Western Digital HDD Technology Roadmap for 100TB and Beyond
Western Digital has shared its future plans for hard disk drive (HDD) technology which will enable storage capacities of 100TB and beyond. The roadmap depends on advancing present magnetic recording techniques together with developing fresh hardware systems which will boost both storage capacity and data transmission rates.
The company is currently testing 40TB UltraSMR ePMR HDDs. The mass production of these 40TB units will commence during the second half of 2026. Western Digital plans to achieve its upcoming milestones by 2029 through these essential steps
- 60TB Capacities Achieved through the advancement of energy assisted perpendicular magnetic recording (ePMR).
- 100TB Capacities Achieved via Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) technology.
Current architectural design permits a theoretical maximum capacity of 140TB because it operates with 14 platters which each contain 10TB storage capacity. The architectural design permits a maximum storage capacity of 140TB through the use of 14 platters which store 10TB per platter.
Higher performance capabilities become necessary when storage capacity increases because organizations need to handle larger datasets. Western Digital will introduce two technologies which will eliminate data transfer bottlenecks.
This system uses a second, fully independent actuator on a separate axis. Dual Pivot enables simultaneous track servicing which leads to a twofold boost in sequential I/O throughput when compared with standard single actuator systems.
This innovation lets the drive perform reading and writing operations through multiple heads at the same time. According to Western Digital this technology enables an eightfold increase in total throughput which allows drive speed to match the expansion of storage capacity.
Western Digital will maintain existing power usage while it raises storage density through its budgeting architectural development system which will influence all future HDD products. The upcoming developments will enhance storage capacity of data centers and enterprise environments which will last until 2029 and beyond.
