Seagate Delivers "Next-Gen" HDD

Seagate is boasting that its SV35.5 Series is the next step in the HDD evolution, geared to deliver optimal performance in digital video surveillance systems.

But what really speaks out is Seagate's claim that the SV35.5 Series hard drive was built for rigorous 24x7 use. Honestly, that should be the case for any hard drive, especially when considering that most consumers today juggle large files on a daily basis. However, the SV35.5 hard drive doesn't seem to be geared to the every day consumer, but rather end-users who need a drive that can handle huge processing loads stemming from digital video surveillance systems.

“The hardware requirements for the surveillance market are especially critical and dictate the use of HDDs that are made specifically for the needs of video system manufacturers and integrators,” said Carla Kennedy, senior vice president of Seagate’s Enterprise Product Line Management group. “With its optimized performance and capacity that can store over one full month of high-resolution video, the Seagate SV35.5 Series hard drive is a prime example of Seagate delivering a feature-rich solution that customers have requested.”

Seagate's SV35.5 series comes in three varieties to fit every video need: 250 GB, 500 GB, and 1 TB. According to the company, all three models use perpendicular recording technology to offer >1 million hours MTBF and <1 percent AFR in 24x7 video surveillance applications. Additionally, the series boasts many other impressive features including spin speeds of 7200-RPM, 47 simultaneous FULL D1 (704x576) video streams support, ATA-7 streaming commands (that optimizes video streaming performance and integrity), and 140 MB/s sustained sequential data rates. The series even takes full advantage of a 3 Gbps SATA interface.

But while sitting idle, the SV35.5 series uses only a meager 5 watts for the 250 GB version, 7 watts for the other two models. The 250 GB version also takes advantage of 8 MB of cache SATA, while the 500 GB and 1 TB offers 16 MB and 32 MB respectively. Moreover, the Seagate SV35.5 series is rather quiet: the 250 MB version is a whispering 2.3 bels, and 2.5 bels for the other two models, offering "best-in-class acoustics for extremely quiet operation" as Seagate states.

Finally, all three drives offer enhanced caching capabilities, built-in error recovery for non-stop streaming, thermal monitoring and reporting, unique user-selectable partitioning, and low spin-up power. The series' 20-mm form factor also provides more ventilation in a multi-drive environment, and is capable of operating under drive case temperatures of up to 70°C. The SV35.5's low power consumption should keep the heat generation to a minimal.

Seagate said that its SV35.5 series is best suited in applications serving as video surveillance digital video recorders (SDVR), video surveillance network digital video recorders (SNVR), and direct-attached and network-attached JBOD video surveillance storage.  Still, the SV35.5 series would be ideal for home consumers editing tons of video on a daily basis, or gamers wanting to build the ultimate rig.