Fujitsu plans to boost drive capacity with advanced lubricants

It may not have the same "wow" factor as advances such as holographic storage or perpendicular recording (and probably doesn't have a funky flash video showing off its features), but Fujitsu has plans to increase hard drive capacity using advanced lubricants. The idea seems fairly simple: if you can reduce the space between the read/write head and the platter, you can squeeze more data into a smaller space. The problem is, there's only so close the head can get to the drive without causing damage. However, as Fujitsu sees it, new lubricants could eliminate such concerns, allowing the head to float a mere 2 nanometers above the drive, compared with 10 nm as is typical with current drives. While Fujitsu is being coy about specifics, the company boasts that the technology could allow hard drives with a capacity of 1 terabit per square inch by 2010. That would double the density offered by InPhase's holographic drives, which currently hold a record at a half-terabit per inch. So, as long as Fujitsu's lubrication solution doesn't involve, say, submerging your PC's innards in a tank of vegetable oil, we're ready for it.

[YourNameHere @ Apr 7th 2006 4:11PM]

A bottle of KY would have been more appropriate.

How long before they give up this game of making hard drives smaller and faster and start trying to focus on solid-state? Seriously, I thought we already got the memo that hard drives were the thing of yesteryear.

[Scott @ Apr 7th 2006 4:20PM]

#1- Cost, cost, cost. Who is willing to pay 7X for an equivalent flash drive, except for very specific and limited applications? Tape drives were supposed to be dead in the late 70s, but nothing is as cost effective. The same applies for HDDs.

[Josh Warner @ Apr 7th 2006 4:31PM]

Maybe this will go somewhere, but here is my prime concern: there is no such thing as a lubricant that lasts forever. Oil, grease, what-have-you, the friction they are preventing will eventually win. So I predict that these drives (if released) will have far lower lifetimes than current drives.

This wouldn't be immediately apparant - they might last a year - but I would guess a large backlash would be in store once they start failing en masse.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think my logic is sound here.

[scott mcqueen @ Apr 7th 2006 4:45PM]

friction? how much heat does a HDD make nowadays? very little compared to other things in your box

these things should have a lifetime of im guessing 10-20 use years, i dont think we have to worry about warrentees at that point.

[Carmine @ Apr 7th 2006 4:55PM]

I use Castrol Syntec on my hard drives. I suddenly got the urge to do so while listening to your recent podcasts. They now work 100% better!

[Chris @ Apr 7th 2006 5:26PM]

#1 - Solid state storage will overtake mechanical storage when it becomes cheaper. It's that simple.

[CcntMnky @ Apr 7th 2006 7:00PM]

Hard drives were obsolete technology back in the 80's, or so they said. Funny thing is, as long as hard drives progress as fast as silicon, solid-state can't take over. It will happen some time, but I wouldn't expect it anytime soon with the $1,000 32gb flash drives and new HDD tech options.

[Erik @ Apr 7th 2006 7:58PM]

Thats funny. i used lube to increase your moms capacity last night.


im sorry...couldent help it...

[grey eminence @ Apr 7th 2006 9:06PM]

magnetic hard drives are coming to the end of the road just like the horse and buggy.

optical storage has alot more to offer in storage density and capacity, Volume 2 D Volume holographic densities from 200 Terabits / sq.in. to 3 D over 40,000 Terabits / cu.cm.

http://www.colossalstorage.net/mainframe1a.htm

[YourNameHere @ Apr 7th 2006 9:19PM]

#3: have a look here: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/materials-02ze.html
It's called NFC and it's slicker than teflon and less wear-resistant. How wear-resistant? After 5 million passes it had only lost 1 micron in thickness.

#2 #5 & #6: Intel said it's working on bringing those prices down within the next couple years.

[OddManOut @ Apr 8th 2006 12:17AM]

"Solid state storage will overtake mechanical storage when it becomes cheaper. It's that simple."

This is likely very true. But platter based HDDs are not likely to drop right off the face of the planet at that time either. As someone mentioned, there was a time when tape drives were the storage method of choice. They're not now, but any well run IT department will still have a few tape drives of some sort for backups and such. Shoot, no one debates that CDs and even MDs are superior to audio cassettes but you can still walk into any electronics store and buy a cassette player, and usually you can have one factory installed in a new car (and people still do).

And keep in mind Flash mem ain't exactly perfect yet. I've read on a couple different boards about people who have used flash drives for their swap partition in various devices and had it wear out the flash media...fast. Like a few WEEKS fast.

Yeah, solid state/optical/holographic is the comming (and partially here) thing, but magnetic storage ain't dead yet.

Heck I still use 3.5" floppies on occasion...

[satan422 @ Apr 8th 2006 1:15AM]

I'd worry more about reliability. Isn't the head smacking into the platter the #1 reason for hard drive miswrites and screw-ups? Seems like having a 10nm cushion is much safer than 2nm... More data's great, but who cares if all it takes is one good jolt to screw it all up.

[Jon Doe @ Apr 8th 2006 2:41AM]

Maybe in desktops and servers but not in my laptop you don't. Such lube won't keep a head from hitting something the first time you are on a bus or are in a car or want to show a coworker something across the table and hand him your laptop, etc. I�m all for new ideas. Lets just avoid ideas that could lead to data loss.

[loyukfai @ Apr 8th 2006 3:29AM]

#12: If your HDD is bumped hard during operation, I don't think it matters much whether it's 2 or 10nm - the head will still hit the platter.

HDD heads have been hovering over the platter since it's inception.

[aonicc @ Apr 8th 2006 3:22PM]

I got the idea from the article that it wasn't as much "lubrication" as much as it was a thin coating that let the head come closer without potential damage to the platter. I would imagine that these new drives would be _more_ bump-resistant than the previous, uncoated, variety.