Perpendicular technology reaches new capacities

Darius Chang | Apr 28, 2006

Following closely to its recent announcement of perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) Cheetah drives, Seagate has dropped another bombshell with the rollout of a single-disc 750GB external drive based on the same technology.

Conventional longitudinal recording technology lays data bits flat on the disc as opposed to PMR which makes bits stand on end. In the past, longitudinal recording technology was subject to a force called superparamagnetic effect that might result in bits flipping and corrupting data. This is not an issue with PMR devices. Moreover, by standing the bits, more data units can be fitted on a disc, giving up to 10 times more storage capacity. This is similar to cramming more people on a train by removing the seats and providing standing space only.

Despite the increasing interest in flash-based hard drives, the high-density and cost-per-MB of PMR-based storage cannot be easily dismissed. The huge capacity offered by PMR devices is a match made in heaven for the large storage demands required by high-definition videos and increasingly sophisticated editing software.

Filed under: PC & Peripherals
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