Fujitsu launches 2.5” Enterprise hard disk drives supporting 6Gb/s SAS interface

Fujitsu Europe Limited today announced the launch of its two new 2.5” MBD2-RC and MBE2-RC enterprise hard disk drive series with rotational speeds of 10,025 RPM and 15,000 RPM respectively. Both are providing standard support for the 6Gb/s Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)^(*1) interface and are using perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR)^(*2), enabling storage capacities of up to 300GB^(*3) for the MBD2-RC and up to 147GB^(*3) for the MBE2-RC drives. Their environmentally friendly design minimises heat generation, power consumption, and space requirements and is an ideal solution for storage applications ranging from servers to high-capacity storage systems.

Lower power consumption

As part of Fujitsu’s Green Policy promoting ecologically sound products, both new series consume only 3,4W (idle) for the MBD2-RC and 4,1W for the MBE2-RC. This represents a reduction in power usage of as much as 28 percent over current 2.5” models^(*6) and up to 74 percent lower power consumption over current 3.5” 15,000 RPM drives^(*6), contributing to lower energy costs for customers.

Halogen-free^(*4) for a safer environment

Both new hard drive series meet recent halogen-free^(*4) initiatives, which restricts the use of chlorine, bromine and their compounds in manufacturing - making them environmentally friendly across their lifecycle. Both series are also in compliance with the RoHS Directives^(*5) of the European Union.

Increased data transfer speeds

Compared to current 2.5” hard drive models*6, the new MBD2-RC and MBE2-RC enterprise series improve maximum internal data transfer rates by 60 percent. By supporting the latest SAS-2, 6Gb/s interface*1 specification, both new series offer data transfer rates of up to 600MB/s between the drive and the host.

While the enterprise storage market continues to demand high-performance drives, there has been a growing push for environmentally friendly HDD designs that minimize heat generation, power consumption, and space requirements. As an alternative to 3.5” hard disk drives, which have been widely used in the enterprise market, there is increasing interest in 2.5” models that can deliver superior performance in a smaller footprint.

Availability

The MBD2 RC series will be released in the first quarter of calendar year 2009, followed by the MBE2 RC series in the second quarter.

^(*1)SAS (Serial-attached SCSI) is a new serial interface for SCSI. Compared to the traditional parallel interface, this can achieve higher data-transfer rates. Systems comprising SAS HDDs can be connected to SATA HDDs. SAS-2 is the latest interface standard. 6Gb/s SAS is based on the SAS-2 specification, and extends the data-transfer rates from previous 3Gb/s SAS to 6Gb/s (600MB/s).  

^(*2) Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR)This is a recording method that permits greater storage capacity than the traditional longitudinal magnetic recording method. The poles of the magnetic elements are aligned perpendicularly to the surface of the recording media

^(*3) One Gigabyte (GB) One GB is equivalent to one billion bytes. Usable storage capacity is actually less than this figure. Actual storage capacity may vary depending on the environment and formatting of the customer's system.

^(*4) Halogen-freeHalogen-free as defined by levels of chlorine (CL) and bromine (Br) or a compound in which they are combined reduced to be less than the standards of IEC61249-2-21:2003, as stated below: Chlorine: less than 900ppm Bromine: less than 900ppm Chlorine + bromine: less than 1500ppm

^(*5) RoHS DirectiveShort for “Restriction on the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.” A directive issued by the European Union on February 13, 2003 that has set legal regulations for hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment to minimize risk to the environment and people in member countries. Based on the directive, as of July 1, 2006, the amount of lead, hexavalent chromium, mercury, cadmium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) is regulated in electrical and electronic equipment intended for Europe.

^(*6) Previous modelsThree series from Fujitsu announced May 30, 2007: MBA3, MBB2 and MBC2.

About Fujitsu
Fujitsu is a leading provider of IT-based business solutions for the global marketplace. With approximately 160,000 employees supporting customers in 70 countries, Fujitsu combines a worldwide corps of systems and services experts with highly reliable computing and communications products and advanced microelectronics to deliver added value to customers. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 5.3 trillion yen (US$53 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008. For more information, please see: www.fujitsu.com

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