The newly introduced Ultrastar DC HC690 SMR HDDs make use of SMR (shingled magnetic recording) technology, which increases the data carrying capacity of theirs
In yet another first, Western Digital, the leading data storage products company the world over, has introduced truly high capacity Ultrastar DC HC690 SMR HDDs with up to 32TB – leveraging the proven ePMR (energy-assisted perpendicular magnetic recording) technology – for hyperscalers, cloud service providers (CSPs) and enterprises at large. The company continues to lead the industry in SMR (shingled magnetic recording) adoption, driving innovation to deliver superior storage capacity while lowering TCO.
Also, Western Digital has started supplying Ultrastar DC HC590 CMR HDDs having up to 26TB capacity. These CMR (conventional magnetic recording) drives are a drop-in replacement for continued capacity growth with a field-proven technology foundation. This latest generation of drives delivers impressive CMR capacity, seamless qualification, easy integration and rapid adoption while maintaining superior dependability and reliability. The Ultrastar DC HC590 26TB CMR HDDs feature a sustained transfer rate of up to 288 MiB/s and utilize as little as 5.6W power while idle.
Ravi Pendekanti, SVP of Product Management, HDD Business Unit, Western Digital, said, “Our CMR and UltraSMR technologies are not just breaking records – it’s giving customers the efficiency and TCO benefits they’ve been asking for, and we’re not done yet. By delivering the industry’s highest ePMR capacities available today, we’re ensuring that our customers have the storage efficiency, scalability, reliability and unmatched value they need to stay ahead.”
The newly launched Ultrastar HDDs are also 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 modern data centers, 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.
Also, the new 26TB WD Gold HDDs are now available in the channel. Leveraging innovations from the Ultrastar HDD technology platform, the WD Gold 26TB HDD provides a no-compromise storage solution that incorporates our latest innovations to handle heavy, continuous read-write workloads in the toughest of enterprise and commercial system environments. With a five-year limited warranty to supporting up to 2.5M hours MTBF 3 (projected), WD Gold drives provide the utmost in storage performance, reliability, durability and flexible capacity for small and medium businesses and design professionals whose mission-critical data and creative output are essential to their success.
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.
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