Continuing Hard Disk Drive Innovation from Western Digital

Carl Che, Ph.D., Vice President, HDD Technology, discusses Western Digital’s continuous innovation in hard disk drive technology. The company is driving capacity and efficiency with mechanical innovation, new firmware and features, and increases in areal density. Energy-assisted recording technologies are emerging, including ePMR, MAMR, and HAMR, enabling capacity to 50 TB and beyond. New suspension technologies are emerging, including mual-stage and triple-stage actuators to increase tracks per inch. SMR is enabling areal density, but IOPS per TB are dropping. Multi-actuator drives can help maintain usability of hard disks for years to come.