Western Digital Helps Shape the Future of Large-scale Cloud Infrastructure

BENGALURU, June 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Company's Ultrastar^® Hs14 SMR HDDs Help Deliver Increased Power Efficiency, Storage Density and Long-Term Advantages Within Custom-Built Dropbox Infrastructure 

Creating environments for data to thrive, Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) today disclosed that Dropbox Inc. (NASDAQ: DBX), 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. 

For more information, visit:  

Dropbox Blog:  

Extending Magic Pocket Innovation with the first Petabyte-scale SMR Drive Deployment

Western Digital Blog:

Making Host Managed SMR Work for You - Dropbox's Successful Journey 

Ultrastar Hs14: Product Information

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About Western Digital 

Western Digital creates environments for data to thrive. The company is driving the innovation needed to help customers capture, preserve, access and transform an ever-increasing diversity of data. Everywhere data lives, from advanced data centers to mobile sensors to personal devices, our industry-leading solutions deliver the possibilities of data. Western Digital® data-centric solutions are marketed under the G-Technology™, HGST, SanDisk®, Tegile™, Upthere™, and WD® brands.

Forward-Looking Statements 

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including statements concerning the development, performance and capacity, capabilities, applications, and availability of the Ultrastar Hs14 Helium HDD, the HelioSeal platform, and adoption of our products by customers. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate including, among others: volatility in global economic conditions; business conditions and growth in the storage ecosystem; impact of competitive products and pricing; market acceptance and cost of commodity materials and specialized product components; actions by competitors; unexpected advances in competing technologies; our development and introduction of products based on new technologies and expansion into new data storage markets; risks associated with acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties listed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recently filed periodic report to which your attention is directed. The company undertakes no obligation to update the information in this release in the event facts or circumstances change after the date of this release.

© 2018 Western Digital Corporation or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Western Digital, the Western Digital logo, G-Technology, SanDisk, Tegile, Upthere, WD, HelioSeal, and Ultrastar are registered trademarks or trademarks of Western Digital Corporation or its affiliates in the US and/or other countries. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

As used for storage capacity, one terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending on operating environment. Product specifications subject to change without notice. Not all products are available in all regions of the world.

Company contacts:
Javed Ansari
Western Digital Corporation
+91-9871629983
[email protected]

Media Contact:
Reena Rajan
[email protected]
+91-9611546655
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