The MG04ACA100N is the lowest-capacity example of Toshiba’s enterprise-spec MG04 hard drive series. In the 2020’s, a 1TB enterprise drive may seem somewhat behind the times, but there are certain purposes for them nonetheless (perhaps those who are unrelenting in their adversity to SSD’s?).
With a surprisingly funky seek-test, the MG04’s are another prime example of what Toshiba has managed to accomplish after their acquisition of Fujitsu in 2009.
Drive Attributes ------------------------------------------ Toshiba MG04ACA100N ------------------------------------------ Capacity 1TB Mfc Date 2020-09-09 Format 3.5" Interface SATA Platters 1 Heads 2 Cache 128MB RPM 7200 Protocol Serial-ATA/600 Origin Philippines (TSDP, ex-FCPP) ------------------------------------------
A single platter 1TB drive in late-2020 is a sight to behold, but they do still continue in production today.
This unit was manufactured in September of 2020, having just turned 3 years old. It’s odd that it was retired after only 2 years of use, but businesses have their reasons (even if they are sometimes illogical).
As with any modern 3.5″ Toshiba with Fujitsu ancestry, this unit was produced in the Philippines.
If you’ve seen a modern Toshiba before, the underside of this drive should show no surprises so far.
The base of this unit is reminiscent of low-platter current day MG08-D’s, with some minor changes. Particularly, the foam cutout is slightly different.
The central microcontroller on this unit is from Marvell, being the 88i9419-NDB2. EtronTech supply the 128MB of cache present on this example.
Sadly, the spindle motor driver is unbranded, alongside the rear of the board being as barren as ever.
Well, this example is perfectly healthy, which is always a bonus. 28 power cycles is certainly very low too, as expected from a unit that was clearly run 24/7 for an extended period.
With the MG10-D’s on the horizon, these can finally be retired from their line-up. Who knows when that will be though, given Toshiba’s tendency to drag their feet.
If you missed the video I made on this drive, you can find it here: