Seagate is reviving a 20-year-old technology to turn its newest 20TB HDD into a pseudo-SSD — but it won't come cheap
Seagate's FireCuda Forge uses Alkemi to prioritize frequently accessed files on separately purchased NVMe storage, combining mechanical capacity with faster data retrieval.
Seagate is reintroducing a 20-year-old hybrid storage technology to transform its latest 20TB hard disk drive (HDD) into a pseudo-solid-state drive (SSD) through a product called FireCuda Forge. This external hard drive merges conventional magnetic storage with a separately purchased NVMe SSD, enabling frequently accessed files to shift onto the faster solid-state storage automatically.
The FireCuda Forge recalls hybrid drives from the mid-2000s but employs a new caching system called Alkemi to optimize data placement. Users can insert a compatible M.2 NVMe SSD into an M.2 slot, and the Alkemi platform monitors file activity to determine which information should reside on the faster SSD. Frequently used files are prioritized on the NVMe SSD, while less active data remains on the larger mechanical disk.
This arrangement allows the HDD to function like an SSD-assisted system, providing gamers and creators with substantial storage capacity and responsiveness at a premium cost. The 20TB FireCuda Forge requires an additional SSD purchase and has a suggested retail price of $899, more expensive than regular external HDDs due to the necessary SSD upgrade.
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