For many years now the main storage method used for computers have been hard drives that use spinning magnetic platters as the storage medium. Over the last few years, the solid-state drive has come to market with much faster performance and a much higher price tag.

A company called DataSlide has unveiled a prototype of a new storage device that may one day replace both HDDs and SSDs. The prototype technology is called Hard Rectangular Disk or HRD. DataSlide says that the technology is patented and can achieve 160,000 IOPS and 500MB/sec performance levels while consuming under 4 watts of power.

The device consists of a piezoelectric actuator that keeps the rectangular media in precise motion, a diamond solid lubricant to protect the surfaces (which are in direct contact) and a massively parallel 2D array of magnetic heads for reads and writes to up to 64 embedded heads at a time.

ZDNET reports that DataSlide is also working to incorporate the technology into a "smart" storage unit for use in I/O intensive multiple concurrent stream applications. The new device is at the prototype stage, but uses currently available production technology. The technologies used in the HRD include perpendicular recording media, semiconductor lithographic heads, and LCD glass treatments.

The concept for the HRD was taken from IBM's Millipede concept and then reworked with common and available technologies. The prototype has a long way to go before it reaches a final production stage and the company gives no idea as to how long it might take before the HRD comes to market. ZDNET reports that the HRD has a capacity of 36GB in its prototype stage.