IBM launches super-fast drive

IBM's storage division has claimed that its latest hard drive is the fastest in the industry, but analysts claim the achievement may be short-lived.

The Ultrastar 36Z15 device, which transfers data at up to 647Mbps and has a seek time of 3.4 milliseconds, is up to 25 per cent faster than existing 15,000rpm drives, according to Big Blue. Rival Seagate also has a drive that performs at 15,000rpm, but it has a smaller storage capacity than IBM's.

However, Dave Reinsel, an analyst at researcher IDC, said IBM's moment may be short-lived. "Seagate is expected to improve its own 15,000rpm drive in the coming months, and Fujitsu and Hitachi plan to move into the 15,000rpm space as well," he claimed.

Bill Healy, vice president of the storage division at IBM, said: "The drives were designed to respond to today's needs, from customers interfacing with internet applications to partners accessing an extranet or a company intranet."

IBM has also come up with an 18Gb version of the Ultrastar 36Z15, due to ship this quarter alongside the 36Gb version.