Toshiba Reveals High-Capacity Hard Disk Drives Roadmap of up to 55TB
Toshiba has fulfilled the announcement of its advanced future development of hard disk drives. Its roadmap promises a long run ahead in terms of increases in storage capacity by many future years. Subsequently, their presentation slides hint at launching 40TB and 55TB HDD models.
Infrastructured Milestones on the Roadmap
The company has set forth clearly defined targets for its future HDD releases.
- In 2027 Rewrite: 40TB HDD capacities will be developed. The drives would have either 11 or 12 platters and employ Microwave-Assisted Magnetic Recording technology.
- By 2028: 45 TB capacity HDDs will be introduced.
- By 2029: With 55 TB or more capacity.
Technology Driving Capacity Growth
Achieving these bigger sizes will involve using more advanced recording technology in order to fit greater amounts of data on a platter. Both MAMR and HAMR are new recording technologies that can put more bits on each platter, while HAMR's capabilities lie in stowing away usually high storage densities.
The first 40TB models will be on MAMR. The next releases after that-45TB and 55TB drives-will depend on the successful development and implementation of HAMR technology.
Future Drive Design Considerations
The future success of the higher-capacity models rests on both the HAMR technology and a 12-platter drive design. At the same time, Toshiba has hinted that its future transition to a 13-platter design in the same physical format could also boost attainment of such ambitious capacity goals.
