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Western Digital Announces New 20TB Hard Drives

The drives come out later this year

By Cesar Cadenas Cesar Cadenas Writer California State University - Long Beach Cesar Cadenas has been writing about the tech industry since 2016 on a variety of topics like cryptocurrency, video games, the latest gadgets, and much more. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on September 2, 2021 02:29PM EDT Fact checked by Rich Scherr Fact checked by Rich Scherr University of Maryland Baltimore County Rich Scherr is a seasoned technology and financial journalist who spent nearly two decades as the editor of Potomac and Bay Area Tech Wire. lifewire's fact checking process Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Smart & Connected Life Mobile Phones Internet & Security Computers & Tablets Smart Life Home Theater & Entertainment Software & Apps Social Media Streaming Gaming Hard drive manufacturer Western Digital has announced its upcoming 20TB hard disk drives (HDD) that come with its new OptiNAND architecture. The announcement was made at the company’s HDD Reimagine event, with more details given in the accompanying press release. Western Digital stated that it strives to meet customer demand for large data storage. Comezora/Getty Images These customers are generally rather large-scale companies, such as communications providers, hyper-scale cloud companies, and NAS suppliers, all of which need some kind of solution to store the vast amounts of data they create. These hard drives use a storage architecture called OptiNAND that is integrated with an iNAND UFS flash drive for improved performance, reliability, and capacity. According to Western Digital, the HDD has such high storage capacity because enhanced firmware algorithms remove metadata from the disk storage space and put it into the iNAND flash drive. In the event of an emergency power-off scenario, the iNAND can retain much of the data stored on it, improving the reliability of the HDD. Western Digital states the high level of performance comes from low latency optimizations that require fewer interference refreshes. Thomas Barwick/Getty Images The official name of the 20TB hard drive has not been given. Samples of the new hard drive have been sent on to a select few companies for testing. According to the post, the market-specific products will be available later this year, but no exact date has been given. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire What Is a Hard Disk Drive? Best Commercial Hard Drive Repair Software Western Digital Data LifeGuard Diagnostic Tool Review 21 Things You Didn't Know About Hard Drives How to Choose an External Hard Drive What Is a Hard Drive Activity Light? (HDD LED) 14 Best Free Hard Drive Testing Tools (October 2022) WD Black 4TB Performance Hard Drive Review: Massive Storage in an Enduring, Reliable Hard Drive How to Check Free Hard Drive Space (Windows 11, 10, 8, +) The 9 Best SATA Hard Drives, Tested by Lifewire WinDirStat Review (Free Disk Space Analyzer) Windows Drive Fitness Test v0.95 Review (Free HD Test) WD Blue 4TB Hard Drive Review: A Decent Hard Drive That Won’t Break the Bank How Do I Replace a Hard Drive? External Hard Drive vs. Flash Drive: What’s the Difference? What Is Seek Time? (Definition of an HDD's Seek Time) Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies