To the delight of data centers and digital hoarders, Western Digital has announced that its 18 TB CMR and 20 TB SMR HDDs will be available in the first half of 2020. The 18 TB Ultrastar DC HC550 CMR HDD and 20 TB Ultrastar DC HC650 SMR HDD’s capacity is made possible by a nine-disk platform, which includes energy-assisted recording technology.
This rapid ramp and availability of the 20TB SMR drive following a technology preview in June 2019, supports a growing ecosystem and the continued industry adoption of SMR. Western Digital estimates that 50 percent of its HDD exabytes shipped will be on SMR by 2023.