The Ultrastar DC HC650 features the highest capacity of any enterprise hard drive in its class. Cloud and enterprise customers are beginning to recognize the benefits of SMR HDDs, which offer low cost per TB, high density, low power consumption and high reliability. The DC HC650 features the industry’s first energy-assisted magnetic recording (SMR) technology and fifth-generation HelioSeal technology.
Western Digital’s new high-capacity HDD
Western Digital is a leader in high-capacity HDDs, flash drives, and other high-capacity storage technologies. The company has long been a pioneer of high-density storage, and is now taking the next step in developing ultra-high-density hard drives. The company expects these new drives to be available to consumers and data centers by the year 2019.
In addition to its current high-capacity HDDs, Western Digital has announced a new high-capacity SSD that can store up to a whopping 16TB. The new drive also features the industry’s highest areal density, thanks to OptiNAND technology and HelioSeal. The new drive also boasts an ultra-small form factor, which makes it easier to fit more of them in a single rack.
While most consumers are now moving toward SSDs, enterprise system computers are still using hard disk drives. Western Digital is starting to ship samples of its new high-capacity HDDs to select hyperscale cloud customers. The company is also sampling its new PCIe Gen 4 Ultrastar DC SN650 NVMe SSD in a 2.5-inch form factor.
WD’s new enterprise-class platform
WD has developed a new line of enterprise-class hard drives to address the needs of scale-out datacenters. Using a common enterprise-class platform, these drives deliver performance, reliability, and ruggedness for large-scale NAS and backup/archiving applications. This new product line combines industry-leading drive technology with enterprise-class design and performance.
The new line of enterprise-class drives from Western Digital includes the ultra-rugged, 4TB G-DRIVE ArmorLock SSD, as well as the enterprise-grade Ultrastar and Serv60+8. The upgrades are part of Western Digital’s ongoing innovation to help organizations keep up with the fast-growing volumes of data. In addition to these new enterprise-class storage solutions, the company has also upgraded its entire Gold family with the introduction of 16TB and 18TB CMR HDD capacities. The company has also added an upgraded version of its Ultrastar JBOD platform and a new hybrid storage server featuring Ultrastar HDDs.
The new WD Gold(tm) hard drives are able to handle heavy workloads while still maintaining world-class reliability. With advanced monitoring electronics and improved vibration protection technology, they are ideal for enterprise storage systems. They also offer low power draw thanks to WD’s new HelioSeal technology.
New SMR technology
Western Digital has increased the density of its new Ultrastar DC HC650 20TB hard drive with nine internal disks using SMR technology. This technology is more efficient for random and sequential transfers. However, SMR drives still aren’t dominating the hard drive market. This type of drive isn’t likely to outperform WD’s HC550 20TB drive in terms of capacity until at least 2023.
Western Digital has introduced new, 18TB Gold drives that don’t use SMR technology, but its 20TB Ultrastar drive features the technology. This new storage technology can increase data density by as much as 11 percent. SMR is increasingly being used in data center environments and by enterprise customers. It is also cheaper per TB, has better reliability, and has low power consumption. The company says it is ramping up its development of new, higher-capacity SMR drives to support the growing industry’s adoption.
The company’s 20TB Ultrastar DC HC650 SMR HDD is the first to commercially deploy SMR technology. SMR technology is an advanced recording technology that utilizes triple-stage micro-actuation to produce high-density data storage. The technology is more efficient than CMR drives and can reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) by as much as 11%. It also reduces power consumption, cooling costs, and infrastructure requirements in data centers.
Dropbox’s adoption of WD’s new drive
Dropbox has announced its adoption of WD’s new Ultrastar DC HC650 20TB hard disk drive. The new drive is a host-managed, shingled magnetic recording hard disk drive with a capacity of 20TB. The drive uses SMR technology to deliver the highest density at the lowest cost.
The new 20TB WD Ultrastar DC HC650 hard drive is one of the first to support SMR. The company will ship it to the channel starting in the summer of 2022. It will also add it to its popular Ultrastar Data60 and Data102 JBODs with 24 drive bays. Both drives will come with 18 and 20 TB capacities.
The new drive incorporates SMR technology, which is claimed to be more reliable and durable than CMR. The SMR technology is especially beneficial to cloud and enterprise customers. It helps enterprises cope with massive data growth, lower cost-per-TB, and improve reliability. It also features industry-first technologies such as energy-assisted magnetic recording and a triple-stage actuator.