When Seagate admitted at a quarterly reporting conference that it expects to drive 3.5 "hard drives up to 20 TB, it mentioned only two methods of achieving this capacity: the use of helium and the placement of eight magnetic plates in one body. Meanwhile, the competing Western Digital Corporation Has long ago written to investors when to expect the emergence of new magnetic recording technologies on the market.In 2018 WDC intends to master the so-called "two-dimensional" magnetic recording (TDMR), the following year will bring the long-awaited magnetic recording with plate heating (HAMR), and to The hard drives can become multi-spindle in 2020. In this case, several packages of magnetic plates will coexist in one case.
The site DigiTimes , last week reported about the comments of Seagate representative , which was compelled to conduct explanatory work about the "inaccuracies of the translation," this time was notable for the news about the plans of this producer for mastering the progressive technologies of magnetic recording. As it turns out, in the period until 2020, Seagate will not differ in originality against the competitor's background, and will also focus on developments in the field of SMR, TDMR and HAMR.
The closest prospect is the expansion of the use of "tiled" magnetic recording (SMR) technology. Using the "perpendicular" magnetic recording technology, Seagate expects to create storage capacity of up to 12 TB in this year, and next in the market there will be 18-terabyte hard disks, which will also rely on a "perpendicular" record.
In parallel, the development of drives using the technology SMR. Hard drives with a capacity of 12 TB using this method of recording will appear on the market at the end of this year or early next year. Once the SMR technology has reached a sufficient level of maturity, it will begin to actively displace the older PMR.
Analysts do not make big bets on TDMR. Although the first storage devices with its use may appear already this year, active development of a more promising HAMR will make Seagate prefer the latter. The first 16 TB hard drive with the technology of heating magnetic plates during recording should enter the market in 2018, if not later.