Western Digital: Larger and faster HDDs thanks to new technologies
US hard drive manufacturer Western Digital heralds a new era in cloud market growth with the world’s first 22TB CMR and 26TB UltraSMR hard drives. The two newly introduced models are larger and faster than their competitors.
At its “What’s Next Western Digital” event in San Francisco, the US hard drive manufacturer Western Digital recently presented its two new HDDs. Previously, 20TB was the limit, but through a combination of different techniques, Western Digital was able to develop its 22TB Ultrastar DC and 26TB DC HC670 Ultra SMR. In addition to the high capacity, the new hard drives also stand out because of their speed.
Technological basics
The new ePMR drives leverage Western Digital’s OptiNAND™ technology to deliver the highest possible levels of capacity, performance and data resiliency. The 22TB CMR disk leverages OptiNAND™ to achieve leading areal density on a mature HelioSeal ten-disk platform with 2.2TB per disk.
Western Digital’s new UltraSMR technology combines OptiNAND™ with proprietary firmware that leverages hardware advances at the HDD system level. It introduces large block encoding along with an advanced error correction algorithm that increases the number of tracks per inch (TPI) for higher capacity. The result is the new 26TB Ultrastar® DC HC670 UltraSMR HDD, delivering 2.6TB per platter.
The OptiNAND™ equipped drives also feature the ArmorCache™ write cache data security feature. It offers customers the performance of Write Cache Enabled (WCE) combined with the privacy of Write Cache Disabled (WCD) for additional data protection or resiliency in the event of an Emergency Power Off (EPO). For the first time, this Write Cache Data Safety feature offers users both performance and data protection – regardless of which mode is selected.
Scope and pricing
According to Western Digital, the 26 TB HDD Upgrade is only the beginning – according to the company, the company is already heading for the 30 TB mark. Such mass storage devices are usually not necessary for private individuals, but for cloud providers like centron they are a real blessing.
The individual prices of the new HDDs are not yet known, initially they will only be delivered to selected Hyperscale customers. For orientation: Hard drives with a capacity of 20 TB are currently available from around 420 euros – Western Digital: Larger and faster HDDs thanks to new technologies.
Source & Photo Credit: Western Digital
