Hard Drives

Posts are shown from newest to oldest in order of release date. There’s no schedule here; each upload is spontaneous. Published posts are synchronised with a corresponding video release.

Fujitsu Desktop 27 XV MPE3273AT 27.3GB (2000)

by BananaHDD
With release in Q3 1999, the MPE3273AT serves as Fujitsu’s highest-end consumer drive in the MPE3x series, coming in at 27.3GB with a whopping four-platters. While not the champion of the era, their design simplicity is something to be admired. With Fujitsu struggling at the time, the MPE3x’s hold-up considerably better than their later offerings ... Read More

Seagate Barracuda 9LP ST39173W 9.1GB (2000)

by BananaHDD
The Barracuda 9LP family topped out with this stunner of a model: the ST39172W. Aside from the fairly forgettable model number, this drive is a strikingly impressive unit. Featuring five-platters, running at 7,200 RPM and making enough noise to make your ears bleed, describing this thing as anything but beastly may be a travesty. While ... Read More

Hitachi DK522C-10 103MB (1990)

by BananaHDD
The Hitachi DK522C-10 was released in early-1987, limited to OEM distribution initially. Hitachi have been a long-standing player in the hard drive industry, but prior to their acquisition of IBM’s storage division in 2003, they mainly focused on SCSI/enterprise models and units focused on portable storage. While these drives were available with standard ESDI controller ... Read More

Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST31000640SS 1TB (2008)

by BananaHDD
The ST31000640SS is the largest member of the Barracuda ES.2 series. With release in 2007, the ES.2’s would be Seagate’s final enterprise-grade units to hold the Barracuda series name, with the successors to these being the Constellation ES.3’s. At this point, Seagate were having a few problems with the 7200.11’s, which is a fairly infamous ... Read More

Maxtor XT-8380S 360MB (1989)

by BananaHDD
The Maxtor XT-8380S is a behemoth of a drive, with this example hailing from late-1989. Maxtor released the XT-8000 series in either ESDI or SCSI formats, with the XT-8760 being the highest capacity member of the family. After battling with it for way too long, this example is still going over 30 years later. Drive ... Read More

Toshiba MK2326FC 340MB (1993)

by BananaHDD
The MK2326FC would release in early 1993, being Toshiba’s first three-platter 2.5″ drive. This drive was firmly Toshiba’s highest-end offering for the period, certainly carrying a high price tag to boot. As a result, this drive was out of reach for many, but 30 years later this isn’t as much the case anymore. With Toshiba’s ... Read More

Alps Electric DR311C911A 120MB (1992)

by BananaHDD
Alps Electric is another one of the more obscure hard drive manufacturers, although having such a large presence in computer peripherals (e.g. floppy disk drives) perhaps it’s unsurprising that their hard drive division did offer some success to the company. With the year 1992 shaping up to be a competitive year for the hard drive ... Read More

Fujitsu MBA3300RC 300GB (2009)

by BananaHDD
Announced in 2007, the MBA3300RC is Fujitsu’s largest & final 3.5″ enterprise SAS drive, with this example hailing from week 50 of 2009. With performance at mind, alongside high expectations of longevity, these drives are Fujitsu’s peak point when concerning their hard drive efforts. Being so late into Fujitsu’s history in the industry, these drives ... Read More

NEC D3711 170MB (1994)

by BananaHDD
The NEC D3711 is one of NEC’s many offerings from the early-mid 1990’s, with this model being on the lower-end side. While many of these have been covered on this site before, this is a perfect specimen for showing the insides & expectations of a particularly rare model. How did NEC do in the early-mid ... Read More

Seagate Medalist 6423 ST36423A 6.4GB (1999)

by BananaHDD
A design from Seagate commonly seen on the Barracuda ATA I, ATA II and ATA III, alongside many other Medalist models from the late 90’s. This one was manufactured in late 1999. While nothing special, a drive still being functional after 20 years is never something to take for granted. Certainly a more budget-friendly offering, ... Read More