Seagate launched the first batch of 30TB+ HAMR hard drives
Seagate plans to significantly increase hard drive capacity this year, introducing new 22TB and 24TB models in the first half, followed by the industry’s first hard drive featuring second-generation Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) technology, offering over 30TB of storage. According to TomsHardware, Seagate has already begun shipping 30TB+ HAMR hard drive samples to its cloud data center clients.
Seagate CEO Dave Mosley stated during an analyst and investor conference call earlier this week that the company is executing its established plan effectively and has achieved critical milestones, including sending samples to a cloud service partner. Revenue from the 30TB+ hard drives is expected this quarter as part of Seagate’s Corvault system solution.
Seagate has long held high expectations for HAMR hard drives, sending related samples to select clients for evaluation over the years. The company previously indicated that second-generation HAMR drives would be launched on mainstream platforms by the third quarter of this year. However, Seagate has not disclosed specific information about these HAMR drives, such as the number of platters they can accommodate. Although the current proportion of HAMR drives in Seagate’s product line may not be significant, that share could increase in the future as HAMR media and head efficiency improve.
Initially, HAMR-equipped hard drives will primarily target hyperscale data centers. As the cost of components like media and heads decreases, these drives may be used in mid-range and even entry-level high-capacity hard drives, ultimately reducing manufacturing costs and increasing profits. The new generation of HAMR technology imposes different requirements on hard drive media, disks, heads, controller chips, and cache mechanisms, making the manufacturing of new components more challenging and costly. As the capacity exceeds 30TB and employs a single actuator, performance will diminish as capacity increases; thus, Seagate has expanded the use of its dual-actuator Mach.2 technology.
