WD is the delivery start of the HGST He6 drives. It’s going to 6TB drives for enterprise applications such as cloud storage as a distinctive feature that they are filled with helium instead of air. As a result, the platters and heads have less problems with friction.
The helium-filled drives from HGST, part of Western Digital, were announced last year, and now the company is the delivery started. The He6 hdds use seven platters in a 3.5″enclosure for up to 6TB. This quantity could be attained in particular by the use of helium instead of air.
Because Helium has a lower density than air, the platters and the heads is less affected by friction, with all the advantages in terms of heat build up from that. Also less energy is needed for rotating, what energy savings it brings. Or should the disks be made airtight, where hdds still vents.
Compared with air-filled 3.5-inch hard drives with five platters and a total capacity of 4TB would be the He6 hdds to a 49 percent better Watts-per-TB ratio and a 38 percent lower weight-per-TB, claims HGST. A price shows WD not be Ultrastar He6 hdds.
