Hard drive manufacturer Seagate announced it has built and tested a fully functioning 16TB enterprise drive in the standard 3.5-inch form factor, paving the way for ever-larger storage solutions in the near future.
The new drive was made possible with Seagate’s new heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology, which allows a greater density of bits to be written to the drive surface while still maintaining magnetic stability. HAMR functions by using a small laser diode to heat tiny sections of the drive platter, allowing the recording head to more easily flip the magnetic polarity of each individual bit. As this technology advances, Seagate estimates surpassing 20TB per drive as early as 2020.
Fortunately for consumers, Seagate also announced that the new drive will be plug-and-play and will require no special steps to be installed into existing systems. Furthermore, the new technology has exceeded industry standards for longevity and reliability during testing, which is exciting for customers looking for stable bulk storage in server and data center solutions.
There is no release date yet set for this new line of ‘Exos’ drives.
For a more in-depth look at Seagate’s new technology, check out their blog covering the new Exos product here. If you have questions about storage, servers, and whether these new drives are right for your facility, reach out to Nodal!