Sun Microsystems Introduces 9-Gigabyte Disk Drive for Low-Cost Mass Storage Solution

Strategic Insights -

Sun Microsystems Computer Company (SMCC) has introduced a new 9-gigabyte fast/wide differential SCSI (F/W DSCSI) disk drive, offering a low-cost mass storage solution for SMCC SPARCserver customers. The new disk drive provides more than three times the storage capacity of SMCC's previous-generation 5.25-inch drives at a lower cost per megabyte, making it ideal for larger server configurations used for large databases and file systems, and other applications where the cost of storage is important.

Key Takeaways:

  • The new 9-gigabyte disk drive offers more than three times the storage capacity of SMCC's previous-generation 5.25-inch drives at a lower cost per megabyte.
  • The drive is designed for larger server configurations used for large databases and file systems, and other applications where the cost of storage is important.
  • Up to 48 drives, or 432 gigabytes of storage, can be housed in a single Sun storage expansion rack.
  • The drive's fast and wide SCSI-2 interface provides a 20-megabyte-per-second transfer rate, allowing for faster overall throughput.
  • The differential SCSI-2 interface supports 25-meter buses, making possible not only larger server configurations but also allowing greater flexibility in configuring the drives.
  • The drive uses an advanced drive controller and optimized firmware from Sun, delivering better overall I/O performance than generic "off-the-shelf" drives.
  • The new drives require the Solaris 2.3 software environment or higher.
  • Prices range from US$5,000 for a single configuration to US$32,600 for a six-way configuration with tray.

Statistics:

  • The new 9-gigabyte disk drive offers a 300% increase in storage capacity compared to previous-generation drives.
  • The drive's Low-Cost per megabyte is $0.121.
  • The interface provides a 20-megabyte-per-second transfer rate.
  • Up to 432 gigabytes of storage can be housed in a single Sun storage expansion rack.
  • The drives will be available in December.
  • Pricing for single to six-way configurations:

| Configuration | Price |

| --- | --- |

| Single | US$5,000 |

| Dual | US$10,000 |

| Triad | US$15,000 |

| Quadruplet | US$20,000 |

| Quintet | US$24,000 |

| Sextet (with tray) | US$32,600 |

Sources:

  • "Sun Microsystems Introduces New 9-Gigabyte Disk Drive", Paul Tsien, Sun Microsystems Computer Company, 1992 (no specific date mentioned)