San Jose (CA) - Hitachi Global Storage Technologies is announcing volume shipments of its 200 GB, 7200 RPM Travelstar drive.  The 2.5-inch drives sport a SATA interface and have a 4.2 ms average latency according to Hitachi.  The drives also have an optional data encryption technology which can scramble the information on the entire drive.

Hitachi says Dell and Alienware will be the first vendors to offer the new drive.  Power users can also order a Dell XPS M2010 and Aurora Alienware m9700 laptops with dual drives for a total of 400 GB of storage - not bad for a laptop.
 
Using “Bulk Data Encyption4”, users can scramble drive contents with an encryption key.  Secure “erasure” can be quickly accomplished by deleting or forgetting the key.  Hitachi says the encryption does not reduce the storage capacity.

The Hitachi Travelstar 7K200 will retail for around $250.

What if you actually forget that encryption key

May 10, 2007 15:52     

So if what would happen if you accidentally delete that encryption key or actually forget about it.
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You're toast

May 10, 2007 16:01     

If you lose the key, you lose the data. Effectively you have just "erased" the drive.
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Quantum Mechanic

May 10, 2007 16:06     

It would be interesting to find out how the 7K200 Tavelstar authenticates the user before decrypting the data. Are they using ATA Drive Lock feature in bios or a proprietary client software to unlock the drive? saqib http://www.full-disk-encryption.net
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no brainer

May 10, 2007 16:20     

come on you should of know that one, what happens when you loose your house key? your screwed
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The Window

May 10, 2007 18:56     

I personally have no issue with having all my data lost if I forgot the key, because quite frankly, sometimes the responsibility should be to the user. So if its important info, remember the damn key. As the for house reference, generally I am not screwed, I just use a window or balcony entrance to get in if I forget my key. Not so relevant to hard drive. hah
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You get a locksmith of course...

May 10, 2007 19:04     

You get a locksmith of course
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Re: No brainer

May 10, 2007 19:28     

actually you call a lock smith. What i want to know withoout lets be honest having to bother researching it myself is if the encryption decryption algorithms are held on the actual drive; as in able to be retrieved for a certain model from the manufacturer by lets be honest law enforcement and large arm bending companies like microsoft. give me a good old angle grinder and the easy access of sata bays anyday. Oops 2 of the 3 drive raid setup is literally dust, guess were not gonna be able to do much with those random blips of naughts and ones.

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lockout already possible

May 11, 2007 02:27     

Same dangers exist even today with unencrypted drives . Models with a HD password, accessible via the BIOS, can also be lost forever if you forget it.
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4.2 ms average latency?

May 11, 2007 10:19     

Is this this same as Random Access Time? If it is I could like to know how they beat out a Raptor that is running at 10k rpm.
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Just checked Hitachi's specs

May 11, 2007 10:41     

I just checked Hitachi's specs, and they also list "10 ms average read time/11 ms average write time". I would definitely like to see this drive reviewed and compared to 3.5" 7200 rpm drives.
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Forgot BIOS PW?

May 14, 2007 15:24     

Reset the CMOS.. not an issue
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average peon joe white collar worker

May 17, 2007 10:21     

Come on...its obvious if you lost your key your NOT screwed, just irritated. There is something that the average dumb home invader knows that the average dumb homeowner does not. Its kick down the flimsy door at the flimsy lock or its a brick through the window.
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