Western Digital is shaking things up in the hard drive scene by rolling out their new 32TB shingled magnetic recording drives. This big jump in storage comes from adding an extra 11th platter, leading to two fresh models: the 26TB DC H590 and the 32TB SMR DCH HC690. The shingled design overlaps recording tracks to pack in more data, kind of like how clinker boats are built, but it’s not as great for rewriting stuff compared to regular drives.
These drives spin at 7,200 RPM and hook up through SATA or SAS. The HC590 can write at speeds of 302MBps, while the HC690 hits 269.5MBps. Sure, traditional HDDs can’t keep up with solid-state drives when it comes to speed, but they’re a lot cheaper, making them a solid choice for big storage needs.
Western Digital is using a cool tech called energy-assisted perpendicular magnetic recording (ePMR), which boosts data density by using electric charges at the write head. This is different from Seagate’s heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) that uses heat to help create more high-capacity drives. Both companies are pushing the limits of HDD technology, but Seagate is gearing up to launch drives that will max out at 34TB using HAMR soon.
Even as SSDs and other storage tech gain popularity, spinning disk HDDs are still super important for cloud storage because they offer an affordable way to handle tons of data. With hundreds of millions of these drives flying off the shelves every quarter, it looks like high-capacity drives are in high demand, especially for businesses that need durable and cost-effective storage.
