Ultrastar He6 - the world's first 6 TB helium HDD
HGST (Western Digital) Introduces Ultrastar He6 - The World's First Helium-Filled Sealed Drive for Large, Horizontally Scalable Systems. What is the point of using helium in the sealed area of the drive? Helium is seven times lighter than air. The use of helium instead of air in the sealed zone can significantly reduce the turbulence caused by the rotation of the plates, reduce energy consumption and lower the temperature inside the drive.
Reducing the turbulence caused by the rotation of the plates allowed HGST to use seven plates in a traditional 3.5-inch form factor, as well as providing a speed of 177 MB / s for linear read / write operations. In addition to being the first helium-filled HDD in the world, the Ultrastar He6 drive developed by HGST is also the first 6 TB hard drive on the market. Its design provides an increase in power by 50% and still reduces the amount of energy needed to start the disk up to 23%.
In this article, we will conduct a detailed analysis of the performance of this hard drive and consider the possible areas of its application.
Main characteristics:
- The most capacious HDD on the market (6 TB, seven-plate design, providing the best total cost of storage);
- minimum energy consumption with the best W / TB (23% less power consumption in idle mode for each disk, 49% better W / TB);
- The best recording density in a standard 3.5-inch form factor (50% increased capacity);
- the weight is less than that of a standard 3.5-inch hard drive with five plates (50 g lighter even with two additional plates, while having 50% more capacity, 38% lower weight / TB).
Application Environment:
- high-density data centers (the only cost-effective solution when using immersion cooling in mineral oil or fluid, since the disk is completely tight and ensures maximum data density);
- Large horizontally scalable data centers;
- container data centers;
- semi-operational data storage systems;
- organization of mirror levels of data arrays;
- enterprises and data centers where data density and storage capacity are of paramount importance.
For enterprises that are in no hurry to upgrade their infrastructure, Ultrastar He6 is also a significant leap forward - without changing the platforms, you can increase the data storage density by 2–3 times, while it will be possible to significantly save on electricity.
6TB helium disks are delivered with SATA or SAS interfaces, both types will be considered in this review.
Models:
SAS: HUS726060ALS640 / 0F18370, HUS726060ALS641 / 0F20577
SATA: HUS726060ALA640 / 0F18335, HUS726060ALA641 / 0F20572
Interface: SAS 6Gb / s, SATA 6Gb / s
Capacity (GB) / second:
5B (W ): 5B ( s ): 5B / 528 (SAS), 512n (SATA)
Maximum data density (gigabit / square inch): 544
Form factor: 3.5-inch HDD
Performance:
- buffer size (MB): 64
- spindle speed (RPM): 7200
- maximum interface bandwidth (MB / s): 600
- linear speed (MB / s): 177
- search time (read, milliseconds): 8.5
Reliability:
- errors (with the inability to recover, bits when reading): 1 out of 10 ^ 15
- MTBF (average time between errors, hours): 2.0
- number of rewriting cycles: 600 000
- guarantee (years): 5
Noise level (Bel): 2.0
Power supply:
- requirements: +5 VDC (± 5%), + 12VDC (± 5%)
- initial current (A, maximum): 1.2 (+ 5V), 2.0 (+ 12V)
- read / write ( W, average): 8.8 (SAS), 7.3 (SATA)
- active work (W average): 5.7 (SAS), 5.3 (SATA)
- standby time (W): 4.1 (SAS), 3.7 (SATA)
Physical characteristics:
- Z-height (mm): 26.1
- measurements (width x depth, mm): 101.6 (± 0.25) x147
- weight (grams, maximum): 640
Environmental requirements during operation:
- ambient temperature: from 5º to 60ºC
- shock level (half a sinusoid): 70
- vibrations (from 5 to 500Hz): 0.67 (XYZ)
Environmental requirements during storage:
- ambient temperature: from -40º to 70ºC
- shock level (half a sinusoid): 300
- vibration (5 to 500Hz): 1.04 (XYZ)
As mentioned above, HGST created the first sealed disk filled with helium, due to which it was possible to significantly reduce energy consumption, to ensure greater density and reliability of data storage. On the front of the disc is a sticker with disc information, including the product name, capacity and the HGST logo. Since the disk is filled with helium, its assembly is somewhat different - the components of the disk are merged together to hold the helium inside.
Ultrastar He6 is much quieter than air-filled discs, while the noise level of the same Ultrastar 7K4000 is 2.9 Bel, the noise level for He6 is only 2 Bel. In addition, the disk consumes much less energy, the tests carried out in real conditions give a value of 5.56 watts, while for disks filled with air, this value is at 7.68 watts.
HGST was not able to provide the required number of hard drives to test application performance. If the situation changes in the future, these results will be added here.
SAS Enterprise HDD compared to:
the Seagate 4TB Constallation ES.3
the Seagate ES.2 3TB Constallation
the Toshiba 4TB the SAS
the Toshiba the SAS 3TB
Hitachi 7K4000 4TB the SAS the SATA Enterprise compared to the HDD: Western the Digital 4TB the RE4 the Seagate of Constellation ES.2 3TB the Seagate 3TB of Constellation the CS Western Digital Se 4TB Testing was performed when loading up to 16 streams and 16 queues for each of the streams, which provided light and heavy load levels. Since hard drives reach their adjusted performance level very quickly, we present a graph only from the main sections of each test. Key tests included testing:
- bandwidth (read + write, IOPS averaged);
- average delay (read + write, average total delay);
- maximum delay (when reading and writing);
- standard deviation of the delay (averaged for reading and writing).
Performance was tested with blocks of different sizes - 4k for reading and writing, and 8K 70/30 for reading and writing, which is a generally accepted test for Enterprise disks:
- 4K (100% read or 100% write, 100% 4K);
- 8K 70/30 (70% read, 30% write, 100% 8K);
- 128K serial (100% read or 100% write, 100% 128K).
In the first of the tests, random performance was measured when using 4k read and write blocks in order to get a stable peak I / O value, Ultrastar He6 SAS received an average read result, slightly ahead of Seagate Constellation (4TB), in while the record was the last.
In the case of the SATA interface, Ultrastar He6 took second place in read speed, but turned out to be almost the last in write performance, barely ahead of Seagate Constellation 3TB.
With a heavy load of 256 queue in our 4K random read and write test, the Ultrastar He6 SAS showed average read and write latencies of 1107.73 ms and 1442.20 ms, respectively.
For the Ultrastar He6 SATA interface, response values of 1850.92 ms for reading and 1443.61 ms for writing, respectively, were obtained.
Comparing the peak response times of SAS disks, the He6 SAS showed average values when reading and took the last place in the waiting time when recording with a huge margin.
He6 with SATA interface in terms of latency when reading is almost in the first place, but in the last in response to writing.
Considering the delays together with the standard deviation measurements, we get the result in which He6 SAS is in last place.
At the same time, He6 with a SATA interface takes a confident second place in reading results, but is almost the last in results in writing operations.
Now consider the results of tests with variable load, where the load varied from 2 threads / 2 queues to 16 threads / 16 queues. In the deployed 8k 70/30 test, He6 SAS turned out to be almost the last, but much higher than Seagate Constellation 3TB, whose performance turned out to be consistently low from the very beginning, but stable, which is displayed as a straight line on the graph.
He6 with a SATA interface showed practically the best result, taking confidently first place with a load of 16 threads / 16 queues, showing a value of 168 IOPS.
When measuring the average latency for He6 SAS, we got a response time from 33.65 ms for 2 threads / 2 queues to 1266.53 ms for 16 threads / 16 queues.
A disk with a SATA interface showed the best result of an average response of 1516.51 ms for 16 threads / 16 queues.
In the 8k 70/30 maximum response tests, He6 SAS showed an almost worse result, reaching 3898.8 ms at the end of the test.
For a disk with a SATA interface, things are much better, since the minimum response time was 4236.21 ms, which is slightly ahead of the value from Seagate Constellation 3TB.
In the standard deviation test, He6 SAS showed consistently the worst result at 629, 87 ms for 16 threads / 16 queues.
While He6 SATA shows the best values, taking first place for the test with a load of 16 threads / 16 queues and showing a value of 441.4 ms.
In the 128K sequential test, He6 SAS showed amazing results in read speed (184015 KB / s) and write (183766 KB / s), confidently taking first place.
While He6 SATA turned out to be slightly worse, showing almost the same results at 182131 KB / s while reading and 182203 KB / s while writing.
HGST Ultrastar He6 drives with SAS and SATA interfaces are a significant step towards increasing data storage density and are ideal for enterprises that are facing an exponential increase in data volume, since they provide the ability to store 50% more data within the existing infrastructure (in if previously 4TB disks were used), they provide the possibility of using cooling systems in liquids, as they are airtight, practically silent and very energy efficient.
- high density of data storage;
- practically the best performance in sequential read and write;
- low power consumption compared to traditional 7k 4TB drives.
- new technology, which so far does not have an extensive "track record";
- A high initial price tag, which reached $ 850 until the announcement of the new series.
Of course, they are inferior in terms of performance in random reading and writing in comparison with other disks, but despite this, it is difficult not to recommend these disks to those for whom data storage density and energy saving are more important.
Reducing the turbulence caused by the rotation of the plates allowed HGST to use seven plates in a traditional 3.5-inch form factor, as well as providing a speed of 177 MB / s for linear read / write operations. In addition to being the first helium-filled HDD in the world, the Ultrastar He6 drive developed by HGST is also the first 6 TB hard drive on the market. Its design provides an increase in power by 50% and still reduces the amount of energy needed to start the disk up to 23%.
In this article, we will conduct a detailed analysis of the performance of this hard drive and consider the possible areas of its application.
Main characteristics:
- The most capacious HDD on the market (6 TB, seven-plate design, providing the best total cost of storage);
- minimum energy consumption with the best W / TB (23% less power consumption in idle mode for each disk, 49% better W / TB);
- The best recording density in a standard 3.5-inch form factor (50% increased capacity);
- the weight is less than that of a standard 3.5-inch hard drive with five plates (50 g lighter even with two additional plates, while having 50% more capacity, 38% lower weight / TB).
Application Environment:
- high-density data centers (the only cost-effective solution when using immersion cooling in mineral oil or fluid, since the disk is completely tight and ensures maximum data density);
- Large horizontally scalable data centers;
- container data centers;
- semi-operational data storage systems;
- organization of mirror levels of data arrays;
- enterprises and data centers where data density and storage capacity are of paramount importance.
For enterprises that are in no hurry to upgrade their infrastructure, Ultrastar He6 is also a significant leap forward - without changing the platforms, you can increase the data storage density by 2–3 times, while it will be possible to significantly save on electricity.
6TB helium disks are delivered with SATA or SAS interfaces, both types will be considered in this review.
Detailed specifications
Models:
SAS: HUS726060ALS640 / 0F18370, HUS726060ALS641 / 0F20577
SATA: HUS726060ALA640 / 0F18335, HUS726060ALA641 / 0F20572
Interface: SAS 6Gb / s, SATA 6Gb / s
Capacity (GB) / second:
5B (W ): 5B ( s ): 5B / 528 (SAS), 512n (SATA)
Maximum data density (gigabit / square inch): 544
Form factor: 3.5-inch HDD
Performance:
- buffer size (MB): 64
- spindle speed (RPM): 7200
- maximum interface bandwidth (MB / s): 600
- linear speed (MB / s): 177
- search time (read, milliseconds): 8.5
Reliability:
- errors (with the inability to recover, bits when reading): 1 out of 10 ^ 15
- MTBF (average time between errors, hours): 2.0
- number of rewriting cycles: 600 000
- guarantee (years): 5
Noise level (Bel): 2.0
Power supply:
- requirements: +5 VDC (± 5%), + 12VDC (± 5%)
- initial current (A, maximum): 1.2 (+ 5V), 2.0 (+ 12V)
- read / write ( W, average): 8.8 (SAS), 7.3 (SATA)
- active work (W average): 5.7 (SAS), 5.3 (SATA)
- standby time (W): 4.1 (SAS), 3.7 (SATA)
Physical characteristics:
- Z-height (mm): 26.1
- measurements (width x depth, mm): 101.6 (± 0.25) x147
- weight (grams, maximum): 640
Environmental requirements during operation:
- ambient temperature: from 5º to 60ºC
- shock level (half a sinusoid): 70
- vibrations (from 5 to 500Hz): 0.67 (XYZ)
Environmental requirements during storage:
- ambient temperature: from -40º to 70ºC
- shock level (half a sinusoid): 300
- vibration (5 to 500Hz): 1.04 (XYZ)
Design and construction
As mentioned above, HGST created the first sealed disk filled with helium, due to which it was possible to significantly reduce energy consumption, to ensure greater density and reliability of data storage. On the front of the disc is a sticker with disc information, including the product name, capacity and the HGST logo. Since the disk is filled with helium, its assembly is somewhat different - the components of the disk are merged together to hold the helium inside.
Ultrastar He6 is much quieter than air-filled discs, while the noise level of the same Ultrastar 7K4000 is 2.9 Bel, the noise level for He6 is only 2 Bel. In addition, the disk consumes much less energy, the tests carried out in real conditions give a value of 5.56 watts, while for disks filled with air, this value is at 7.68 watts.
Application Performance Analysis
HGST was not able to provide the required number of hard drives to test application performance. If the situation changes in the future, these results will be added here.
Testing and Comparison
SAS Enterprise HDD compared to:
the Seagate 4TB Constallation ES.3
the Seagate ES.2 3TB Constallation
the Toshiba 4TB the SAS
the Toshiba the SAS 3TB
Hitachi 7K4000 4TB the SAS the SATA Enterprise compared to the HDD: Western the Digital 4TB the RE4 the Seagate of Constellation ES.2 3TB the Seagate 3TB of Constellation the CS Western Digital Se 4TB Testing was performed when loading up to 16 streams and 16 queues for each of the streams, which provided light and heavy load levels. Since hard drives reach their adjusted performance level very quickly, we present a graph only from the main sections of each test. Key tests included testing:
- bandwidth (read + write, IOPS averaged);
- average delay (read + write, average total delay);
- maximum delay (when reading and writing);
- standard deviation of the delay (averaged for reading and writing).
Performance was tested with blocks of different sizes - 4k for reading and writing, and 8K 70/30 for reading and writing, which is a generally accepted test for Enterprise disks:
- 4K (100% read or 100% write, 100% 4K);
- 8K 70/30 (70% read, 30% write, 100% 8K);
- 128K serial (100% read or 100% write, 100% 128K).
In the first of the tests, random performance was measured when using 4k read and write blocks in order to get a stable peak I / O value, Ultrastar He6 SAS received an average read result, slightly ahead of Seagate Constellation (4TB), in while the record was the last.
In the case of the SATA interface, Ultrastar He6 took second place in read speed, but turned out to be almost the last in write performance, barely ahead of Seagate Constellation 3TB.
With a heavy load of 256 queue in our 4K random read and write test, the Ultrastar He6 SAS showed average read and write latencies of 1107.73 ms and 1442.20 ms, respectively.
For the Ultrastar He6 SATA interface, response values of 1850.92 ms for reading and 1443.61 ms for writing, respectively, were obtained.
Comparing the peak response times of SAS disks, the He6 SAS showed average values when reading and took the last place in the waiting time when recording with a huge margin.
He6 with SATA interface in terms of latency when reading is almost in the first place, but in the last in response to writing.
Considering the delays together with the standard deviation measurements, we get the result in which He6 SAS is in last place.
At the same time, He6 with a SATA interface takes a confident second place in reading results, but is almost the last in results in writing operations.
Now consider the results of tests with variable load, where the load varied from 2 threads / 2 queues to 16 threads / 16 queues. In the deployed 8k 70/30 test, He6 SAS turned out to be almost the last, but much higher than Seagate Constellation 3TB, whose performance turned out to be consistently low from the very beginning, but stable, which is displayed as a straight line on the graph.
He6 with a SATA interface showed practically the best result, taking confidently first place with a load of 16 threads / 16 queues, showing a value of 168 IOPS.
When measuring the average latency for He6 SAS, we got a response time from 33.65 ms for 2 threads / 2 queues to 1266.53 ms for 16 threads / 16 queues.
A disk with a SATA interface showed the best result of an average response of 1516.51 ms for 16 threads / 16 queues.
In the 8k 70/30 maximum response tests, He6 SAS showed an almost worse result, reaching 3898.8 ms at the end of the test.
For a disk with a SATA interface, things are much better, since the minimum response time was 4236.21 ms, which is slightly ahead of the value from Seagate Constellation 3TB.
In the standard deviation test, He6 SAS showed consistently the worst result at 629, 87 ms for 16 threads / 16 queues.
While He6 SATA shows the best values, taking first place for the test with a load of 16 threads / 16 queues and showing a value of 441.4 ms.
In the 128K sequential test, He6 SAS showed amazing results in read speed (184015 KB / s) and write (183766 KB / s), confidently taking first place.
While He6 SATA turned out to be slightly worse, showing almost the same results at 182131 KB / s while reading and 182203 KB / s while writing.
conclusions
HGST Ultrastar He6 drives with SAS and SATA interfaces are a significant step towards increasing data storage density and are ideal for enterprises that are facing an exponential increase in data volume, since they provide the ability to store 50% more data within the existing infrastructure (in if previously 4TB disks were used), they provide the possibility of using cooling systems in liquids, as they are airtight, practically silent and very energy efficient.
pros
- high density of data storage;
- practically the best performance in sequential read and write;
- low power consumption compared to traditional 7k 4TB drives.
Minuses
- new technology, which so far does not have an extensive "track record";
- A high initial price tag, which reached $ 850 until the announcement of the new series.
Of course, they are inferior in terms of performance in random reading and writing in comparison with other disks, but despite this, it is difficult not to recommend these disks to those for whom data storage density and energy saving are more important.