OCP Summit: Seagate Unveiling 14TB Helium-Based ExosX14 3.5-Inch HDD

Seagate Technology plc unveiled its 14TB helium-based ExosX14 enterprise drive at OCP U.S. Summit 2018 in San Jose, CA

The Exos X14 delivers performance and greater capacity for hyperscale data centers looking to efficiently and cost-effectively manage increasing amounts of data.

Enterprises across the globe face the daunting challenge of managing a massive increase in data volume as the world is expected to create 163ZB of data in 2025, according to a study by analyst firm IDC and sponsored by the company.

As the need for hyperscale and cloud storage rises, the Exos X14 HDD is a response to customer demand for increased enterprise storage capacity and efficiency.

By offering greater storage density in the same 3.5-inch footprint, the Exos X14 drive is for hyperscale environments. Enhanced areal density means the company can deliver higher capacity storage in a smaller package-a milestone for meeting the demand of increasing data center needs. The Exos X14 offers low power consumption, small footprint, and performance, making the HDD an affordable solution for data centers looking to maximize their storage capabilities while reducing complexity and operational costs.

“Our hyperscale customers want the best value in terms of TCO and that is mainly driven by capacity, power efficiency, enhanced caching, and predictable I/O,” said Sai Varanasi, VP, product line marketing, storage devices, Seagate. “Exos X14 shines on all four fronts by delivering 14TB with leading sustained transfer rates and random I/O responsiveness optimized for hyperscale applications.“

To meet the needs of global data centers, Exos X14 comes with built-in security, Seagate Secure, to encrypt all data without performance degradation. This drive also features the US government’s Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2, Level 2 certification and the Common Criteria for Information Technology Security Evaluation (CC) – an international computer security certification standard (ISO/EIC 15408).

Other key features include 40% more petabytes per rack versus Exos 10TB drives, a 10% weight reduction versus air nearline drives, and a flexible design that delivers wider integration options and support for a greater number of workloads.

Baidu, Inc., the Chinese search engine and AI tech company, evaluated the company’s new HDD comprehensively.

“Baidu attaches great importance to technological innovation and is committed to providing a better experience and service to our users and customers through technical innovation. Our data needs continue to expand as our customers become increasingly reliant on data-heavy applications, we need to work with industry partners to build sustainable storage solutions.” said Chao Liu, senior director, system department, Baidu. “Seagate’s Exos X14 has given us a cost-effective way to easily accommodate our growing storage needs.“

The drive is currently sampling to select customers and will be followed by production availability this summer.

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WW Historical Record Capacity for HDD: 14TB, by Western Digital/HGST
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2017.10.04 | Press Release | [with our comments]
World’s Highest Capacity HDD at 14TB From Toshiba
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