Seagate’s second generation MACH.2 hard drives was introduced. They feature two independent heads, which provide outstanding performance. Seagate released the Exos 2X18 model, which has a capacity 16 and 18 TB. The latter is the fastest HDD in existence. Both products will be available in SATA (6Gb/s) and SAS (12Gb/s) interfaces.

The Exos 2X18 hard drives have a capacity 18 TB and 16TB respectively. They are described by the host to be two independent logical drives each with 9 and 8 TB, depending on their capacity. These novelties are equipped with traditional CMR magnetic recording and have sealed chambers that are filled with Helium. Exos 2X18’s spindle speed is 7200 RPM.

SAS HDDs can read sequentially at speeds of 554 MB/s while SATA HDDs can read sequentially at speeds of 545 MB/s. These HDDs are the fastest on both the market. For new products, the performance for random read/write operations in blocks of four KB is 304 IOPS and 560IOPS. Average latency is 4.16ms. The sector size and hard disk buffer storage are 256 MB. We also note that the MACH.2 Exos 2X14 of the previous generation provided a speed limit of 524MB / s.

The SAS and SATA versions are 8 and 7.8 watts respectively in idle mode. Random reading and writing data is stored in blocks of 4 KB and 9.6 W, respectively. The devices are designed to operate in the temperature range from +5 to +60 °C. Time from failure – 2.5 Million hours. They come with a five year manufacturer’s guarantee.

Exos 2X18 hard drives are not available from the manufacturer. The new products are targeted at corporate customers that require storage systems with 24/7 performance.