Western Digital has emphasized the importance of high-capacity storage in the AI era and presented at Computex 2024 a comprehensive AI data cycle framework designed to optimize storage and reduce the TCO of AI workflows.
“Data is the fuel of AI. As AI technologies are integrated into virtually every industry sector, storage has become an increasingly important and dynamic component of AI technology,” said Rob Soderbery, executive vice president and general manager of the Business Unit. Western Digital Flash Business. “The new AI Data Cycle framework will equip our customers to build storage infrastructure that impacts the performance, scalability and deployment of AI applications, underscoring our commitment to delivering unparalleled value to our customers.”
The centerpiece of Western Digital's announcement is a 64TB SSD, which aims to address data storage for artificial intelligence applications. This new SSD is part of the expanded Ultrastar DC SN655 enterprise-class range, designed for storage-intensive applications.
Additional AI Storage Solutions
Western Digital says the 64TB capacity drive, expected later this year, offers higher performance and can accommodate larger AI data lakes, addressing growing demands for data preparation and processing in AI environments .
In addition to the upcoming 64TB SSD, Western Digital also introduced the Ultrastar DC SN861, its first enterprise-class PCIe Gen 5.0 SSD. This device reportedly offers up to 3x random read performance increase over the previous generation, with capacities up to 16TB, making it ideal for LLM training and AI service deployment. Volume shipments are expected in the third quarter of 2024.
Western Digital is also testing the industry's highest capacity 32TB ePMR UltraSMR hard drive, designed for hyperscale cloud and enterprise data centers.
“Each stage of the AI data cycle is unique and has different infrastructure and computing requirements. By understanding the dynamic interplay between AI and data storage, Western Digital delivers solutions that not only deliver greater capabilities but are also designed to support the extreme performance and resiliency of next-generation AI workloads,” he said. Soderberry. “With our growing portfolio, long-term roadmap and constant innovation, we aim to help customers unlock the transformative capabilities of AI.”
