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IT Managers looking for speed out of their data centers are looking closely at implementing 6Gb/s SAS. But indeed, it’s more than that. SAS now comes close to offering the enterprise scalability that we’ve counted on Fibre Channel for up until now. If you’re configuring multi-drive environments and want more lowdown on the uptake, check out Tom’s Hardware Report on the Next Generation SAS.
Seagate’s Cheetah 15K.7 is the biggest, baddest 15K rpm drive in the world. It weighs in at 600 GB, twice the capacity of its predecessor. And even though it is blazingly fast, the drive makes use of Seagate’s PowerTrim technology to reduce power consumption. It is now available through Seagate’s distributors and is expected to be very popular.
But isn’t the IT world moving to 2.5″ drives?
Yes, but the economic downturn have slashed IT budgets. Companies everywhere are making do with what they have for now. Cheetah 15K.7 is a coping strategy for stretched storage infrastructures. As Seagate’s Teresa Worth explains:
“It’s easier for customers to upgrade their existing 3.5-inch form factor chassis with higher capacity drives. Customers definitely want to move to systems based on small form factor drives, but everybody is trying to make their investments in IT last longer.”
Cheetah 15K.7 is not “settling” by any means. With its 6 GB SAS interface and capacity doubling, this drive is one of the most productive and efficient on the planet.
So keep planning for 2.5″. But if budget isn’t there, or 3.5″ is your plan of record, look to Cheetah 15K.7 to juice your current environment until the money starts flowing again.
Photo source: abraxis.net
Not so long ago the future of storage device interfaces was considered to be a three-way race. Forecasts projected about 30% share for FC, SAS and SATA.
The latest IDC projections show that the game will change dramatically to become all about SAS. Fibre Channel’s future as a drive interface is…well, it doesn’t have much of a future beyond 2010. (This is not to be confused with Fibre Channel’s continuing role as a system interface.)
Not only is FC being replaced by SAS in a few short years, but SATA share will recede to 25% after peaking at 31%. This could be more surprising to many people than the demise of FC at the device level.
What’s changed?
If SAS is still just a Scandinavian airline to you, it’s time to get up the learning curve on this foundational device technology.
