Seagate ends support for Universal Data Module

Seagate is ending support for the Universal Data Module, the SATA standard that allowed drives to be connected to external devices via accessories, among other things. The move means, among other things, that Seagate drives themselves will no longer receive Thunderbolt support.

Seagate has confirmed the end of support for the Universal Data Module to 9to5mac. The lifecycle of UDM products is coming to an end, the company says, indicating that new UDM drives and accessories from Seagate will no longer be released. Seagate developed Udm in conjunction with the SATA-IO organization and announced the standard in 2011. In 2012, the Slim variant with a thickness of 9 mm followed.

The standard specifies the dimensions of the end of SATA interfaced external drives so that they can be plugged directly into devices such as enclosures, docking stations, TVs, game consoles and set-top boxes. Although there were no licensing fees associated with its use, few companies other than Seagate adopted the standard. Seagate developed accessories, among other things, with which the company’s drives with USB 3.0, firewire and Thunderbolt could be connected to devices.

The external drives in the Backup Plus, GoFlex Ultra and Slim series had support for udm. The move means that Seagate drives themselves will no longer receive Thunderbolt support, but subsidiary LaCie will continue to use Thunderbolt interfaces for its drives. LaCie has an extensive portfolio of drives that include a Thunderbolt interface as standard.