Most enterprises are not using SATA drives, at least not with hot data. Perhaps cold storage but not frequently accessed data. They are using PCI Express based drives and those are considerably faster than anything Western Digital can engineer in a hard disk.
Capacity aside, Western Digital is also aiming for much, much higher capacity. WD is working on developing a 100TB hard drive for the enterprise market based on HAMR (heat-assisted magnetic recording) technology, which are expected to ship by 2029.
The company has another technology, ePMR (energy-assisted perpendicular magnetic recording). The company expects to ship 40TB drives by this year and should reach 60TB in a few years as well.
Western Digital also announced the expansion of its Platforms business to extend hyperscale storage economics to a broader set of customers.
This expansion includes the development of an intelligent software layer, through an open API, expected to launch in 2027, that will enable companies at 200+ petabyte scale to achieve the same storage efficiency and economics that hyperscalers enjoy today.
“For the past year, WD has remained continuously focused on execution and accelerating innovation, which has enabled us to truly reimagine the hard drive to meet the requirements of AI,” said Irving Tan, CEO of Western Digital in a statement. “Today, we are showcasing innovation that reflects our deep connection to our customers and how we are meeting demand for capacity, scale, quality, enhanced performance, and ease of technology adoption.”
