WD Builds High-Capacity, Helium-Filled HDDs 356
Lucas123 writes "Western Digital subsidiary HGST today announced that after 10 years of development it is preparing to release 3.5-in data center-class HDDs that are hermetically sealed with helium inside. The helium reduces drag and wind turbulence created by the spinning platters, all but eliminating track misregistration that has become a major issue to increasing drive density in recent years. Because of that, HGST will be able to add two more platters along with increasing the tracks per inch, which results in a 40% capacity increase. The drives will also use 23% less power because of the reduction of friction on the spindle. HGST said the new seven-platter helium drives will weigh 29% less per terabyte of capacity that today's five-platter drives. In other words, a seven-platter helium disk will weigh 690 grams, the same as today's five-platter drives."
Why not a vacuum (Score:5, Informative)
Those of you wondering why they don't just use a vacuum inside the drive. Hard drive heads ride on a cusion of air (or in this case, a gas of some kind) so that they don't crash against the drive.
Re:Why not a vacuum (Score:5, Insightful)
I meant against the platter.
Re:Why not a vacuum (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Why not a vacuum (Score:5, Funny)
Hard drive heads ride on a cusion of air (or in this case, a gas of some kind) so that they don't crash against the drive.
Why a gas? Why not float it using an electromagnet instead?
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Not sure if trolling...
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Why not a vacuum (Score:5, Insightful)
Wouldn't that be like strapping an eraser to the end of your pencil so anything you write will be cushioned by the soft rubber?
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Man, if you were fishing for Wooshes......
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actually, I came here to woosh for fishes.
is this the wrong place for that, then?
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That was my second thought... right after "how are they going to keep the helium from leaking out?"
Yes, we all know the data is stored magnetically, but the amount of lift required to keep a head spaced off a spinning disk shouldn't require much in terms of field strength, especially if things are fairly well balanced. It would be distributed over a large enough area that you wouldn't have to worry about erasing domains.
Carbon fiber reinforced disks, in a vacuum, floating on a magnetic bearing, in a stack o
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Re:Why not a vacuum (Score:4, Funny)
Don't worry, scrote. There are plenty of 'tards out there living really kick-ass lives. My first wife was 'tarded. She's a pilot now.
Re:Why not a vacuum (Score:5, Funny)
I'm pretty sure the correct response was "WOOSH"
Re:Why not a vacuum (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Why not a vacuum (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Why not a vacuum (Score:4, Funny)
With these new helium filled drives, the "whoosh" would be in a high-pitched, squeaky voice.
And... How will my MP3s sound on one of these drives?
Re:Why not a vacuum (Score:5, Funny)
It's lower case, but "weeeesh". They're using helium, now. Didn't you read the article?
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Aren't jokes supposed to resemble... you know, a joke?
I'm sorry, but slashdot does not have a laugh track. We like it that way,
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I'm sorry, but slashdot does not have a laugh track. We like it that way,
No way. And what about those +5 Funnies?
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They can't permanently contain helium so it naturally leaks out of the drives over time and guarantees they eventually break. If they made magnetic bearings and vacuum work the drives would last too long.
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Those of you wondering why they don't just use a vacuum inside the drive. Hard drive heads ride on a cusion of air (or in this case, a gas of some kind) so that they don't crash against the drive.
If it's filled with helium, you can fill it to a pressure that's equal to environment (or at least really close).
Try to picture the failure rates if an airtight seal holding back 1 atm of pressure vs. one that only has to deal with a tiny fraction of that.
Re:Why not a vacuum (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, this means that NOW I can submerge reliably the whole PC into Mineral Oil without fear of oil getting into the only moving part, the hard drive. Can't wait to try this out!
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Not only that, but after the helium migrates through the pores in the metal housing, the heads will crash! Physically programmed disk death!
Re:Why not a vacuum (Score:5, Funny)
"Not only that, but after the helium migrates through the pores in the metal housing, the heads will crash! Physically programmed disk death!"
Well, it's still better than their past efforts. The hydrogen-filled drives worked just great, until they got to New Jersey. Then they exploded.
Re:Why not a vacuum (Score:5, Funny)
Sure they weigh less (Score:5, Funny)
Sure they weigh less, because they are filled with helium. But when the servers start lifting off the ground and floating off, they might have to rethink this idea.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sure they weigh less (Score:5, Funny)
These hard drives are obviously made for cloud storage.
Disaster (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Disaster (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Disaster (Score:5, Funny)
*hands over nerd card*
Re:Disaster (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, you good-naturedly admitted your facepalm moment.
You may keep your card, good sir.
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Oh the humanity(-student level understanding of science)
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Seems like everyone makes that mistake. [youtube.com]
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Re:Disaster (Score:5, Funny)
Argon walks into a bar. An alarm goes off and the bartender yells "Hey, we don't serve your kind here!" Argon, of course, didn't react.
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Argon was just showing how noble he was.
Re:Disaster (Score:5, Informative)
Yes. In chemists' jargon, "oxidation" is the process of giving away electrons. The process is named after the most common electron recipient, oxygen, but lots of molecules can be oxidizers.
Or to put it another way, if I mix hydrogen with oxygen, and you mix it with chlorine, and we both add a spark, we'll get pretty much the same effect. Either way, there'll be a tremendous bang, and neither of us will have any eyebrows. Of course, after a few deep breaths, your nose might start bleeding as hydrochloric acid eats your mucous membranes, but that's a separate issue.
Headline: (Score:3)
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If they make them bigger, with more helium, they'll float!
This explains it! (Score:2)
Re:This explains it! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:This explains it! (Score:5, Informative)
Likely to be a permanent condition.
Helium is light enough that it doesn't persist very well in the atmosphere(unlike the heavier noble gasses, that you can just distill out if the price gets high enough to pay for the energy needed), and it is only replenished quite slowly by alpha decay of assorted radioactives in the crust.
The only significant source is natural gas wells in proximity to suitable minerals over geologic time and equipped to capture the helium when the product is brought to the surface.
Re:This explains it! (Score:4, Informative)
"Likely to be a permanent condition."
Well, you can thank the U.S. government for that.
We used to have the world's largest helium supply, by far, in the U.S. Strategic Helium Reserve, until the government decided to do away with it just a few years ago.
And now there is a shortage. Imagine that.
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Re:This explains it! (Score:5, Interesting)
Liquid Helium sell for $8.00/L on the wholesale quantity market.
It is still very, very cheap.
Last fill on my MRI machine was 800L due to cold head failure. Lucky me I have a service policy, but still, that's a big use of Helium. I would not worry about your Helium balloon.
Bill
Shielded suit,lol. (Score:3)
A PET transmission source is Ge-68 or Cs-137, both gamma emitters.
The 90% shielding thickness in lead is about 3". A 3" thick suit is too heavy to move.
Add to that problem, the fact that shielding a source imperfectly is bad for you, because of the nature of how shielding works.
Shielding from gamma photons require a series of scattering collisions with the shielding media, losing energy with each one, usually as x-ray photons or lattice vibrations.
Low energy photons in the low x-ray region are very likely t
But the cost? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:But the cost? (Score:4, Informative)
Is this going to be cheaper than SSD?
Yes, of course. Only a tiny amount of helium is used.
Also, are these going to be significantly faster than the standard five platter density drives?
As usual for density increases, transfer rate goes up, seek time is unchanged. Moving disks even further into the role formerly occupied by tape. Maybe the reduced friction (= less heat) could make 10K drives more practical, improving seek time but probably also being a boutique product squeezed between SSD and 72k disks, and thus expensive.
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seek time is unchanged
Reduced friction and reduced turbulence might enable higher seek times.
Re:But the cost? (Score:5, Funny)
Reduced friction and reduced turbulence might enable higher seek times.
By higher I meant better, which in the case of seek times is of course lower.
Re:But the cost? (Score:4, Funny)
Reduced friction and reduced turbulence might enable higher seek times.
By higher I meant better, which in the case of seek times is of course lower.
That's what she said.
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Slightly faster seek times as there's less, err, air resistance that the heads have to oppose. Unfortuantely, they added two platters which means the seek arm has nearly 40% more mass. More mass means more inertia, which means the heads are harder to start and stop quickly, which probably more than compensates for the reduction due to air resistance. It could seek *slower*, too.
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I'm not aware of any crushing weight problems in the steel server racks...
For most server racks. probably not as there is a log of empty space in standard servers. Here at $WORK, we have a MAID array for archival storage. Since the drives in the unit only spin up (and get hot) when needed, the array contains many more drives than a standard disk array. This makes the unit quite heavy, and could overload the floor on some buildings. Luckily, this is on the first floor, so it won't come crashing through the ceiling.
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Weight matters in the datacenter too... Drives are probably the densest component in a rack. A fully populated rack can easily weigh over 2000lbs (900KG for people who use a sane system of measurement). A well managed datacenter (and competent sysadmins) should include consideration of the structural load (on the building), point loads (particularly on raised floors), and weight in transit. After you've done a few datacenter moves, you begin to think of things like the weight limit on elevators, truck lift-
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Affordable SSDs are a year away but you have your time axis backwards.
Price-point sized SSDs are more like $0.90/GB right now. The expensive intel 520s are $1.25/GB at 240 and 480 GB sizes.
500GB for $200 isn't here yet but prices have been steadily crashing towards it for years.
Only one problem (Score:5, Funny)
These disks are great except when you replay audio files the vocalists sound like munchkins.
Scarce(r) resource (Score:5, Insightful)
What about the impending Helium shortage?
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/med-tech/why-is-there-a-helium-shortage-10031229
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What about the impending Helium shortage?
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/med-tech/why-is-there-a-helium-shortage-10031229
This is a much bigger issue/concern for MRIs that are cooled by liquid helium (remember, liquid takes up 1000x LESS space than gas, think of how much helium is needed to fill one of those).
The tiny amount of gaseous helium needed to create one of these hard-drives will probably cost much less than the amount of material saved (7-platter drive costing 50% less than a 4-platter one according to TFA).
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Then how about Argon, Krypton, or Neon?
Re:Scarce(r) resource (Score:5, Funny)
Funnies aside, not a good idea. High purity hydrogen makes many metal alloys brittle. Helium works so well because it's ideal gas that doesn't chemically react with almost anything.
Then how about Argon, Krypton, or Neon?
Nope. It doesn't react with any of those either.
Re:Scarce(r) resource (Score:5, Insightful)
You got the last apple of earth on your hand with no means to cultivate... What you do?
Reformat it and install Debian.
Done 40 years ago (Score:5, Interesting)
Helium was used as a lubricant in fixed head disk drives in the late 60's.
They had to keep a tank of it attached since it is very difficult to keep it from leaking out.
How, exactly, are they going to keep the Helium from leaking out?
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Re:Done 40 years ago (Score:4, Informative)
Good question. Helium atoms are so small that they can escape through tiny cracks between metal grain boundries in metals. Normal air does not. The only thing I can think is that they used some kind of penetrating sealant.
Re:Done 40 years ago (Score:4, Insightful)
What would replace the helium atoms? If the case is rigid, and the pressure inside is equal to atmospheric pressure, and air can't diffuse back in since O2 and N2 molecules are larger, I expect that pressure alone will heep the helium from leaking significantly.
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Gases will always flow from a region of higher partial pressure to one of lower pressure; the larger this difference, the faster the flow. [wikipedia.org]
In other words, the O2 and N2 will have no effect on the H2 diffusing out.
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Pressure does not work that way. This is a standard thermodynamics brainteaser. The helium will diffuse out until the partial pressure inside equals the partial pressure outside (which is zero). The partial pressures of other gases on either side of the diffusion membrane are irrelevant.
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My best guess is that they'll have a low pressure sensor and a refill valve. A good seal should be good for several years, and topping back up on helium should be pretty trivial.
Helium is cheap. Atleast, in the quantities that would be used in hard disks. If each drive leaks a cubic inch per year, and you have 50,000 drives, you're probably looking at a 4000-6000$ recharge cost per year, just for the raw gas. Small price to pay for increased capacity and decreased volume per unit of capacity per disk.
Re:Done 40 years ago (Score:4, Insightful)
Small price to pay for increased capacity and decreased volume per unit of capacity per disk.
Until it is all gone, or $10k for a recharge instead of $1.
There is a world wide helium shortage and a bunch of morons administrating the reserves. Average person just does not know, and why would they? We have been wasting it in balloons for most people's lives.
Barring a massive increase in technology, it is a completely nonrenewable resource. Unless you look at it in geological time frames, and even then, the planet only has so much.
By the time I retire MRI machines might cost several more times to operate just because of the helium costs alone....
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Let's think about this another way.
Let's say right now, that a hard disk costs $300 for a 3TB drive. And helium tech allows the same drive to be made, almost free, for a capacity of 4TB. That's probably $100 aditional value seen by the consumer.
Right now if we say that the hard disk, with a good estimate, has about 10 cubic inches of 40 cubic inches of helium in the drive, and leaks 2 cubic inches per year.
At current helium prices, the price for a cubic foot of helium as far as I know is about $5. So you're
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It IS valuable.
Right now it is a tragedy of the commons. Nobody will acknowledge the incredible shortage in the next coming decade and those who have the power over the reserves are basically sticking their heads in the sand. Sales are being pushed against the counsel of those who know better, which results in artificially cheap helium prices. The excuse was reducing the deficit.
Search Slashdot [slashdot.org] for some articles. I can't find it, but there was an article on helium policy within the last week in the US.
I
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How, exactly, are they going to keep the Helium from leaking out?
Well, there was the whole thing about it being hermetically sealed...
My guess is that they have this figured out.
Been there, done that (Score:3)
Re:Done 40 years ago (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Done 40 years ago (Score:5, Funny)
Perhaps they sealed the drives with more helium.
Not necessarily (Score:4, Informative)
According to Wiki, for half a century the US Constitution was hermetically sealed inside a glass container with helium.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermetic_seal [wikipedia.org]
Re:Done 40 years ago (Score:4, Informative)
No, he's thinking of helium. Helium is monoatomic and hydrogen is diatomic. A single atom of helium is smaller and leaks more easily than a two-atom molecule of hydrogen. Helium is the most difficult gas to contain. It will seep through solid steel.
Re:Done 40 years ago (Score:5, Interesting)
Pressure in a sealed container is not constant, and gas does not pressurize uniformly.
This means localized pressure fronts caused by the rotating platters will push molecules out, as will thermal expansion from drive activity.
Over time, the pressure inside the drive will drop below that of ambient pressure. This will cause "air bearing" failure, and drive failure.
(To better imagine this, imagine the spinning platter as a slingshot, pushing on the helium, and shoving it against the walls of the sealed enclosure. If this local pressure is greater than outside pressure, then the helium will be forced outside the enclosure. The energy of the plater displaces the equilibrium.)
You'll know when they break too! (Score:2)
You'll sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks!
Great! (Score:2)
Yet another way to use up a nonrenewable resource [dailymail.co.uk].
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Not the first (Score:5, Informative)
So When The Helium Leaks Out, Drive Dies? (Score:3)
Sure helium could improve performance and be beneficial for some uses, but anyone buying these need to ask what happens when the helium inevitably leaks out...
To me it looks another example of planned obsolescence at work. Though, perhaps, WD will take the razor blade approach and sell helium refill kits.
Not to worry, monitor indicator. (Score:5, Insightful)
anyone buying these need to ask what happens when the helium inevitably leaks out...
No worries; when the balloon attached to the side is half-full you know it's time to replace the drive and then find a child to give the balloon to.
Or if you are not in a hurry take the drive in to any Party Center USA store for a free refill.
Grams are not a unit of weight (Score:2)
This drive's weight and its mass will be different due to the buoyancy of the helium in a sealed container. I wonder if the drives contain 690 grams of mass, or if their weight is the same as a non-buoyant 690-gram object (i.e. 6.77 newtons at sea level on Earth). The implication seems to be that the helium-filled drives contain more than 690 grams of mass, but weigh the same as a 690-gram object.
New Meaning (Score:3)
OK, so that didn't sound as funny as I thought it would...there's a joke in there somewhere, dammit.
Secondary advantage to helium (Score:5, Informative)
Another advantage of using a drive filled with helium is better thermal conductivity than air (0.142 vs 0.024) . The heat generated by the inner workings of the drive will be conducted to the outer case, keeping the inside cooler.
One side effect... (Score:3)
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The lighter weight is due to using thinner platters not the helium.
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I don't think the article nor the summary states it's due to the gas.
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It's one of the most plentiful elements in the universe. If there is a market for it, it will be obtained somehow. The threatened shortage is what happens when government gets involved with things.
Re:Helium shortage (Score:4, Insightful)
There shouldn't be. Its a by-product of natural gas production. And what with the way that is growing, the supply coming out of the ground should be increasing as well.
If there is a shortage, the price should go up. And the gas producers will happily invest in the recovery equipment needed.
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"Its a by-product of natural gas production. And what with the way that is growing, the supply coming out of the ground should be increasing as well."
Ah-ah-ah! No! Natural gas and helium are formed in two different kind of rocks, but in a traditional natural gas reservoir, there's a dome of cap rock which traps and pools the gas and keeps it from leaking to the surface. The cap traps both natural gas and helium.
But the growing supply of natural gas in the past few years comes from fracking. There's no
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Well, after getting up off the floor after a good roll around and laugh, I'll remind myself that HDDs don't contain an internal ignitor. Nor does their firmware support a 'detonate HD' opcode.
Re:Low pressure to prevent leaks? (Score:5, Informative)
Look up partial pressure in some physics book. If you have gas in some leaky container at some pressure, it doesn't matter that there is another gas at another pressure outside of that container. Even if the different gases are at equal pressure, what will happen is that each will diffuse into the other through the aperture. That diffusion depends just on the respective partial pressures.
Helium at a lower pressure does not face an uphill battle due to the excess pressure outside of the container. It just diffuses through the apertures in the imperfect containers at a lower rate due to its lower pressure.
What would slow down the leak would be if there was helium on the outside at the same pressure, because then there would be as much helium diffusing into the container as diffusing out. But there is very little helium outside the hard drive, it being such a rare gas.
I think that if the apertures in the leaky container are such that helium can escape, but air cannot get in, then in fact the container will slowly evacuate. Pressure in that container will gradually drop as helium escapes, while hardly any finds its way back in.