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INTRODUCTION
As files and applications become larger and more taxing on network servers,
and an increasing nyumbner of users begin to discover the true potential
of Internet applications such as streaming media and high-impact graphics,
there is a growing demand for faster and more reliable hard drive technology.
In order to provide the performance and reliability necessary to accommodate
the vast number of new users and files, Seagate introduced the industry's
first third-generation 15,000 RPM drive, the Cheetah 15K.3!
description of technology
The 15K.3 SCSI drive provides industry-leading speed
and reliability for I/O-intensive applications, which translates into
lower client response times and increased I/O ability for large file storage
and transport. Because the Cheetah 15K.3 has much faster time-to-data
than the newest 10K drives, it delivers up to 40 percent more IOPS (Input/Output
operations per second) than 10K drives for the majoirty of performance
applications. This means that to support a certain level of IOPS and maintain
a certain response time for a group of clients, fewer 15K are required
than would be if the workload were handled by 10K drives.
So what does fewer drives mean for the IT manager?
It means greater reliability because the system will have
a lower spindle count. The fewer drives means fewer HDAs, less cabling
and lower overall drive cost. It also means less space require to hold
the drives, so it translates into denser performance.
Best fit applications?
Workstations, mid-level to high-end servers, storage area
networks, network attached storage, RAID storage arrays, filing and printing,
EMA/Groupware, databases, data mining, CAD, Data Streaming, and intensive
graphic applications.
installation
Using the Adaptec SCSI Card 39320D, the two-channel Ultra320
SCSI controller, the Cheetah 15K.3 73GB drive installs with ease. Using
our standard performance driven computer running Windows XP, the drive
installs amazingly well. One quirky thing went on during our installation
process that the good people at Seagate pointed out.
The drive wasn't being recongnized in the "My Computer"
area, however in the SCSI BIOS the drive came up just fine. Seems that
everybody's good friends over at Microsoft insist that you "activiate"
the hard drive through the "Manage" tool when you right click
on My Computer. So again, right clicking on my computer, then clicking
manage, and then selecting "Drive Management." The drive can
be "activated" at this point and formatted in NTFS. After running
through the Manage utility, the drive was installed...so the entire installation
process (including formatting the drive in the operating system) takes
about 20 minutes - amazing considering the size of the hard drive!
Performance
The performance of the drive was very impressive.
| Spindle Speed (RPM) |
15K |
| Average Latency (msec) |
2.0 |
| Average Read/Write (msec) |
3.6 |
| Track-to-Track Read/Write (msec) |
0.2 |
| Transfer Rate: |
|
| Internal (Mbits/sec) |
609 to 891 |
| Internal Formatted (Mbytes/sec) |
57 to 86 |
| Sustained (Mbytes/sec) |
49 to 75 |
| Environmental: |
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| Acoustics, Idle (bels) |
3.1 |
| Temperature, Operating/Nonoperating (°C) |
5 to 55, –40 to 70 |
Overall Impressions
There is no doubt that various levels of users will find
a perfect use of the Cheetah 15K.3 SCSI hard drive. Home consumers will
find the speed transfer I/O rates unparalleled for video editing, graphic
design, gaming, and any other intensive application. Professional graphic
designers and professional video editing will love the seamless work flow
rate from the drive. Best yet, network administrators will find the ease
of installation, amazing reliability, and performance of the drive to
be exactly what they're looking for in a drive.
If you're wondering why you should move to a faster spindle
speed, the answer is relatively simple. For example, if you wanted to
store 360GB of data and minimize access time to that data. If you store
this data on ten 15K.3 drives, the average seek time plus latency is 5.6
msec. Ultra320 SCSI increases the maximum burst transfer rates to 320MBytes/sec,
provides differential data integrity, extends the SCSI bus cable lengths
to 25 meters and provides easy system config for up to 16 devices. The
320Mbytes/sec doubles the Ultra160 drives, and is light years ahead of
the SCSI-1 standard used in 1992. From our limited test results and the
ones obtained from Seagate, sustained data transfer rates should be in
and around 42 to 66 Mbytes/sec on a consistant basis. Now what can you
do with that? With the increased bandwidth, server environments where
rapid response is required and applications like CAD and Digital Video
are going to move a HELL of a lot more quickly than whatever drive you're
using now. Increased bandwidth, incredible seek+latency times, jaw dropping
sustained data transfer rates ... it all adds up to this hard drive being
the tops in the industry.
There's a very good reason Seagate is the leader in the
SCSI drive market - they produce the best products available to both consumer
and high-end office markets. The pricing is very competitive compared
to other vendors, and the reliability numbers are tops in the industry.
This is the drive to get if you're looking for performance and reliability,
bar none.
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10 / 10 |
OVERALL SCORE
98%
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10 / 10 |
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9 / 10 |
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10 / 10 |
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10 / 10 |
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9.8 / 10 |
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