Creating environments for data to thrive, Western
Digital Corporation disclosed that Dropbox Inc., a leading global collaboration platform, has qualified
and is the first to deploy the Ultrastar Hs14 host-managed
shingled magnetic recording (SMR) hard disk drive (HDD) at exabyte
scale in its custom-built storage infrastructure, Magic Pocket. Staying
on the leading-edge of data technology advancements, Dropbox completed
qualification and is deploying SMR for its cloud storage environment.
Leveraging the 14TB Ultrastar Hs14 HDDs and the company's custom-built
storage architecture, Dropbox is taking advantage of greater storage
density and increased power efficiency, at the same level of reliability
for primary storage in its cloud data centers.
"The
launch of Magic Pocket was an industry-defining milestone for cloud
infrastructure that provided Dropbox the foundation for delivering value
to our customers and business through
ongoing innovation and cost savings," said Akhil Gupta, vice president
of Cloud Engineering, Dropbox. "As we enter the next phase of Magic
Pocket's evolution, our strategic partnership with Western Digital is
enabling us to scale effectively as more and more customers adopt our
collaboration platform. Our deployment of SMR technology was supported
by Western Digital's service, collaboration and drive capabilities-and
we're excited to continue redefining what's possible for cloud
infrastructure together."
"Dropbox's
Magic Pocket is an innovative deployment, and this is another proof
point that our host-managed SMR HDDs deliver value in scale-out cloud
environments," said Mark Grace, senior vice president of Devices,
Western Digital. "Our customers recognize the benefits of SMR HDDs and
are adopting the technology to contend with the massive growth in data.
When considering exabyte-scale needs, and associated capital and
operating cost of the data center, the long-term value they receive in
terms of lower cost-per-TB, higher density, low power and high
reliability can help benefit the bottom line."
As the industry's first 14TB HDD,
the Ultrastar Hs14 delivers among the lowest TCO for scale-out
enterprise and cloud data centers. The drives are built on the proven
and mature Western Digital HelioSeal platform
to deliver one of the lowest watt/TB power footprint for online
storage. Built for enterprise workloads, the Ultrastar Hs14 host-managed
SMR HDD is ideal for ultra-dense scale-out storage systems, with
uncompromising product reliability, necessary for private and public
cloud enterprise applications.