Achieves high power efficiency by incorporating HelioSeal technology

Western Digital is launching the 14TB enterprise-class HDD 'Ultrastar HS14'.

This new product, which utilizes 'Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR)' technology that stacks data tracks like roof tiles, provides storage space for big data applications required in cloud and hyperscale data centers.

The Ultrastar Hs14, released by Western Digital under the HGST brand, offers over 40% higher capacity and more than twice the sequential write performance compared to the company's previous SMR-based products. This enables more economical and efficient storage of data that is becoming increasingly vast and diverse in the era of big data.

In particular, the new Ultrastar Hs14 incorporates 2nd generation host-managed SMR technology and 4th generation helium-filled drive technology, 'HelioSeal', as core technologies to achieve the largest capacity ever and excellent online power efficiency per terabyte (TB), effectively lowering the total cost of ownership (TCO). In addition, with enterprise-grade high reliability, it provides enterprise and cloud service data center operators with a solution to the exponentially increasing big data storage problem.

These proven core technologies, which provide the foundation for the efficiency, quality, and reliability essential for cloud and hyperscale environments, are suitable for ultra-high density scale-out storage systems performing sequential write workloads. Based on SMR technology, the Ultrastar Hs14 maintains highly predictable and stable performance while providing 16% increased capacity compared to PMR-based products[1].

Mark Grace, Senior Vice President of Devices at Western Digital, stated, “More than 70 percent of the products Western Digital supplies to the enterprise market are helium-based high-capacity drives, and the TCO reduction and high reliability—strengths of the HelioSeal platform—form the foundation for Western Digital’s leadership in high-capacity enterprise storage.” He added, “We will continue to support our customers’ businesses with high reliability, outstanding performance, and the best Quality of Service (QoS).”