Western Digital subsidiary HGST has found a novel way of packing more storage capacity into a standard 3.5-inch hard disc drive: filling it with helium instead of air. The 6-TB Ultrastar He6 HDD is the highest-capacity drive in the world, according to the company. HGST has achieved this by packing seven disk platters into the drive instead of the standard five. Disc platters, which store data, spin at thousands of revolutions per minute, causing air drag inside the enclosure. Helium has one-seventh the density of air, so it reduces that drag.
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HGST's New Hard-Drive Isn't Full of Hot Air
Posted by: Kris Holt November 4, 2013 03:35 PMWestern Digital subsidiary HGST has found a novel way of packing more storage capacity into a standard 3.5-inch hard disc drive: filling it with helium instead of air. The 6-TB Ultrastar He6 HDD is the highest-capacity drive in the world, according to the company. HGST has achieved this by packing seven disk platters into the drive instead of the standard five. Disc platters, which store data, spin at thousands of revolutions per minute, causing air drag inside the enclosure. Helium has one-seventh the density of air, so it reduces that drag.