The large image: Though customers have largely transitioned to quick and sturdy solid-state drives, knowledge facilities and different sectors requiring mass storage nonetheless depend on disk drives. Rivals Western Digital and Seagate have spent years pushing the boundaries of HDD storage, creating varied applied sciences to edge previous the 30TB mark whereas decreasing prices and energy consumption.
Western Digital just lately introduced new knowledge heart HDDs that improve Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) capability to 32TB and Typical Magnetic Recording (CMR) capability to 26TB. The corporate achieved these unprecedented capacities by squeezing an eleventh platter to the industry-standard HDD kind issue, making the brand new merchandise suitable with current infrastructure.
The 32TB Ultrastar DC HC690 represents the subsequent step in Western Digital’s implementation of Extremely Shingled Magnetic Recording (UltraSMR) know-how, which arranges knowledge tracks in overlapping layers. In the meantime, the 26TB HD590 gives a less expensive answer for purchasers preferring the mature CMR know-how.
Each merchandise additionally use Power-Assisted Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (ePMR), which employs extra electrical currents to extend the areal density of bits written to the disk. Nevertheless, the first increase in capability got here from the addition of the additional platter.
Historically, exhausting drives comprise as much as 10 platters throughout the industry-standard dimensions. Whereas including extra platters is a simple strategy to improve capability, it might restrict adoption by requiring purchasers to adapt to new, bigger kind elements.
Consequently, corporations like Western Digital and Seagate have centered a lot of their innovation on growing the info saved per platter. That is the primary function of ePMR, however Seagate just lately launched 32TB HDDs utilizing Warmth-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR). Seagate has spent years creating HAMR, which briefly heats tiny sections of the disk to extend knowledge density with out disrupting magnetic stability.
In distinction, WD achieved its 11-platter design for each SMR and CMR drives by decreasing the house between platters and optimizing the encircling mechanical elements. The corporate made enhancements to the suspension system, circuit board, disk stack, and browse/write head to accommodate the additional platter.
These modifications elevated storage capability whereas sustaining compatibility with current server racks, all with out growing energy consumption. Western Digital goals to finally attain 50TB capability via related strategies sooner or later.
In the meantime, each Seagate and Western Digital are pushing different recording applied sciences to steadily improve capability over the subsequent a number of years. Trade forecasts counsel that 60TB HDDs might arrive by 2028. Seagate is focusing on 100TB by 2030, although analysts consider this milestone will not be achievable earlier than 2037.
