Western Digital launches Ultrastar and Gold with increased capacities

Now refocused on its original business, Western Digital is releasing several hard drives for data centers using the 6th generation of its HelioSea technology, which hermetically seals the platters with helium to reduce internal friction and power consumption. The supplier, which recently launched a range of NVMe SSDs called WD Gold, today markets two CMR hard drives with capacities of 16 and 18 TB at 7200 rpm (with 512 MB in cache). Available now and guaranteed for 5 years, they are offered with the SATA 6 Gb/s interface only and are however intended for servers and storage arrays, and more specifically to support volumetric workloads and applications relating to big data. . The company promises up to 2.5 million hours of smooth operation and equips all products in the line with vibration protection technology while ensuring lower power consumption. The 16 TB model is available from €370 excluding VAT and the 18 TB at €415 excluding VAT.

Unveiled in September 2019 and now shipping, the SMR Ultrastar DC HC650 20TB and CMR Ultrastar DC HC550 16TB and 18TB hard drives are the first commercial implementation of EAMR technology in the market. All three units are offered with a SATA 6 Gb/s or SAS 12 Gb/s interface. To obtain these latest models, customers can turn to Western Digital distributors. In France, we find Also, Tech Data, Ingram Micro and Exertis Supply Chain.

Two platforms to support up to 2 PB

JBOD Ultrastar Data60 and Data102 passive storage bays are added to Western Digital’s announcements. As their names suggest, they can respectively accommodate up to 60 and 102 hybrid storage units (HDD or SSD, SATA or SAS). A maximum of 24 SSD configured slots is however offered. With storage capacity of up to 1.836 PB in a 4U chassis, these platforms are readily available and backed by a 5-year limited warranty. JBODs with 20TB SMR Ultrastar DC HC650 hard drives are expected to arrive next quarter.

These arrays feature IsoVibe vibration isolation and ArcticFlow HDD cooling technologies to maintain performance under heavy workloads. Finally, Western Digital has updated its Serv60+8 storage server to be able to ship the 16 and 18 TB versions of the Ultrastar drives mentioned above. Similarly, these platforms are available from the distributors mentioned above in France, plus The Global Distribution Group.