Toshiba to revolutionize HDD technology: 40TB is set for date!
Toshiba says 26 TB HDD will be announced within a year and 40 TB HDD will be announced within five years. Here’s the roadmap for the Toshiba 40TB HDD.
Toshiba outlined its hard disk drive roadmap for the next five years. In addition to increasing the number of license plates per driver, the company hopes to rapidly increase the capacity of its HDDs by adopting next-generation recording technologies.
The company’s closest plan means it will offer a 26TB hard drive by the end of fiscal 2022, or 14 months from now. Meanwhile, the Toshiba 40TB HDD announcement is scheduled for 2027.
Toshiba shares roadmap for 40TB HDD
There are two ways to increase the capacity of the hard drive: using plates with a higher area recording density and/or installing more plates on an HDD. Traditionally, hard disk manufacturers use both methods. Currently, Toshiba’s highest capacity HDDs are 18 TB products with nine aluminum plates using FC-MAMR technology.
At the end of fiscal year 2022 (in the next 14 months), which ended on March 31, 2023, Toshiba will introduce its 26TB HDD with 10 plates, switching to MAS-MAMR technology. The company will continue its aggressive pace of progress until the end of fiscal year 2024, which ends on March 31, 2025, and plans to unveil a 30TB disc with 11 plates by that date.
But starting at 30/35 TB, Toshiba is considering a move to HAMR technology, which is expected to provide long-term evolution for HDDs. Toshiba says it will allow HAMR to offer a hard drive with a capacity of over 40 TB in fiscal year 2027 or about five years from now.
Toshiba’s positioning of its high-capacity HDDs based on magnetic recording technology seems like a remarkable improvement. However, it is intriguing to see if or if technologies such as MAS-MAMR and/or HAMR will be used for consumer-grade HDDs.
