Features

In recent years, the hard disk drive industry has undergone dramatic change in response to the growing interest in light, portable computing devices — such as notebooks, Ultrabooks and tablets — that are still capable of performing sophisticated tasks without loss of quality and speed. The challenge for developers of data storage technology has been to devise compact, cost-effective solutions for use in today’s plethora of consumer electronics and mobile devices.

In a move that promises to boost next-generation storage technologies in Singapore, the A*STAR Data Storage Institute (DSI) has launched a hybrid hard disk drive that, with a thickness of just 5 millimeters, ranks as one of the world’s slimmest storage devices of its kind.

Dubbed the ‘A-Drive’ by its designers, the sleek new device boasts marked advantages on all fronts: increased storage capacity, lower power consumption, and lower manufacturing costs. By offering power consumption reductions of up to 50%, researchers expect the drive to become a leading contender in the quest to offer a cheaper and ultimately greener alternative to solid-state drive (SSD) solutions currently on the market.

Top-of-the-range technology

The ever-increasing popularity of smaller and lighter computing devices has driven leading manufacturers to seek out new and innovative ways to provide reliable, high-capacity storage solutions while minimizing cost. One such solution is the hybrid hard disk drive — where the platters and heads of conventional hard disk drives are combined with additional non-volatile memories. Crucially, the non-volatile memory component can cache data for greater efficiency, enabling swifter boot-up times.

Interest in hybrid hard disk drives has heightened due to their potential for integration into the thinnest of notebooks and tablet devices. “In the future, hybrid drives will potentially be a preferred storage device choice for consumers and business owners looking for more compact mobile computing devices,” say the A*STAR researchers who contributed to the A-Drive project. “The A-Drive would be able to address the limitations of the popular, yet expensive, flash-based SSD, as well as the conventional hard disk drive for the consumer and business industry.”

The development of the A-Drive fulfills a long-held vision of the DSI: to produce one of the world’s most compact hybrid hard disk drives within the 2.5-inch form factor used for laptops. “The A-Drive provides a seamless integration of data and storage management and offers top-of-the-line features without incurring high costs,” say the researchers. “With its slim form factor, the A-Drive could fit into Ultrabooks and tablets, and due to its hybrid architecture, it offers a larger storage capacity than SSDs currently used in Ultrabooks, offering the same instant-on capability and with larger storage capacity, while capable of extending battery life by up to 30% as compared to conventional hard disk drives.”

Unique design

One of the biggest challenges faced during the design and development of the A-Drive was the reduction in thickness of the hard disk drive from 7 millimeters to just 5 millimeters, without compromising on performance and stability. In order to overcome this major technological hurdle, the researchers incorporated the DSI’s proprietary 4-millimeter-thin axial field motor, which can spin at 5,400 revolutions per minute. The slim spindle motor helps to reduce the friction loss of the bearing, vibration and acoustic noise, leading to lower power consumption and resulting in a more environmentally friendly design. Notably, the axial field motor has been patented, along with thirty other unique designs relating to the A-Drive.

The development of the A-Drive has allowed the DSI to deepen its ties with industry, with key parts being developed in collaboration with some of the world’s leading manufacturers of precision engineered components, including Seiko Instruments Singapore Partnerships Ltd, Miyoshi Precision Ltd and Unisteel Technology Ltd.

To further build upon the advantages of the ultra-thin drive, the researchers note that the DSI is “already working with another sister research institute, the A*STAR Singapore Institute of Manufacturing and Technology, on a helium-sealed drive to reduce effects from flow-induced vibration, mechanical resonances and to improve other parameters.” They add: “The knowledge gained is definitely useful in our future collaboration with the hard disk drive industry.”

Two decades of technological innovation

The year 2012 marks the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of the DSI. Befittingly, the A-Drive project is a milestone achievement in the institute’s intensive efforts to advance innovative research and development (R&D) capabilities for next-generation data storage technologies in Singapore. The official launch of the A-Drive was presided over by S. Iswaran, a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Second Minister for Trade and Industry.

The DSI continues to play an integral role in the growth of the technology sector in Singapore, accelerating R&D in the key areas of data center technologies, non-volatile memories, advanced magnetic recording and bit-patterned media recording, and nanotechnology. Some of the latest examples of the DSI’s work on magnetic recording and modeling research include Data storage: How magnetic recording heats up and Data storage: Going with the grain, and other advances in computing technologies achieved by the institute’s non-volatile memory coding team were presented in the article Innovation: Novel coding technique patented by A*STAR researchers, earlier this year.

Sharing his thoughts on the successful launch of the A-Drive, DSI Executive Director Pantelis Alexopoulos states: “Our year-long vision of creating a 5-millimeter-thin hybrid hard drive in 2.5-inch form factor with increased storage capacity and reduced power consumption at a lower cost for manufacturers has become a reality. We have managed to fit an amazing amount of innovation and advanced technology into a thinner, cheaper, and faster design, and we think the consumer and enterprise impact will be significant.”

Alexopoulos adds: “Our capabilities have been the result of collaboration with industry partners around the world. This has enabled DSI to develop groundbreaking solutions like the ‘A-Drive’. We look forward to future partnerships as we continue to strive towards new innovations that will shape the data storage landscape.”

About the Data Storage Institute

The A*STAR Data Storage Institute was established in 1992 as the Magnetics Technology Centre (MTC) and renamed as the Data Storage Institute in 1996. The research institute’s vision is to be a vital node in a global community of knowledge generation and innovation, nurturing research talents and capabilities for world-class R&D in next-generation storage technologies.