HDDs
The DNA Data Storage Alliance introduced its inaugural specifications for DNA-based data storage this week. This specification outlines a method for encoding essential information within a DNA data archive, crucial for developing and commercializing an interoperable storage ecosystem. DNA data storage uses short strings of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) called oligonucleotides (oligos) mixed together without a specific physical ordering scheme. This storage media lacks a dedicated controller and an organizational means to understand the proximity of one media subcomponent to another. DNA storage differs significantly from traditional media like tape, HDD, and SSD, which have fixed structures and controllers that can read and write data from the structured media. DNA's lack of physical structure requires a unique approach to initiate data retrieval, which brings its peculiarities...
Western Digital Announces 22TB CMR and 26TB SMR HDDs: 10 Platters plus ePMR
Western Digital is announcing the sampling of its new 22TB CMR and 26TB SMR hard drives today at its What's Next Western Digital Event. As usual, the hyperscale cloud...
25 by Ganesh T S on 5/9/2022Western Digital Spills Beans on HDD Plans: 30TB HDDs Planned, MAMR's Future Unclear
Western Digital this week said that its energy-assisted magnetic recording (ePMR) and OptiNAND technologies coupled with increased number of platters per hard drive would enable it to build HDDs...
41 by Anton Shilov on 12/2/2021Seagate Exos X20 and IronWolf Pro 20TB Expand Retail 20TB HDD Options
Seagate has updated their flagship capacity options for the retail HDD market with the availability announcement for two new hard drives today - the Exos X20 and IronWolf Pro...
10 by Ganesh T S on 12/2/2021Western Digital Reimagines HDD - Flash Integration with OptiNAND
The last few years have seen plenty of new innovations come up in the hard-disk drive market. For quite some time, the HDD technology roadmap was shared industry-wide -...
51 by Ganesh T S on 8/31/2021Seagate Signs HAMR Deal with Showa Denko: Secures Second Source for HAMR Platters
Seagate this week signed an agreement with Showa Denko in a bid to secure a second source of platters for its hard drives based on heat assisted magnetic recording...
17 by Anton Shilov on 6/11/2021Seagate's Roadmap: The Path to 120 TB Hard Drives
Seagate recently published its long-term technology roadmap revealing plans to produce ~50 TB hard drives by 2026 and 120+ TB HDDs after 2030. In the coming years, Seagate is...
70 by Anton Shilov on 3/10/2021Toshiba Unveils World's First FC-MAMR HDD: 18 TB, Helium Filled
Toshiba this week announced the industry's first hard drive featuring flux-control microwave-assisted magnetic recording (FC-MAMR) technology. The new MG09-series HDDs are designed primarily for nearline and enterprise applications, they...
25 by Anton Shilov on 2/19/2021Western Digital Expands Purple Surveillance Storage Options with 18TB HDD and 1TB microSDXC Models
Western Digital has been marketing their surveillance-focused storage solutions under the Purple branding since 2014. After the SanDisk acquisition, the company started selling WD Purple microSDXC cards as a...
15 by Ganesh T S on 9/23/2020Western Digital Updates Red Pro Line with 16 and 18TB Capacity Points
Western Digital recently unveiled their first energy-assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) HDDs for the retail channel. Today, the company is taking advantage of the same hardware platform with some tweaks...
9 by Ganesh T S on 9/23/2020Western Digital's 16TB and 18TB Gold Drives: EAMR HDDs Enter the Retail Channel
Western Digital made a number of announcements yesterday related to their enterprise hard-disk drives (HDD) product lines. While there was nothing unexpected in terms of the products being announced...
72 by Ganesh T S on 7/9/2020Showa Denko Begins Shipments of Platters for MAMR HDDs
Following up on news from earlier this month that they have developed HAMR HDD platters, Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) has announced that it has started shipments microwave assisted recording...
8 by Anton Shilov on 2/18/2020Silicon Power Unveils Stream S07 External Hard Drives: Up to 8 TB
Silicon Power has revealed a new series of consumer-oriented 3.5-inch external USB hard drives. The Stream S07 HDDs can be used with PCs, Smart TVs, and other devices. The Silicon...
86 by Anton Shilov on 2/7/2020Western Digital Roadmap Updates: Energy Assisted Recording, Multi-Stage Actuators, Zoned Storage
Between CES at the beginning of the month, a series of presentations at Storage Field Day last week and a quarterly earnings report this week, we've heard from just...
115 by Billy Tallis on 1/31/2020Western Digital Begins to Sample 18 TB & 20 TB ‘Energy Assisted’ Hard Drives
Western Digital has started partner sampling of its 18 TB and 20 TB energy-assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) drives. The HDDs utilize WD's up and coming EAMR tech to further...
23 by Anton Shilov on 12/23/2019OWC Launches ThunderBay 4 Mini DAS: 4 SATA Bays With SoftRAID, Up to 1.5 GB/s
OWC has introduced a new small form factor high performance, high redundancy DAS for the professional market. The ThunderBay 4 Mini incorporates 4 2.5-inch storage bays, allowing it to...
29 by Anton Shilov on 12/16/2019Western Digital: Expect More Energy-Assisted Tech For 24 TB & Beyond
Western Digital has been promoting its microwave assisted magnetic recording (MAMR) technology for over a couple of years now, yet surprisingly, its upcoming 18 TB and 20 TB drives...
12 by Anton Shilov on 12/12/2019Toshiba Announces 6 TB HDDs for Surveillance Applications
Toshiba has introduced a new line of energy-efficient hard drives for surveillance applications. The new DT02-V series HDDs will support up to 32 HD streams and offer capacities of...
14 by Anton Shilov on 12/5/2019Toshiba to Expand HDD Production: 20 TB & 10-Platter Drives Coming
While hard drive sales on a unit basis have continued to decline, the drop hasn't been consistent across all segments of the market. In particular, high capacity drives for...
22 by Anton Shilov on 12/2/2019Demand for HDD Storage Booming: 240 EB Shipped in Q3 2019
Demand for storage is stronger than ever as, in addition to growing user-generated data, machine-generated data now requires a formidable amount of storage space and will need even more...
30 by Anton Shilov on 11/18/2019Seagate: 18 TB HDD Due in First Half 2020, 20 TB Drive to Ship in Late 2020
Seagate last week clarified its high-capacity HDD roadmap during its earnings call with analysts and investors. The company is on track to ship its first commercial HAMR-based hard drives...
37 by Anton Shilov on 11/5/2019