Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices have become quite popular over the last five years or so, but Direct Attached Storage (DAS) units were the go-to devices for consumers looking to store large amounts of data before that. The interfaces for these …
Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices have become quite popular over the last five years or so, but Direct Attached Storage (DAS) units were the go-to devices for consumers looking to store large amounts of data before that. The interfaces for these …
Today Seagate is announcing a new product aimed squarely at the console market, and specifically at the Xbox brand. Seagate partnered with Microsoft to create the Xbox branded Game Drive for Xbox. Console games have been getting larger and larger, with games like Call of Duty coming in around 55 GB with expansions and add-ons. The original Xbox One was released with only 500 GB of internal storage, and of that, only about 360 GB is usable.
Seagate has a solution, and one that comes at a perfect time since the Xbox One is gaining the ability to record television, and that can burn up a lot of space in a hurry. The 2TB Game Drive for Xbox is a USB 3.0 based external drive. Now, before we get any further, it needs to be pointed out that the Xbox One will work with any USB 3.0 based hard drive, but Seagate is the only company to provide one that is licensed and endorsed with the Xbox branding.
The distinctive Xbox green means that you will never be in doubt what this drive is for, and the capacity should let you store around 50 or more games on it, and then you can take them with you if you need to play on another console.
The 2TB model will have a MSRP of $109.99, and be available from GameStop, Best Buy, Amazon, and other retailers. If you want to add some Xbox branding to your storage, the price premium over a less attractive model should not be too much.
Update: Seagate has apparently worked to create custom firmware for this drive for console gaming workloads. What that means is pretty unclear so we’ll test the device out and see how it performs Seagate has clarified that although they worked with Microsoft on certification and endorsement the firmware has not been tweaked. My appologies for the misunderstanding.
Source: Seagate
Today Seagate is announcing a new product aimed squarely at the console market, and specifically at the Xbox brand. Seagate partnered with Microsoft to create the Xbox branded Game Drive for Xbox. Console games have been getting larger and larger, with games like Call of Duty coming in around 55 GB with expansions and add-ons. The original Xbox One was released with only 500 GB of internal storage, and of that, only about 360 GB is usable.
Seagate has a solution, and one that comes at a perfect time since the Xbox One is gaining the ability to record television, and that can burn up a lot of space in a hurry. The 2TB Game Drive for Xbox is a USB 3.0 based external drive. Now, before we get any further, it needs to be pointed out that the Xbox One will work with any USB 3.0 based hard drive, but Seagate is the only company to provide one that is licensed and endorsed with the Xbox branding.
The distinctive Xbox green means that you will never be in doubt what this drive is for, and the capacity should let you store around 50 or more games on it, and then you can take them with you if you need to play on another console.
The 2TB model will have a MSRP of $109.99, and be available from GameStop, Best Buy, Amazon, and other retailers. If you want to add some Xbox branding to your storage, the price premium over a less attractive model should not be too much.
Update: Seagate has apparently worked to create custom firmware for this drive for console gaming workloads. What that means is pretty unclear so we’ll test the device out and see how it performs Seagate has clarified that although they worked with Microsoft on certification and endorsement the firmware has not been tweaked. My appologies for the misunderstanding.
Source: Seagate
This week Toshiba and SanDisk are announcing a new milestone in their joint development of flash memory. Back in March Toshiba announced a 48-layer 3D NAND technology that they were sampling in the form of a 128Gb MLC die. Now Toshiba and partner SanDisk have built a 256Gb TLC die on their 48-layer process. Toshiba will be sampling that chip starting in September, and SanDisk has selected it as their first 3D NAND device for mass production.
Central to this development is the outfitting of Fab 2 at their facility in Yokkaichi, Japan. The previous Fab 2 was demolished in 2014 and construction started on a replacement to be used as their first fab for 3D NAND. The new Fab 2 has now started pilot production of 3D NAND as it is being readied for mass production, scheduled to begin in 2016. Toshiba says the fab will be completed in the first half of the year and SanDisk plans to be shipping products using their 3D NAND by the end of the year.
The new 3D NAND will face experienced competition from Samsung who are currently shipping 32-layer 3D NAND in capacities up to 128Gb for both MLC and TLC configurations. Samsung has also announced its third generation V-NAND which should be starting mass production in the latter half of this year. Meanwhile, Intel and Micron have stated that their 32-layer 3D NAND will be in mass production by the fourth quarter of this year in the form of a 256Gb MLC die and a 384Gb TLC die. SK Hynix is to begin mass production of a 36-layer 128Gb MLC die during the third quarter and is working toward a 48-layer TLC that will be available in 2016.
All of the major flash manufacturers have now publicized their plans for introducing 3D NAND. Planar NAND won’t be disappearing overnight or even in a year, as it takes a lot of time and money to convert a fab to a new process. But from here on out, we can expect all the most interesting news about NAND flash memory to be about 3D.