IBM announced the launching of their new server HDD family aka UltraStar 146Z10 with 10,000rpm spindle rotation speed and 146GB maximum storage capacity.

Unlike some other manufacturers (no names here), IBM provided a very detailed list of the HDD specifications that is why it saved us a lot of time and trouble guessing what the newcomers look like. Here they are:

• Available capacities: 146GB, 73GB, 36GB, 18GB
• Glass platters 6/3/2/1
• GMR heads 12/6/3/2
• 24GB per platter data density (max data density – 26.3GB/sq.inch)
• 10,000rpm spindle rotation speed
• Maximum internal data transfer rate (maximum read rate from the platter) 825Mbit/sec
• 8MB buffer
• 4.7ms average seek time
• 3ms average latency
• Shock: 225G*sec (1ms) in idle state, 45G*sec (2ms) in work mode
• 3.7Bel noise rate in wait state, 4.5Bel noise rate in work mode
• 10.2W power consumption in wait state, maximum 16W power consumption
• Ultra320 SCSI (backward compatible with Ultra160 SCSI), 2Gbit Fibre Channel (backward compatible with 1gbit Fibre Channel)
• 780g maximum weight (146GB model).

Some parameters of the new family look very attractive that is why I decided to dwell on them and make a few more comments:

• Although the drives use 24GB platters, the storage capacities of the smaller models in the family are multiple to 18. This has been made to make the capacities of the drives correspond to what is common for the server market now (to allow you to replace or add any new drives to a RAID array independent of the manufacturer, for instance). By the way, 146GB should very soon become a standard already, as the drives of this capacity are already shipped by Hitachi. Seagate and Maxtor are the ones to follow.
• Notice the larger 8MB cache-buffer, which has always been only 4MB by IBM drives.
• Also note that the top model in the family made of 6 platters weighs only 780g. This appeared possible due to glass the platters are made of, and their relatively small size.

The company stresses that UltraStar 146Z10 HDD with 146GB storage space is the first solution in the industry with 10,000rpm spindle rotation speed, which is shipping in mass quantities. Unfortunately, no info is available about the shipments of the smaller models, as well as about their estimated prices.