Toshiba launches 3.5-inch 8TB N300 'High-Reliability' NAS hard disk drive for consumers
Solid state drives are new and "sexy" nowadays, so understandably, mechanical hard disk drives aren't exactly exciting. With that said, SSDs cannot touch HDDs from a capacity standpoint, so they are still very much relevant -- not only for large businesses and data centers, but for home users and small businesses too.
Today, Toshiba launches a new mechanical HDD that offers capacities up to 8TB. The company says the 3.5 inch drive is primarily for networked attached storage, but it can, of course, also be used inside PCs or with USB enclosures. The consumer-focused drive is designed to last, as Toshiba calls it "High-Reliability."
"The N300 Series is available in 4TB, 6TB, and 8TB capacities; all featuring a large 128MB data buffer. With support for up to eight drive bays in a multi-RAID NAS2design, users' NAS configurations can grow in line with their evolving data storage needs. Additionally, Toshiba’s Dynamic Cache Technology, a self-contained cache algorithm with on-board buffer management, optimizes cache allocation during read/write to provide the high-level performance demanded by real-time domains," says Toshiba.
The famed company further explains, "Employing advanced technologies that maximize performance and prevent downtime, the N300 Series HDDs utilize advanced control and sensing technology to mitigate the effects of vibration, shock and heat. With Toshiba Stable Platter technology, a tied spindle motor stabilizes the motor drive shaft at both ends to curb system-induced vibration. Toshiba’s Ramp Load technology reduces disk head wear and tear. Multiple shock sensors detect and compensate for shock and rotational vibration, while error recovery control minimizes recovery time from data errors. Further, use of high-endurance components ensures durability in harsh environments."
Toshiba shares some very detailed specifications below.
| Part Numbers | |
|---|---|
| High-Reliability Hard Drive N300 - 4TB (retail version) | HDWQ140XZSTA |
| High-Reliability Hard Drive N300 - 6TB (retail version) | HDWN160XZSTA |
| High-Reliability Hard Drive N300 - 8TB (retail version) | HDWN180XZSTA |
| Basic Specifications | |
| Form factor | 3.5-inch |
| Interface | SATA |
| Interface Speed | 6.0 Gbit/s |
| Available capacities | 4 TB, 6 TB, 8 TB |
| Features | |
| Drive bays supported | 1 to 8 |
| Rotational Vibration (RV) sensor | yes |
| 24 x 7 operation | yes |
| RoHS compatible | yes |
| Halogen Free | yes |
| Performance | |
| Rotational speed | 7,200 rpm |
| Data transfer speed (Sustained) | 200 MB/s (4 TB), 210 MB/s (6 TB), 240 MB/s (8 TB) |
| Buffer size | 128 MB |
| Average latency | 4.17 ms |
| Reliability | |
| Workloads | 180 TB/year |
| MTTF | 1,000,000 hours |
| Unrecoverable error rate | 1 x 1014 bits read |
| Warranty (limited) | 3 years |
| Power Management | |
| Supply voltage | 5VDC (±5%) / 12VDC (±10%) |
| Consumption (operating) | 9.6 W typ. (4 TB), 10.1 W typ. (6 TB), 9.2 W typ. (8 TB) |
| Consumption (active idle) | 5.2 W typ. (4 TB), 6.7 W typ. (6 TB), 6.2 W typ. (8 TB) |
| Environmental | |
| Temperature (operating/non-operating) | 0 to 60 C /'-40 to 70 °C |
| Vibration (operating) | 0.75G (5 to 300 Hz) 0.25 G (300 to 500 Hz) or less |
| Vibration (non-operating) | 5G (5 to 500Hz) or less |
| Shock (operating) | 70 G / 2 ms duration |
| Shock (non-operating) | 250 G / 2 ms duration |
| Acoustics (idle mode) | 30 dB typ. (4 TB), 33 dB typ. (6 & 8 TB) |
| Acoustics (seek mode) | 34 dB typ. (4 TB), 35 dB typ. (6 & 8 TB) |
| Physical | |
| Dimensions | 147 (L) x 101.85 (W) x 26.1 (H) mm |
| Weight | 770 g max. |
| Bottom holes type | TYPE1 (4 TB), TYPE1 (6 TB), TYPE2 (8 TB) |
| Box Content | 3.5-inch internal hard drive - N300 High-Reliability Hard Drive |
Pricing is unknown at this time, although that will be revealed very soon. Toshiba says the N300 will go on sale in April 2017 -- the month we are in currently -- so it should begin showing up at popular retailers very soon.