Western Digital (WD) is working on expanding storage capacity to unprecedented levels, taking hard drive technology to its fullest potential. Currently, the hard drives available for the consumer market have capacities ranging from 18 TB to 22 TB, although their prices remain high and vary by brand and model.
The 22 TB WD drives, for example, belong to the “Purple” series, designed for video surveillance systems, and the “Red” series, aimed at NAS (Network Attached Storage) servers. Both models are priced at approximately 650 euros, making them a considerable investment for most consumers. While 20 TB drives have been on the market for a few years and have reduced in price over time, they are still out of reach for the average user, whose budget rarely allows spending more than 600 euros on a storage unit.
A clear roadmap to 100 TB
WD has outlined an ambitious plan for the coming years with the goal of significantly increasing storage capacity:
- 2025: Launch of drives of up to 36 TB featuring ePMR (Energy-Assisted Perpendicular Magnetic Recording).
- 2026: Introduction of drives with capacities of 36 TB to 44 TB, using HAMR (Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording).
- 2030 and beyond: Arrival of hard drives with capacities between 80 TB and 100 TB, thanks to the new HDMR (Heat Dot Magnetic Recording) technology.
The challenge of HDMR technology
The HDMR technology, which will enable the achievement of 100 TB of storage, is extremely complex and will require time for development and maturation before it can be reliably implemented in commercial products. Unlike traditional magnetic recording methods, HDMR combines multiple energy-assisted techniques to achieve significantly higher data density.
Despite performance limitations compared to SSDsSolid State Drive (SSD), hard drives still have a key advantage: cost per gigabyte, which is much lower. This makes them an indispensable option for mass storage solutions, both in business environments and data centers.
Are hard drives still relevant?
Many wonder if HDDs have a future with the growth of SSDs. However, the cost-storage ratio still favors hard drives, especially in sectors that require large-scale storage, such as:
- Cloud storage providers
- Enterprise data centers
- Video surveillance systems
- Audio-visual production and content creation workflows
While SSDs continue to evolve, their price per terabyte remains considerably higher than that of HDDs. Therefore, hard drives will continue to play an essential role in data storage infrastructure in the coming years.
Conclusion
WD’s plan to reach 100 TB in hard drives represents a significant advance in storage technology, ensuring that HDDs remain competitive against the growth of SSDs. With the integration of technologies like ePMR, HAMR, and HDMR, WD positions itself as a leader in the next generation of mass storage solutions. By 2030, hard drives could achieve capacities previously thought impossible, solidifying their status as the most efficient and accessible option for storing large volumes of data.