Removable HDD “REV” with a built-in motor in the cartridge: Sweet Memories File048 –Engadget Japanese version

[名称] REV
[種類] HDD
[記録方法] Magnetic recording
[サイズ] 2.5 inches
[容量] 35～120GB
[登場年] From around 2004

In this series of projects that sheds light on the nostalgic recording media that have been eliminated, we will gently introduce the removable media drives that we are collecting loosely.

“REV” is a removable HDD developed by Iomega.As a genre, it was developed by the companyMeIt is the same as the above, but the big difference is that the platter size has been reduced from 3.5 inches to 2.5 inches, and measures against dust and dust, which are the enemies of removable HDDs, have been thoroughly implemented.

The first generation 35GB appeared in April 2004, the second generation 70GB appeared in August 2006, and the third generation last model 120GB appeared in May 2008. All cartridge shapes are the same, 35GB discs can be read and written by 70GB REV drive, 70GB disc can be read by 120GB REV drive, and some compatibility was ensured.

The main use is for backup, and the target is general users who handle large amounts of data and replacement from tape media in small and medium-sized enterprises.Therefore, priority was given to cheapness and ease of use.ZipUnlike that, the feature was that reliability was emphasized, such as achieving a storage life of about 30 years.

Another advantage was that it was compact and lightweight, so it had excellent impact resistance, and unlike tape media, it had excellent random accessibility.

By the way, the fact that “35GB / 90GB” is written on the cartridge package means that the actual capacity is 35GB and 90GB can be saved when compressed. Since the capacity at the time of compression was often written on the tape media, did you follow that? From the perspective of general users, the notation is a bit confusing.

Let’s take a closer look at the cartridge.

The surface is as simple as the Iomega logo and the letters REV. There is a shutter at the top of this photo, which you can open to access the internal disc. The cartridge size is approximately 77.5 x 74.5 x 10 mm (actual measurement). Although it is thick, it is about the size between a 3.5-inch floppy disk and an MD.

At the beginning, I wrote that “measures against dust and dust are thorough”, and one of them is the improvement of the spindle motor connection.

With general removable media, it is necessary to physically connect the spindle motor on the drive side and the disk in the cartridge, so a gap is inevitably created. As a countermeasure, there is a method such as adopting a large shutter that covers the connection part of the spindle motor, but this method can reduce the gap but cannot seal it and does not prevent the intrusion of dust.

Therefore, REV has this spindle motor built into the cartridge side. We took measures to eliminate the connection itself and not create a gap in the first place.

Let’s look at the back side.

3.5-inch floppy disks have a connection with the spindle motor in the center, but REV has no connection. The motor is built in the part where the white sticker is pasted, and there is no gap.

Another big improvement is the shutter part. Although the sliding shutter can easily protect the internal disc, there is a risk of dust coming out by rubbing against the exterior of the cartridge or the drive. To avoid this, REV adopted a shutter like a revolving door.

Here is the one I opened this shutter.

The platter looks like a thin line in the center. You can see the four terminals to the left of it, which are the wires that connect to the motor.

Although barely visible in this photo, there is something like packing inside the shutter to seal the opening. Furthermore, inside the cartridge, a filter for removing dust and an absorbent for humidity control were built in.

On the drive side, the structure was such that the inside of the drive was kept as clean as possible until the shutter of the cartridge was opened, and an automatic head cleaning mechanism was installed to thoroughly prevent dust and dirt. As a result, high reliability was achieved.

The media was very particular about it, but the problem was the price. The REV was about 8000 yen when the 35GB cartridge appeared, and it was so expensive that you could buy an HDD of around 100GB for the same amount of money.

When considering for individual users, 35GB is not enough to fully back up the HDD, but if it is a few GB data backup, a cheap DVD-R will be enough, so we will actively adopt expensive REV. There is no reason.

For the enterprise, the capacity is inferior to that of tape media, but the weapon is a high transfer speed of about 25MB / s (about 35MB / s for the 120GB model) and random access. It is perfect for applications where you want to back up not-so-large data frequently or restore quickly even in the event of trouble. If you are a small SOHO or a small business, there are many scenes that can be used more conveniently than tape media.

However, a removable kit (mobile rack) that can be used as a cartridge from a normal HDD is on sale at a low price of several thousand yen, and if you combine it with a general-purpose HDD, you can easily make a cheap, fast and large-capacity removable HDD. I will end up. It’s a bit inferior in terms of reliability, but it’s far cheaper to install and operate than REV, and it’s clearly better in terms of practicality.

The strengths of REV were its small size, long-term storage, and high reliability, but it disappeared without being widely used due to the limited use of its strength. Even so, it remained until around 2010, so it was a surprisingly long-lived person as a removable HDD.

In addition, this REV is the last product as an orthodox removable HDD with a head mounted on the drive side without using a general-purpose HDD or general-purpose interface for the cartridge (probably).

reference:

REV, Iomega, Wayback Machine
REV Catalog, Iomega, Wayback Machine
US Iomega begins shipping removable HDD storage “REV”, PC Watch

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