Orb Drive

Lore & Background

Castlewood Systems was formed by several former employees of SyQuest Technologies in 1996. Shortly after the Orb Drive was released, SyQuest brought a lawsuit against Castlewood. Castlewood filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and ceased operation in 2004. The Orb Drive was available in internal and external versions. The internal version offered IDE or SCSI interfaces; the external version offered parallel, SCSI, USB, or FireWire interfaces. The 2.2 GB drive was quiet in operation and incorporated several notable features: the SCSI identity could be altered with a screwdriver via a recessed control allowing settings of 0, 4, 5, or 6; a protective cover over the front completely encased the data disk, with a button to raise the cover for disk insertion; the drive was encased in smoked transparent plastic through which a power/activity light shined (steady green/flashing amber or flashing red). Orb disks were made in Malaysia and Thailand and formatted for Macintosh or IBM compatible computers. Two SCSI/USB adapter configurations were provided: one using two adapters, and another being Castlewood's own 'The ORB USB Smart Cable' with two manually operated locking pins and a USB cable with eight toroidal ceramic surge suppressing magnets.

Reader's Guide

The Orb Drive competed in the removable storage market alongside devices such as the Jaz drive, SyQuest EZ 135 Drive, SyQuest SparQ drive, and Zip drive. Its 5.7 GB version offered a sustained transfer rate of 17.35 MB/s and a burst rate of 66 MB/s, with an average seek time of 11 ms read and 12 ms write, and a rotation speed of 5,400 rpm. The 5.7 GB drive could also read the 2.2 GB cartridges. The drive's estimated disk shelf life was 20 years, with a drive life of 5 years and a 1-year limited warranty. The Orb Drive's significance lies in its attempt to provide high-capacity removable storage during a period when such solutions were popular for backup and data transport. However, the company's bankruptcy and the lawsuit from SyQuest, combined with the rise of other technologies such as USB flash drives, led to its discontinuation. Its legacy is as a notable but short-lived entry in the removable hard-disk drive market.

Did You Know?

• The Orb Drive was available in internal versions with IDE or SCSI interfaces.
• The 2.2 GB drive's SCSI identity could be set to 0, 4, 5, or 6 using a screwdriver.
• Orb disks were manufactured in Malaysia and Thailand.
• The 5.7 GB drive could read 2.2 GB cartridges.