Hitachi Global Storage is shrinking enterprise-class hard drives (the reliable, super-speedy 10K-15K RPM kind) for greater densities storage densities and power savings. Hitachi is planning to pump out the Ultrastar C10K147, a 2.5" SAS drive that spins at 10,000 RPM and can store 147 GB, sometime this quarter.

At 2.5 inches, Ultrastar C10K147 stores up to 147 gigabytes and stores data via a 3Gb/s SAS (define) interface for servers that need high performance but consume less power than traditional 15K HDDs.

Doug Pickford, director of market and product strategy for Hitachi, said businesses typically fit two 3.5-inch drives with a 1U (1U=1.75 inches) rack server. As customers move to 2.5-inch disk drives, such as the C10K147, there will be configurations of 6 HDDs, he said.

The drive consumes 9W maximum, whereas the 3.5" Ultrastar 15K147 scarfs down that much power that at idle (not the most seamless of comparisons, but still). And Ultrastar also has geeky starship name appeal! Death Star and Battlestar are already taken anyway.