Western Digital takes a big step towards 30TB HDDs. The UltraStar DC HC670 has a total of 26 TB with “UltraSMR”, the UltraStar DC HC570 has a capacity of 22 TB with conventional recording (CMR). Both use ten magnetic discs, ePMR and OptiNAND.
Hard drives with up to 20 TB are currently available. Western Digital now increases to 22 TB with a conventional recording method (Conventional Magnetic Recording, CMR) and 26 TB with the help of Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) with overlapping data tracks, which, however, has so far caused disadvantages when rewriting.
UltraStar DC HC570 with 22 TB and CMR
The UltraStar DC HC570 with 22 TB is quickly explained: Compared to its predecessor with 20 TB, Western Digital has installed an additional magnetic disk (platter). The helium-filled 3.5-inch housing now contains ten instead of nine platters, each with 2.2 TB of storage space.
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WD had previously increased the data density per disc with the help of so-called OptiNAND technology: An embedded NAND flash memory offers space for extended metadata, such as information on magnetic interference in neighboring sectors or the position of the hard drive's write heads.
In addition, ePMR is a light form of Energy-Assisted Magnetic Recording that is not as complex as MAMR with microwaves or HAMR with lasers.
UltraStar DC HC670 with 26 TB and “UltraSMR”
The UltraStar DC HC670 offers with 26 TB another 18 percent more storage space and is by far the largest HDD presented so far. Western Digital speaks of an “UltraSMR HDD” and at the same time names the main difference to the 22 TB model.
With UltraSMR technology, a new variant of SMR, the OptiNAND is combined with special firmware. An “advanced algorithm for error correction”, but above all the overlapping of the tracks, which is not explicitly mentioned in the press release, ensure an increase in capacity to 2.6 TB per disc. This makes it clear: the UltraStar DC HC670 also has 10 platters.
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With UltraSMR technology, Western Digital combines OptiNAND with a proprietary firmware, which is based on further developments of the HDD system level. The new technology combines, for the first time, large block coding with an advanced error correction algorithm that increases the number of tracks per inch (TPI) for greater capacity.
Western Digital
With this model, Western Digital primarily addresses operators of cloud storage servers. The SMR technology is unproblematic for applications in which writing is seldom and mainly reading.
OptiNAND increases performance with disabled write caching
The OptiNAND should also provide more performance. As Western Digital details in a document (PDF), IOPS and throughput in Write Cache Disabled (WCD) mode are accelerated by OptiNAND technology. This supposedly allows you to take advantage of data security in WCD mode with no loss of performance.
The OptiNAND thus serves as an additional write buffer and can store data from the regular DRAM cache in the event of a power failure.
The 22 TB fleet will be available in summer Fleet
According to the manufacturer, both the 22 TB HC570 and the 26 TB HC670 are already being shipped to “select Hyperscale customers”. From the summer of 2022, the HC570 should also reach distributors. The HC 670 is then to be delivered to other business customers; this doesn't sound like a start in regular trading.
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In the summer, the UltraStar Data60 and Data102 storage platforms are also to be equipped with the 22 TB HDDs. Corresponding 22 TB models in the WD Gold, WD Red Pro and WD Purple series can also be expected during this period.
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Update 05/09/2022 18: 10 p.m.
The report has been supplemented with additional images from the parallel press event “What's Next Western Digital”.
ComputerBase has received information about this item from Western Digital under NDA. The only requirement was the earliest possible publication date.