Seagate takes the wraps off 3TB hard drive

Storage vendor Seagate has introduced a 3TB hard drive model for enterprise and consumer desktop PCs.

The company said that the Barracuda XT line would set a new mark for storage capacity in desktop systems and overcome storage hurdles posed by older systems

The 3.5 inch drives will sport a 64MB cache and will operate at 7200 RPM. The drives will also support the higher throughput 6Gbit/s Serial ATA format.

While the Barracuda XT model is being targeted at traditional high-performance markets such as media production, home servers and high-end gaming systems, Seagate is also equipping the drive with tools for older systems.

The Barracuda XT will use the company's DiscWizard storage software tool for legacy operating systems. DiscWizard can allow users to overcome a 2.1TB hard drive storage ceiling that limits disk size in Windows XP.

The company said that the tool will allow users to easily configure both Windows and PC BIOS to recognize ad allow the larger 3TB storage capacity.

"Seagate is squarely focused on delivering the storage performance, capacity and innovation to ensure that technology transitions remain seamless for our customers," said Seagate executive vice president of sales, marketing and customer service Dave Mosley.

"The Barracuda XT hard drive epitomizes our commitment to providing end-user customers and PC manufacturers with the world's most advanced storage solutions. "