32TB capacities
Western Digital offers new ePMR HDDs for datacenters
With its new drives Western Digital offers a possibility to store up to 32TB per HDD. They are ideal for datacenters and cloud service providers. The new HDDs works with eleven disks.
Western Digital announced that it is now shipping new UltraSMR HDDs with a capacity of up to 32TB. It leverages the energy-assisted Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (ePMR) recording technology for hyperscalers, cloud service providers and enterprises. For a drop-in ready HDD the company is also now shipping a ePMR CMR HDD with up to 26TB for enterprise and channel customers. Both drives are commercially available in a 11-disk design.
The AI data cycle has emerged as a growth driver for the storage industry. As AI systems become more sophisticated, they process and generate vast amounts of data that must be stored efficiently. HDDs play a crucial role in this ecosystem, handling both the input side, where data is gathered, ingested and stored, and the output side, where AI content is generated and preserved. This dual role positions HDDs as a linchpin in the AI data cycle, ensuring that data is available when needed and stored with the lowest TCO.
The new 26TB CMR and 32TB UltraSMR drives utilize multiple technological innovations to enable data centers to maximize their storage efficiency. In addition to ePMR, OptiNAND, ArmorCache and a triple-stage actuator (TSA), the drives feature eleven disks along with other design enhancements.
- 32TB Ultrastar DC HC690 SMR HDD: The UltraSMR HDDs with up to 32TB capacities support customer goals for cost-effective deep content storage at scale. These new HDDs have up to 257 MiB/s sequential performance and use as little as 5.5W power idle, making them ideal for warm and cold tiers of data.
- 26TB Ultrastar DC HC590 CMR HDD: The new CMR drives are a drop-in replacement for continued capacity growth. These HDDs maintain superior dependability and reliability. They also feature a sustained transfer rate of up to 288 MiB/s and utilizes as little as 5.6W power while idle.
- Ultrastar Data60, Data102 Hybrid Storage Platforms: The new Ultrastar HDDs are being qualified and integrated into the company’s Ultrastar Data60 and Data102 JBOD hybrid storage platforms, which are high-density, scalable storage solutions that are ideal for datacenters, private clouds, and big data analytics. These platforms provide flexible configurations, accommodating up to 60 or 102 HDDs, and can deliver up to 3.26PB of raw capacity. Key technologies like »IsoVibe« and »ArcticFlow« ensure reduced vibration and optimized cooling, resulting in better performance and reliability. Availability will begin by year-end.
»Our CMR and UltraSMR technology isn't just breaking records—it’s giving customers the efficiency and TCO benefits they’ve been asking for, and we’re not done yet,« said Ravi Pendekanti, SVP of Product Management, HDD Business Unit, Western Digital. »By delivering the industry’s highest ePMR capacities available today, we are ensuring that our customers have the storage efficiency, scalability, reliability and unmatched value they need to stay ahead.«
