The Mark 5 disk recorder is, essentially, an Intel workstation running Linux with the ability to record the data on two disk packs.

A Mark 5 pack contains either eight 250 Gb hard drives for a total capacity of roughly 2 Terabytes (2 Tb), or eight 500 Gb hard drives for a total capacity of roughly 4 Terabytes.

Each Mark 5 unit can record on two packs, with the total amount of data that can be recorded being between 2 and 8 Tb, depending upon the size of the packs. Depending upon the data rate, these two packs can last as little as 48 hours.