Because Nothing Else Will Do

The Gurus use, sell, and recommend Seagate drives because Seagate drives have set the standard for excellence among a crowded field of manufacturing endeavor. If you have ever listened to a cheap drive spin up, and then spin down, and felt that incomparably sick feeling in your stomach that accompanies the loss of your precious data, you know why we standardize on Seagate drives.

Do they cost more than other drives? In some ways. But if you approach a drive purchase with the understanding that your drive will ultimately fail, (and all drives eventually do), then it is our conviction that you will actually save money by investing in Seagate drives. That day of failure will be delayed longer. You will know, perhaps in some subtle, deeply psychic way, when your Seagate drive is ailing. And when your Seagate drive finally does spin down for the last time, odds are good that it will not fail catastrophically. At least, that has been our experience. And as unempirical as that endorsement sounds, we are not alone in our bias: Seagate drives are renown for raw speed, reliability, and long life.

All Seagate SCSI drives ship with 5 year warranties, which makes sense when you consider that it is unrealistic to expect a longer lifespan from any mechanical device created by mankind, particularly when we are discussing devices subject to the torque and daily stresses inherent in platters rotating at 7,200, 10,000 and 15,000 rpm. Perhaps a better indicator of drive reliability is MTBF (mean time between failure): Seagate drives have industry-leading MTBF ratings, indeed. Seagate Cheetah drives have an industry leading 1,200,000 hour MTBF!(You can learn more about MTBF ratings and other specifications for the particular Seagate drives we sell by clicking on drive family names below).



Barracudas!

Model		Size	Cache	Seek	Speed	Interface
ST318418N	No longer manufacturered	18.4GB	2048k	8.9ms	7200rpm	Narrow
ST336918N	No longer manufacturered	36.9GB	2048k	8.9ms	7200rpm	Narrow

The ST318417N is a special drive. With a part number ending in N, it has a narrow interface, and is appropriate for use in older vintage Power Macintosh which lack LVD host PCI cards. This drive is the lone single-ended narrow SCSI drive still in current manufacture, and may be installed directly in vintage machines with internal narrow SCSI buses, requiring no PCI host adapters or additional hardware. It will deliver approximately 18MB/sec, however, when used with an Initio Bluenote PCI CSCSI board.

Note: The warranty status of any Seagate drive can be confirmed by entering the serial number of the drive in question on Seagate's Warranty Validation Page. These drives, and all Seagate drives, may be used with all SCSI boards sold on this website. Note that some caveats apply to Ultra2 drives, discussed further below.




10k Cheetahs!
These drive carry a full five year standard warranty.

Seagate Cheetah 10k.7 147 GB Drive ST3146707LW $323.00 147GB, 4.7ms Seek, 10k rpm, Ultra320

15k Cheetahs!
5 year standard warranty.

Seagate Cheetah 15k.4 73 GB Drive ST373455LW $236.00 73.4GB, 3.6ms Seek, 15k rpm, Ultra320

Seagate Cheetah 15k.4 146 GB Drive ST3146855LW $342.00 146GB, 3.6ms Seek, 15k rpm, Ultra320

Seagate Cheetah 15k.4 300 GB Drive ST3300655LW $779.00 300GB, 3.6ms Seek, 15k rpm, Ultra320

About Part Numbers
Note: Seagate drives with "N" suffixes are narrow drives appropriate for use on the internal SCSI bus on most Macintosh. Only two narrow drives are still manufactured, the ST318417N and ST336918N listed above in the Barracuda table. At this time, if you require a narrow drive for your Mac, your choices essentially boil down to purchasing one of those, seeking out a used or refurbished drive, or transitioning to LVD. If you have a PCI Power Mac, transitioning to LVD is very simple. All you require is any drive with a part number ending in LW or LWV from this page, and a Miles2 kit or ATTO Ultra3 Dual-Channel Card. You may also require a drive sled, or other drive mounting hardware. If you purchase an ATTO card, you will also require cabling and terminators.



Drives with "W" suffixes are single-ended Ultra wide drives, and should be matched to an appropriate SCSI board like the Initio Miles. Single-ended Ultra wide drives are also obsolete, and no longer manufactured. If you wish to add a drive to an existing single-ended wide bus, any LVD drive from this page will work fine in single-ended mode as long as it is installed in the middle of the bus. If you must replace an Ultra wide drive, you may be better off replacing both single-ended drives and single-ended host cards with LVD drives and a Miles2 or ATTO LVD card.

All Seagate drives with "LW" or "LWV" suffixes are "Low Voltage Differential" or "LVD" mechanisms or Ultra3. All such drives require an appropriate host card like the Miles2 or ATTOUL3x , UL4x or UL5x. Ultra3.

Ultra320 drives, in multiple mechanism applications like Level 0 RAID, are rated to support theoretical data transfers up to 320MB/sec-- many times faster than earlier SCSI specifications. Ultra320 drives are the current standard, with Ultra160 drives pretty much gone from the marketplace. The ATTO UL3S single channel and the ATTO UL4D, UL5D dual channel host cards, fully 320MB/sec per channel capable, take these drive to their maximum potential. In Sawtooth, Quicksilver and Mirrored Drive Door Macs this means with just a few Ultra320 drives in a RAID0 you can easily saturate the PCI bus at over 200 MB/sec sustainable throughput! On G5 and MacPro towers the sky is the limit with UL4D and UL5D card capable of over 500 MB/sec spanned over both channels.


About Thruput (when only the absolute best will do)

Thruput depends heavily on the architecture of your Mac, hard drives, and Mac OS. CPUs, bus speeds, RAM, SCSI PCI card technology, PCI technology such as PCI-X, cabling and terminators, and hard drive drivers all play an important part in thruput. Another consideration is purchasing for the future if there is a latest and greatest new Mac you are thirsting for.

In practice, single LVD Cheetah X15.3 mechanisms (ST318453LW), paired with appropriate LVD SCSI boards, conservatively support sustained reads and writes up to 75MB/sec, peaking around 105MB/sec with SoftRAID drivers. MacBench 5 scores, assuming you are testing on a Power Mac G4-1.25GHz DP MDD or better, will be beyond Disk-5600 and Publishing Disk-4500. Yes, these are single disk scores using 18GB X15.3 Cheetahs, ATTO UL3D or UL4D host card, Granite Digital LVD cabling and terminator, and SoftRAID 2.2.2.

Striping multiple drives yields scores which are even faster. Pairs of 18GB Ultra320 X15.3 Cheetahs striped in Level 0 RAID with SoftRAID deliver sustained transfers between 135-143MB/sec and MacBench 5 Disk and Publishing Disk scores of better than 6400 and 5200. Or, for instance, a 4-drive array consisting of 4 Cheetah X15.3 drives LVD320 utilizing an ATTO UL3D and its 2 channels, 2-drives per channel, yielded sustained reads of 206MB/sec, sustained writes of 208MB/s, and MacBench 5 Disk and Publishing Disk scores of 7111 and 5484. In a G5 with an ATTO UL4D in a PCI-X slot those numbers climb to a staggering 285 MB/sec average read and write.

The beastliest thruput we have seen so far is an 8-drive array consisting of 8 Cheetah X15.2 drives LVD160, ST318452LW, one generation earlier X15's, utilizing 2 ATTO UL3D's and 4 channels, 2-drives per channel, yielded sustained reads of 222MB/sec, sustained writes of 210MB/s, and MacBench 5 Disk and Publishing Disk scores of 8020 and 5737. RAID 0's, assuming a vintage Power Macintosh, or an older New World machine, will be slower, but will speed up your data flow considerably. Miles2 (Ultra2 Wide LVD) was and is the best for vintage Power Mac while the ATTO UL4S and UL4D are the best for New World. Beige G3 is essentially the break even point between Miles2 and the ATTO UL3S, UL3D, UL4S, and UL4D. The ATTO cards do however offer a better long term solution to your eventual migration over to a later or new machine. We stress that your mileage may vary, for all of the reasons stated at the beginning as well as how much data is on the drive or drives and how much fragmentation there is.

The Gurus Drive and RAID Database has lots of info about what to expect considering your Mac and hardware. One thing we like to do after setting up a drive or RAID 0 is to benchmark and save the results. Check your results against that of others on the Drive and RAID DB. Then later as the drive or RAID 0 is used, occasionally, retest. This will give you a clue that either the drive or RAID is filling up or fragmentation is getting severe, or something is going wrong. We can help on the Gurus Forums if you cannot track down where the problem lies.

The Mac G5 with larger pipelines and PCI-X will set a whole new standard for thruput. We also invite your input for the Drive and RAID DB, whether vintage or New World.


About Low-Voltage Differential (LVD), aka "Ultra2," "Ultra160,"Ultra320," and "Ultra3"
While LVD drives require functional LVD SCSI boards to fully exploit their staggering potential, they are backwards compatible with single-ended SCSI boards like the Initio Miles, Adaptec series, and HammerStorage single-ended JackHammer, and perform comparably to current Ultra wide devices when used in that mode. You may order LVD drives from this page in confidence that they will work with your current SCSI boards, with one significant caveat.

No termination circuitry is included on the LVD Cheetah or Barracuda controller board, and when using the drive in either LVD mode or single-ended mode, the bus must be externally terminated. When using LVD drives with single-ended SCSI boards like the SE JackHammer and the Initio Miles, the LVD drives may need to be manually configured to work in single-ended mode by adding a jumper to the SE pins in the J2 block on the drive's controller, though most Seagate drives correctly auto-sense and automatically select the appropriate bus mode. Seagate documentation addressing this configuration is included with all drives. Don't worry: it's not as confusing as it sounds.

When building an internal or external LVD RAID, or utilizing an LVD drive in an external enclosure, external termination can be handled via an appropriate Granite forced-perfect digital-active terminator , specifically part number GD1515 . Note that single-ended terminators and LVD terminators are different parts, with distinct part numbers, and radically different characteristics. Inadvertantly using the incorrect terminator may damage your drive controller, and possibly your SCSI cards. Do not use a single-ended terminator on an LVD bus! (Yes, you may use an LVD GD1515 terminator in single-ended mode if you must).

For internal use of LVD drives, you require custom cabling with integrated termination connectors, like the GD4800, , GD1200, or other related cables. These cables must be combined with either of Granite's LVD terminators, part numbers GD7022 or GD1515.

If you are running Ultra160 LVD drives in a 64-bit PCI Power Macintosh like G4 Sawtooth, you will require internal or external LVD cables and terminators. Be forewarned: appropriate LVD cables that will hold the 132ohm impedence required for optimal performance are not inexpensive. The good stuff costs more, and we must emphasize that economizing on cables and terminators with these latest-generation SCSI devices is not a path to happiness. You will regret it, sooner if not later. We have spoken.


On Using LVD Devices in Single-Ended SCSI-3 Ultra Mode
When utilizing an LVD drive or multiple LVD drives internally (i.e. inside a Mac) in single-ended mode, external termination must be integrated on the bus using a custom cable incorporating a pig-tail and external 68-pin MicroD connector, or by another single-ended drive on the same bus which has termination circuitry and termination enabled. In the event you intend to use only Ultra2 drives internally in single-ended mode, a single-ended 68-pin Granite terminator can be attached to the custom cable and pigtail assembly, and the drive(s) will function perfectly to the theoretical 40MB/sec Ultra wide SCSI specification. MacGurus stresses, however, that all caveats concerning Ultra wide single-ended buses also come into play under these circumstances: total cable length is limited to 4.5-feet, and bus impedence issues can wreak havoc, in the event you are not using Teflon cables.

Note that custom Granite Teflon cables, bundled with the appropriate terminator, cost a little more than $200 before shipping, with a turn-around time of 48-72 hrs. To add the custom cable and terminator to an LVD drive order, simply add it to your shopping cart using the options on our internal cables page. We stress that you must indicate whether you plan to use your drive(s) in LVD or Ultra wide single-ended mode: this is the only way we can doublecheck and ensure that we ship you the correct cable and terminator. If you dictate LVD, MacGurus will ship Granite TPO cables and a GD2015 terminator, and you will love us unconditionally. If you dictate single-ended Ultra wide, we will ship Granite Teflon cables and a GD1910 terminator, and you will again love us unconditionally. You do have the option of selecting a GD7022 terminator with LED Remote indicator when purchasing internal LVD cabling. Regardless, you must select both a cable, and a termination option.

We further note that custom Granite cables may not be returnable, depending on exactly "how custom" they are. MacGurus reserves the right to make all custom cable sales final, excepting returns or exchanges for defective products. If you order the wrong custom cable, and it cannot be resold, our ability to process a return with Granite itself will be impaired. We strongly suggest you consult a MacGurus Support Engineer before making a purchase in these cases.


On Using LVD Devices in LVD Mode, As the Gods of SCSI Intended
To use an LVD Cheetah in LVD mode, as an LVD device, a working LVD SCSI board is required. A gloriously functional LVD SCSI board, the Initio Miles2, is now shipping. Adaptec is also shipping an Ultra160 SCSI board of its own, the 39160, but it frequently delivers bizarrely wimpy sustained writes, regardless of drive configuration. ATTO is also shipping an Ultra3 dual-channel board, which MacGurus has evaluated. Our testing reveals that it is vastly superior in performance to the Adaptec board, and outperforms the Initio Miles2, particularly in new Mirrored Drive Door, Quicksilver, G4 Sawtooth, G4 Yikes, and G3 Yosemite. In vintage 32-bit PCI Power Macintosh like the 7300, 7500, 7600, 8500, 8600, 9500, 9600, and their clone siblings, the Miles2 outperforms the ATTO UL4D and UL4S. Yes, you read that correctly.

The bottom line is that only the Miles2 and the ATTI UL4D currently deliver the level of performance, compatibility and reliability such an investment merits, and we strongly endorse them when used appropriately. For vintage machines, meaning all Power Macintosh prior to the Beige G3 (inclusive), use the Miles2. In all New World Power Macintosh, the Miles2 is not preferred, as it is a 32-bit board and New World Power Macs have 64-bit PCI buses. In the latest G4 Sawtooth, we do not recommend the use of the Miles2. There are firmware issues which constrict sustained writes which are poorly understood. In all machines later than the Beige G3 (inclusive), the ATTO UL4S or UL4D are the boards of choice. In the G4 Sawtooth through MDD, the ATTO boards are virtually mandatory. ATTO firmware revisions 1.6.4, 1.6.6 and later work great in all machines we have tested, with the exception of the beige G3, which requires firmware revision 1.5.

For those among you jonesin' for dual-channel Ultra320, the ATTO Dual-Channel is unreservedly recommended. We stress that you should use SoftRAID 2.2.1 or later with MacOS 8.6, and SoftRAID 2.2.2 with MacOS 9.0, 9.04, 9.1, 9.2.1 or later. SoftRAID ver 3 is now out for OSX. Earlier versions of SoftRAID, and other RAID applications (like Hard Disk Toolkit 3.0x and 4.0x) at this writing, can be problematic. Testing has confirmed that SoftRAID 2.1.6 and 2.1.7, combined with MacOS 8.6, fix the long-standing MacOS 4MB driver limitation on boot, which sometimes resulted in a grey screen on startup when multiple PCI cards tried to load their drivers and exceeded the allocated memory heap. This bug reappeared under MacOS 9.04 with multiple 3Dfx and Formac video cards installed in six slot Power Macs, so the best guidance we can offer is avoid using multiple 3Dfx video cards when possible. MacGurus wishes to recognize the selfless contributions of Darin Ames to Mac SCSI Geekdom, as well as the indispensable assistance of Mark James at SoftRAID LLC. That said, we generally advocate using the latest version of SoftRAID available, particularly under OS9, which requires version 2.2.1 at minimum. MacOS 9.1 and 9.2.1, respectively, work perfectly with SoftRAID 2.2.2. Upgrades are available free on the SoftRAID website. SoftRAID 3 is a for fee upgrade available from SoftRAID LLC .

It should be stressed, for the permanent record, that SoftRAID 2.2.2 (again, the upgrade is free) is required for compatibility with OS9.1 and for G4 Sawtooth and newer. It is backwards compatible, and you may run SoftRAID 2.2.2 on all single fixed volumes and all striped and mirrored arrays under all recent versions of MacOS including 8.6. It is not possible to boot off striped arrays in Power Macs using Apple's New World "ROM-in-RAM" architecture. Such machines include Yosemite, Yikes, and Sawtooth, Quicksilver and MDD. It is possible to boot off a mirrored array, and for servers, this is a very fine option. In OSX Apple RAID or SoftRAID 3 are recommended. Apple RAID has proven itself robust if somewhat lacking in versatility. As SoftRAID 3 matures and gains planned features it will undoubtedly take our hearts with it as the performance and feature champion in Macs running OSX.

An additional note on cabling: All Granite Teflon cabling sold elsewhere on this website is Ultra and Differential certified only. For LVD, we recommend custom Granite cables utilizing TPO (Thermal Plastic Olefin, part number 4345), manufactured in raw form by Hitachi, or, the twisted-pair LVD cable with inline terminator included at no additional charge with the Initio Miles2 kit.

Pricing for internal TPO ribbon cables is identical to Teflon, but TPO enables a forced impedence of 132 ohms, which is superior for LVD than the 90 ohms delivered by Teflon. It is important to emphasize, yet again, that LVD, Differential, and Ultra single-ended buses require distinct terminators, and LVD Digital Active Terminators must be used on LVD buses.

(Before you email us asking the question, we'll answer it here, yet again: the inline active terminator included with the twisted-pair LVD cable in the Miles2 kit works fine. No, it is not a Granite Digital forced-perfect, digital-active terminator. Is it better to use a Granite Digital digital-active terminator? You bet. It is also much more expensive.)

If you are in doubt about which terminator you require, please consult a MacGurus Systems Engineer.


How We Sell Drives and Why
All drives sold on this page are raw drives intended for internal use only. We'll repeat this statement, in bold, so you will not order a drive from this page under the misapprehension that you are ordering an external drive.

We strongly advise that new drive installations should be internal whenever possible. Cable distances, and the number of connectors used on a bus, are minimized whenever drives are installed internally. Using external drives results in longer cable distances, and a greater number of connectors on the bus. SCSI connectors, even very good ones, inevitably introduce some noise on the bus, and this is to be avoided when possible. If you have the option to install internally, you should. Generally, all you will require is a raw drive, four screws per drive, a drive sled or brackets, and a SCSI card kit, which typically includes a SCSI accelerator board, internal cabling, and software. The ATTO Dual-Channel does not include cabling or terminators, so make sure that you order them, or ask us for guidance, if you are configuring an LVD Ultra160 or Ultra320 subsystem using that board. We discuss this issue in greater detail elsewhere in the SCSI Pages of Doom, for those of you who are inquisitive.

We must state at this time that you should consider retaining professional assistance with a drive installation. While we are pleased to render some assistance via our upgrades forums, particularly with drive addressing or termination issues, experience has taught us the hard way that we cannot overcome a complete and utter lack of experience on the part of the upgrader. No installation documentation is included with our drives or SCSI boards. Our feeling is that the procedure is relatively simple and commonsensical for relatively experienced upgraders. If you require additional documentation, we believe you would be best served by not ordering hardware on the internet: you should be patronizing a local dealer.

Another reason we favor internal installation of drives is the cost factor. It costs far less to install internally, than to build an external enclosure. While we are unrepentent capitalists, and pleased to build custom external units of unparalleled quality, we are also quite honest about the fact that we ourselves prefer to reap the most bang for the buck and install internally when possible. We advise our cherished clients accordingly.

Some SCSI boards MacGurus sells include internal cabling, or at least offer it as an option. In the event you already own a SCSI board, and are just purchasing additional drives, you should consider that it is much more economical to upgrade existing ribbon cabling inside a Mac than to purchase high-quality external cables with good connectors, terminators, cooling devices, and an enclosure. If you can avoid these expenses, or at least defray them for future expansion, we think you should do so.

In those cases where you must use external storage, we strongly advise budgeting appropriately for the best cables, connectors, and enclosures that money can buy. Before you balk at the cost, ask yourself the fundamental question: How critical is your data?

If you require an external drive, you must purchase a drive from this page, and then match it to an appropriate drive enclosures from our Burly Enclosures page.

MacGurus does not, at this time, endorse, use, sell, or support storage utilities from vendors like CharisMac, LaCie, APS, FWB or Radiologic. Rest assured: we have our reasons.



And Now A Word About Performance

The bottom line for us is that Seagate drives are recommended for use in uncompressed analog video systems, which require absolutely uncompromising thru-put. At MacGurus, we ourselves use, sell and recommend Seagate mechanisms not just because they embody the state-of-the-storage-art, are well-built and extremely reliable, but because they are also very, very fast. In fact, they haul ass. We regret the crudity of our language, but there's no better way to phrase it.

Seagate Cheetah ST336704LW
Fast. Reliable. Cool.
10000 rpm Ultra160 Perfection.

What's What in the Line-up

The Barracuda family of LVD hard drives is the de facto standard among videophiles and merciless power users, and has been, for the past several years. It remains an extremely snappy drive family to rely upon, and runs very, very cool, in distinct contrast to earlier Barracudas. Current-manufacture Barracudas have seek and access times comparable to first-generation Cheetahs, but with vastly superior heat characteristics. The Barracuda line is perfect for internal use in all Macs, where LVD/Ultra160 performance at manageable cost is the goal.

It is with great pleasure, however, that we acknowledge Seagate's achievement in tweaking the Barracuda line, coaxing it to 10,000 rpm, and debuting the screaming Cheetah family of drives. While these drives have been, without a doubt, the performance kings of hard drives, we are staggered to announce that Seagate has taken the Cheetah line of drives to the next plateau in performance, releasing the heralded "X15" family of Cheetah drives with rotational spindle speeds of 15,000 rpm.

You read that correctly. Fifteen-thousand revolutions per minute. Incorporating several new technologies, these drives have been engineered to run in arrays, with unique vibration dampening technology which minimizes transferred vibration from multiple drives in RAID enclosures. In plain English, these drives are engineered to work in close proximity, delivering faster internal data transfer rates than ever, resulting in mechanisms which deliver more usable bandwidth to your Ultra320 subsystems. Unprecedentedly fast.

With Ultra320 interfaces, these drives are compatible with Ultra2, Ultra160, Ultra3, and Ultra320 PCI SCSI host adapters, yielding the best performance in history.

But most importantly, it must be emphasized that these new X15 Cheetahs are triumphs of the engineering art: they are slimmer than ever, cooler than ever, and quieter than ever before. With an acoustic rating (in Bels) of 3.9, and operating temperatures between 5 and 55-degrees C, these new drives are a shocking 1-inch high, in an otherwise standard 3.5-inch form factor. They are usable in a wide variety of machines, do not require additional cooling, and will not disturb your contemplation while you work with irritating whines or audible head-seeks.

Seagate, we take our hats off to you. We have been working extensively with these drives in the past months, and find that we have been ruined for lesser drives. Nothing else will do. We are now accepting orders for single drives, for dual-drive internal arrays, and external arrays incorporating up to eight mechanisms in one enclosure, striped or mirrored to your specification.

These are exciting times in storage, friends!


Regarding Heat

MacGurus is often asked whether Cheetahs are too hot to be used internally in most Power Macintosh. When discussing first generation Ultra narrow or Ultra wide Cheetahs, the answer is yes, absolutely. MacGurus neither recommends nor endorses the use of first-generation Cheetahs (ST34501W, ST19101W) internally in 7500, 8500, or 9500-chassis under any circumstances due to their extreme operating temperatures. We have evaluated a variety of auxiliary fan units in our quest for SCSI nirvana, and found them many wanting where first-generation Cheetahs and the above Macs are concerned. You have been warned.

It is possible to use first-generation Cheetahs internally in UMAX S900, Power Computing PowerTower Pro and variants, and the Apple 8600, 9600 and G3 (Gossamer) tower chassis, particularly when auxiliary fans are integrated. We have evaluated second-generation Cheetahs (ST39102LW, ST118202LW) and third-generation Cheetahs (ST39103, ST319203) for use internally in a range of Macs, and our findings confirm that they are dramatically cooler than their predecessors. Our testing further confirms that it is possible to use fourth-generation Ultra160 Cheetahs (ST39204LW, ST318404LW, ST336704LW, and ST173404LW) internally in most Power Macs, with the exception of the top-most power supply drive bay in the Power Mac 9600. That bay lacks sufficient cooling to support even a modern Barracuda. The newest X15 Cheetahs, representing the fifth and sixth generations of this epochal drive family, run comparably cool in comparison to their fourth-generation bretheren, and are also usable in the same range of machines and drive bays.

We'll state that again, in bold, to minimize confusion:

It is possible to use Ultra160 and Ultra320 Cheetahs, including X15 fifth and sixth-generation 15,000 rpm Cheetahs, internally in most Power Macs, with the exception of the top-most power supply drive bay in the Power Mac 9600, the 8600, and the Minitower Beige G3.

We have installed Ultra160 and Ultra320 Cheetahs in all our Macs here at Hardware Heaven, and confirmed that their heat emission has been dramatically curtailed. Seagate has done a phenomenal job packing more data onto fewer platters, reducing both form-factor and heat signature. Now in their fifth and sixth-generation, modern Ultra160 and Ultra320 Cheetahs can be installed in most drive bays inside most Macintosh.

In the event you have first-generation Cheetahs, We strongly advise that you consider heat issues when running them internally in any machine, and urge that you err on the side of caution, considering both the value of your data, and the fact that excessively hot drives can literally cook logic boards, memory, and other internal components. Any technician worth his salt can visually detect a logic board with heat damage, which may complicate warranties you may have in effect. There is no doubt that excessive internal heat will decrease the operational lifetime of your hardware. Again, we stress that this warning applies only to first-generation Ultra wide Cheetahs, and not to currently shipping LVD Ultra160 Cheetahs.

We have enjoyed best-of-class performance and superb data integrity using Cheetahs in our beloved 9600's, and our Gurus-endorsed line of external enclosures. With beefy power supplies, auxiliary fans, all-steel construction, and Granite TPO cables inside and out, our Burly Enclosures are perfect for the fastest drives on the planet.

Detailed technical specifications are available from the Seagate website, and particularly via their SCSI Quick Specs Index.

Drive model numbers above point to the technical support pages for those drives on the Seagate website. The drive model headings point to drive family descriptions.

SCSI Installation Guides and Technical Documents for the above drives are also available in Adobe Acrobat format. If you do not receive a written pamplet with your drive, please download the most current version from the Seagate website using the links above.

The warranty status of any Seagate drive can be confirmed by entering the serial number of the drive in question on Seagate's Warranty Validation Page. It is not nearly as inconvenient as it sounds, and you won't even have to talk to a human to execute an RMA exchange.

The Gurus Certify
These Drives Kick Butt