATA option will be available this fall. Seagate and Intel are demonstrating the Barracuda ATA V with its native Serial ATA interface this week at PC Expo in New York. 

Barracuda ATA V builds on the proven technology of its extremely successful and reliable predecessor, Barracuda ATA IV. The new Barracuda ATA V is ideal for high-performance PCs, home entertainment PCs, Network-Attached Storage (NAS) and entry-level ATA servers. Barracuda ATA V a PC hard drive internal transfer rate of 570 Mbits per second and a 9-msec seek time. The Ultra ATA/100 version features a 2-Mbyte cache, and the Serial ATA version will sport an 8-Mbyte cache, the largest on any PC hard drive. 

Seagate's patented SoftSonic Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) motor makes the fast 7,200-rpm Barracuda ATA V almost too quiet to hear, using the same technology that made Barracuda ATA IV the first virtually silent PC drive. And with Seagate's exclusive 3D Defense System, Barracuda ATA V offers the best combination of performance, quiet operation and ruggedness. 

In the fall, Barracuda ATA V will feature native Serial ATA technology. Seagate's native technology enables Serial ATA's full 150-Mbytes-per-second transfer speed and adds no excess components or slow overhead to reduce performance. Seagate will first ship the Barracuda ATA V with today's standard Ultra ATA/100 interface and will then offer its native Serial ATA version in the fall as leading chip providers begin shipping Serial ATA discrete host controllers on add-in cards and motherboards. Together, these products will enable the PC and Consumer Electronics industries to begin a transition to Serial ATA products. 

In addition to fast 150-Mbyte-per-second data transfers, the new Serial ATA interface available this fall will offer features that improve design capabilities for PC makers. Serial ATA will provide easier and better connectivity, much greater system expandability, and better data reliability with 32-bit Cyclic Redundancy Checking protection on command data as well as data on the bus.