Western Digital launches SATA/SAS version of HC690 hard drive, providing up to 32TB based on ePMR technology

Western Digital has recently updated its product line suitable for data centers. The latest product is the WDUltrastar DCHC690 hard drive. The interface provides SATA and SAS versions, and the maximum capacity has reached 32TB. Thanks to the ePMR technology used by Western Digital since 2020 to increase capacity, the HC690 adopts an 11-disk design, which is an additional disk compared to the previous generation product, the HC680, and the capacity has increased by 4TB.

However, the read and write performance has actually declined. According to Western Digital's own testing, the HC690's rated read speed is 257MB/sec, while the HC680's is 265MB/sec.

Although the difference is not too big, if long-term reading and writing are maintained, this performance difference will be amplified. Especially when used in a data center, the reading and writing speed gap can be said to be relatively large.

Western Digital said that the HC690 is very suitable for artificial intelligence computing systems, because a large amount of data needs to be stored when training an AI model, and a large amount of new data will be generated after the training is started and needs to be saved.

Of course, in the final analysis, this mechanical hard drive is just an ordinary memory. Western Digital claims that it is very suitable for artificial intelligence computing systems. It is just because AI is a hot topic at the moment, so naturally it needs to be promoted in a hurry.

In addition to the HC690, Western Digital has also launched the HC590 with a maximum capacity of 26TB. This hard drive uses traditional magnetic recording technology (CMR) and is a follow-up product to the 24TB version of the HC580. Interestingly, the read and write speed of the HC590 has also declined. Its rated read speed is 288MB/s, compared with 298MB/s of the previous generation product.

Western Digital did not explain why the hard disk reading speed will decline slightly. It stands to reason that the use of CMR technology and not SMR shingled magnetic recording should not have a big impact on the reading speed.