Fat and Fast – IBM drive breaks land speed record

IBM has pumped up the volume and turned on the accelerator with the 72ZX, the latest and greatest member of the UltraStar family. In terms of size, the 72ZX is a sauropod (Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus) of the hard disk industry, bulking up to a massive 73GB capacity. But when it comes to speed, the 72ZX has more in common with the Oviraptor, running at a nimble 10,000RPM. Two smaller sisters of the 72ZX are also launched today, the Ultrastar 36LZX and the 7,200 RPM, Ultrastar 36LP, which each store 36GB. They're all designed for servers. Very big servers, by the look of it. The drives incorporate GMR heads and support most interfaces you can think of, including a 2Gbit fibre channel interface. The 36GB Ultrastars will hit the streets -- in small quantities -- before the end of the year. The 73GB monster will launch in Q1, 2000. Pricing details will have to wait another day. ®