Highest Capacities for Lower TCO Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Drives the Data Center ArchitectureData center decisions are driven by TCO. Higher capacity hard drives play a leading role in reducing TCO. An 18TB data center HDD provides 29% more capacity in the same form factor as a 14TB HDD. Higher capacity HDDs enable data centers to lower CapEx by reducing supporting hardware and system level costs when compared to lower capacity drives. Helium-sealed, low power, high reliability drives reduce energy and maintenance costs, contributing to OpEx savings. For example, a data center using 18TB HDDs vs. 14TB HDDs can require 22% fewer racks while consuming 21% less power per TB at idle, resulting in significant overall TCO reduction for data center environments. Raising the Capacity Bar with New Technologies Ultrastar DC HC550 integrates a suite of technologies on a 9-disk platform to create a new class of HDDs. 18TB capacity is achieved by combining technologies that improve areal density working together with technologies that improve performance and reduce power consumption. The first HDD in the industry to harness Energy-Assisted Magnetic Recording (EAMR) technology improves writability and therefore increases areal density. The industry’s first Triple Stage Actuator (TSA) enhances head-positioning accuracy, delivering better performance and increased areal density. HelioSeal® technology is the foundation for Western Digital’s high capacity HDDs and this is the 6th generation of HelioSeal product. Western Digital has shipped >65 million HelioSeal products to date.