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Buffalo Announces DRAM-cached HD-PGDU3 External HDD

btarunr

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Buffalo announced a unique new external HDD, which it claims is the world's fastest. No, it doesn't embed an SSD, but a host-agnostic hot-data juggling system between a conventional hard drive (capacities of 500 GB and 1 TB), and 1 GB of DDR3 DRAM cache. As the drive powers up, frequently accessed data (hot-data), is copied onto the fast DRAM cache. As access frequencies of data on the HDD rise, they're juggled onto the cache.

An in-built lithium-ion battery ensures that there's no data loss when data is being juggled to and from the cache due to an abrupt disconnection; and it also ensures that hot-data stays on the DRAM for a few hours, even with the drive disconnected. An LED battery level meter keeps you updated on battery life. The battery recharges each time the drive is plugged in to the host. The drive uses USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface, although there's no mention of UASP support. Under real-world circumstances, the DRAM-cached drive offers transfer rates of up to 400 MB/s. Measuring 81 mm x 18 mm x 133 mm (WxDxH), the drives weigh in at about 250 g.



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So it's basically a hybrid drive but with RAM instead of SSD. And that RAM is kept powered by a battery when it's not powered on. You'd think a manufacturer would do an updated version of Gigabyte's i-RAM by now...
 
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