Transitioning more than 1 billion processor cores consumed annually to RISC-V

Western Digital is leading the transition to next-generation computing architectures in data-centric environments.

Martin Fink, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Western Digital, announced in a keynote speech at the 7th RISC-V Workshop held in California, USA on November 28 (local time) that Western Digital plans to accelerate the development of related technologies and ecosystems by converting the processor cores it consumes, which amount to more than 1 billion per year, to RISC-V.

RISC-V is an open and scalable computing architecture that supports the diverse needs of the rapidly growing Big Data and Fast Data applications in core cloud data centers and remote and mobile systems at the edge.

“Western Digital has been a leader in storage products and technologies, and we are now extending that leadership with an open, data-centric computing architecture,” said Mike Cordano, President and COO of Western Digital. “RISC-V will enable the entire industry to not only reap the benefits of next-generation architectures, but also enable the creation of more purpose-built devices, platforms and storage systems for big data and fast data applications.” He added, “Our goal at Western Digital is not just to store data, but to create an overall environment where users can realize the value and potential of their data.”

Western Digital, a provider of solutions for storing, preserving, accessing, and transforming data, joins a growing group of developers focused on bringing processing capabilities closer to data through RISC-V. Bringing computing power closer to data allows customers to minimize data movement within the edge and data center, optimizing processing based on location, workload, or time-value requirements.

To ensure the growth and success of the RISC-V ecosystem, Western Digital plans to transition all future core, processor, and controller development to the RISC-V architecture. The company plans to gradually migrate over 1 billion processor cores consumed annually across its product portfolio, with the goal of shipping 2 billion RISC-V cores annually by the time the transition is complete. Western Digital is also working to advance RISC-V technology for mission-critical applications and incorporate it into its own products in the future.