A new take on HDD to meet increasing data volumes
Hyperscale cloud providers, cloud service providers, large enterprises, video surveillance companies, NAS vendors and other organizations need new storage solutions to accommodate exponentially increasing volumes of data. When it comes to cost-effective storage of data at scale, hard disk drives (HDDs) continue to play a central role. HDDs provide the capacity, performance and reliability needed to store large amounts of data today and in the future. Investments in HDD technology remain critical in supporting global data growth.
Western Digital has developed flash-enhanced drives with OptiNAND technology by vertically integrating our industry-leading NAND flash memory with our world-class HDDs. Western Digital HDDs have always led the way when it comes to areal density, with firsts such as Energy-Assisted Magnetic Recording Technology (EAMR), Triple-Stage Actuator (TSA), HelioSeal and now OptiNAND. A higher areal density means more capacity for today's storage needs.
20TB HDDs with OptiNAND technology
OptiNAND integrates an iNAND Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Embedded Flash Drive (EFD) with a traditional spinning disk medium and includes innovative changes to the firmware algorithm and the system-on-a-chip (SoC) used. OptiNAND is not a hybrid technology. The drive works smarter, with improved firmware algorithms that work with metadata moved to the iNAND, enabling more tracks per inch (TPI) and therefore higher areal density.
The Ultrastar DC HC560, with the first implementation of OptiNAND's capacity-enhancing features, offers an unparalleled 20 TB of capacity in a nine-drive platform (2.2 TB/platter) with CMR recording format.
