---
title: World’s Thinnest 5mm 2.5″ Hybrid Hard Drive From Singapore
date: 2012-11-06 08:34:39
permalink: https://lesterchan.net/blog/2012/11/06/worlds-thinnest-5mm-2-5-hybrid-hard-drive-from-singapore/
author: Lester Chan
excerpt: "I'm proud that Singapore made the tech news last week with the world's thinnest 2.5-inch hybrid hard drive. Just 5mm thick, it stores 1TB of regular HDD plus 32GB of SSD. The challenge was shrinking the 7mm drive by 30%."
categories:
  - Storage
tags:
  - "2.5"
  - "A*STAR"
  - DSI
  - hard drive
  - hybrid
  - Singapore
  - SSD
  - thinnest
---

I am proud that Singapore made it into the tech news last week with the announcement of the world’s thinnest 2.5″ hybrid hard drive! It is only 5mm thick and is capable of storing 1TB of normal HDD and 32GB of SSD.

> One of the main challenges in reducing the thickness of current 7mm hard disk drives by almost 30% without compromising on its performance and stability is its spindle motor design. To achieve a reduction in size, DSI researchers developed a proprietary axial field motor which runs smoother, quieter, more efficiently, lowering power consumption by up to 70% yet at a fraction of the cost of SSDs. The motor’s design has been patented, along with 30 other unique designs for the “A-Drive”. In addition, DSI has collaborated with multinational corporations and local companies, such as Seiko Instruments, Miyoshi, and Unisteel, to develop key components for the “A-Drive”.

Right now, it is being named as “A-Drive” which sounds a little bit weird, I hope they will have a better name for it when it is publicly available. Apple named their hybrid drive [Fusion](https://support.apple.com/101390).

[![5mm Thick](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7119/8157011727_c40f583c22_z.jpg)](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7119/8157011727_9c0aa90b20_o.jpg "5mm Thick")

[![A-Drive](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7112/8157044200_fb7bd75315_z.jpg)](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7112/8157044200_544930e427_o.jpg "A-Drive")

Read on the press release below for more information.