News Releases

Toshiba to Deploy Hybrid Drive to Boost Share in Storage Market

--HDD integrates NAND flash memory to satisfy both capacity and performance--
25 Sep, 2012
Image_of_MQ01ABD100H


TOKYO—Toshiba Corporation (TOKYO: 6502) today announced that it will launch two 2.5-inch form factor Hybrid Drives that bring new levels of high speed read and write performance to notebook and desktop PCs. The new drives, which integrate high capacity hard disk drives and NAND flash memory in a single unit, will be available in two capacities, 1 terabyte*1 (TB) and 750 gigabytes*1 (GB). Sample shipments started today.

The new drives—the 1TB MQ01ABD100H and the 750GB MQ01ABD075H—use hard disks to deliver high level capacity and 8GB NAND flash memory as a cache memory to support high speed data throughput. As a result, read and write times are about three times faster*2 than in Toshiba hard disk drives with equivalent capacities. In PCs, the new Hybrid Drive reduces application boot times by about 40%*3. With a 2.5-inch form factor and high capacity, the new drives are ideally positioned as a high performance alternative for portable and desktop PCs.

In operation, data is allocated to one of the Hybrid Drive's three memory layers: DRAM buffer memory, NAND flash memory or the magnetic disk media. This process is enhanced by an algorithm that dynamically learns the user's data access pattern and stores data accordingly to the appropriate tier. High speed access is achieved by storing frequently accessed data in the NAND flash memory.

Today's PCs must meet increasingly strong demands for storage capacities that can handle multiple HD videos and other data-rich sources and a read/write performance that can meet the demands of ever faster CPU and graphics chips. Through the synergy of state-of-the-art NAND flash memory manufactured with the latest generation of process technology and by leading-edge miniaturizing technique and high speed, high capacity HDD, Toshiba now offers business and consumers the solution of the Hybrid Drive, a large capacity drive that matches the capacity of HDD with data access speeds like the SSD.

Key Features

1. Self-learning caching algorithm

Toshiba's Hybrid Dive technology integrates NAND flash memory (8GB of 32nm SLC) and a self-learning caching algorithm for data writing. The three tiers of memory, DRAM, NAND flash memory and hard disk media all have different read/write speeds, and data is allocated into them as appropriately by the algorithm, as it learns the user's data access pattern when the system is in operation. High speed access is achieved by storing frequently accessed data to the NAND flash memory.

Composition_of_Hybrid_Drive

2. 1TB high capacity

MQ01ABD100H achieves a surface recording density of 1,153.4Mbit/mm2 (744.1Gbit/in2)*1 and 1TB capacity with two disks and a product height of 9.5mm. MQ01ABD075H achieves a surface recording density of 858.1Mbit/mm2 and a 750GB capacity.

3. 6Gb/s high speed SATA I/F

High-speed data transfers are secured by adoption of state-of-the-art SATA I/F Revision 3.0(ATA-8) capable of a 6Gb/s transfer rate.

4. Environmentally Conscious Products

(1) Halogen-Free and Antimony-Free Products*4
These HDD products are halogen- and antimony-Free.

(2) RoHS compatible*5
The new drives are compatible with the European Union's RoHS directive on the elimination of six hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.

(3) Adapted to Toshiba Group's Voluntary Environmental Standards for Products (ECP Standards)
Hybrid Drives comply with Toshiba Group's Voluntary Environmental Standards for Products (ECP Standards), which aim to secure the industry's highest level of environmental standards.
For more information of the standards, please refer to the following.
About ECP standards
URL: http://www.toshiba.co.jp/env/jp/products/ecp_j.htm
About HDD voluntary standards
URL: http://www.semicon.toshiba.co.jp/env_sp/hdd.html

About Toshiba Group Environmental Vision

Environmental Vision 2050 guides Toshiba Group in achieving a ten-fold increase in overall eco-efficiency by 2050, compared to 2000, in order to contribute to the future of a sustainable Earth as a "corporate citizen of planet Earth". Toward this goal, we promote initiatives aimed at realizing a world where people lead affluent lives in harmony with the Earth, based on the concept of three "Greens": Greening of Process (environmentally conscious manufacturing process), Greening of Products (environmentally conscious products) and Greening by Technology (contributing through environmental technology).

Toshiba Group promotes its environmental initiatives under the global brand "Toshiba eco style".
For more details, please visit: http://www.toshiba.co.jp/env/en/management/vision2050.htm

Product Specifications

Model Number  MQ01ABD100H  MQ01ABD075H
Maximum Capacity (Formatted)  1TB (1,000GB)  750GB
Number of platters  2
Number of head  4
Average seek time  12msec
Interface  Serial ATA 3.0/ATA-8
Interface transfer rate  6.0Gbit/s
Rotational speed  5,400rpm
Buffer memory*6  32MiB
NAND flash type  32nm SLC
NAND flash size  8GB
External dimensions (WxDxH; mm)  69.85mm (W) × 100.0mm (D) ×9.5mm (H)
Weight (g)  112g (typ.)
Energy consumption efficiency*7   0.00075  0.0010
Category name 
Acoustics  Idle  23dB
Seek  24dB
Vibration resistance  Operating  9.8m/s2, 1G (5-500Hz)
Non-operating  49m/s2, 5G (15-500Hz)
Shock resistance  Operating  3,920m/s2 (400G, 2msec half sine wave)
Non-operating  8,820m/s2 (900G, 1msec half sine wave)

Note:
[1]
One terabyte (1 TB) is 10 12 =1,000,000,000,000 bytes, One Gigabyte (1 GB) is 10 9 =1,000,000,000 bytes and One Megabyte (1 MB) is 10 6 =1,000,000 bytes. A computer operating system, however, reports storage capacity using powers of 2 for the definition of 1TB = 2 40= 1,099,511,627,776 bytes, 1GB = 2 30= 1,073,741,824 bytes and 1MB = 2 20= 1,048,576 bytes, and therefore shows less storage capacity. Available storage capacity (including examples of various media files) will vary based on file size, formatting, settings, software and operating system.
[2]
Compared to Toshiba's existing model MQ01ABD Series. Based on Toshiba's evaluation using PCMark TM Vantage. PCMark TM is a trademark of Futuremark.
[3]
Based on Toshiba's evaluation to compare the Hybrid Drive with Toshiba's existing model MQ01ABD100 and also Toshiba's SSD THMSNF Series in case starting the applications of (Microsoft Outlook® + Microsoft Excel® + Microsoft® Word + Microsoft PowerPoint®) simultaneously. Microsoft®, Outlook®, Microsoft Excel®, PowerPoint® are registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in USA and other countries.
[4]
Toshiba Semiconductor & Storage Products Company defines halogen-free and antimony-free solid state drive (SSD) or hard disk drive (HDD) products as those meeting all of the following requirements:
(a) containing bromine (Br) and chlorine (Cl) in no more than 900 parts per million (ppm) by weight for each element, and containing bromine and chlorine in an aggregate amount not exceeding 1500 ppm by weight; and (b) containing no more than 1000 ppm antimony (Sb) by weight.
For the avoidance of doubt, Halogen-Free/Antimony-Free SSD or HDD products may not be entirely free of bromine, chlorine, or antimony, and may contain any other element of the halogen family.
[5]
Toshiba Semiconductor & Storage Products Company defines "RoHS Directive" as the Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.
[6]
One Mebibyte (1MiB) is calculated as 1,048,576 (=2 20) bytes.
[7]
Energy consumption efficiency is calculated based on power consumption divided by formatted capacity, as defined by Japanese law.

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Image of Hybrid Drive