The company is expanding its portfolio of enterprise-class SSDs and HDDs to support key workloads within the AI data cycle.
To drive the next wave of AI innovation, Western Digital has introduced a six-stage AI Data Cycle framework that defines the optimal storage mix for large-scale AI workloads. The framework helps customers plan and develop advanced storage infrastructure to maximize their AI investments, improve efficiency and reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) for AI workflows.
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“Data fuels AI, and as AI technology becomes embedded into nearly every industry, storage is becoming an increasingly critical and dynamic component of the AI technology stack.”
AI models operate in a continuous loop of data consumption and generation, processing data types such as text, images, audio and video while simultaneously generating new, unique data. As AI technologies evolve, data storage systems must manage massive amounts of data while providing the capacity and performance to support the computational load and speed required for large-scale, advanced models. Western Digital strategically aligns its flash and HDD product and technology roadmaps to the storage requirements at each critical stage of the cycle, and today announced new industry-leading, high-performance PCIe Gen5 SSDs to support AI training and inference, high-capacity 64TB* SSDs for high-speed AI data lakes, and the UltraSMR 32TB* HDD, the world's highest capacity ePMR for cost-effective storage at scale.
clock: AI Data Cycle Video
“There's no doubt that generative AI is the next transformative technology, and storage will play a critical role in enabling it,” said Ed Burns, research director at IDC. “The impact on storage is expected to be significant, as the role of storage and access to data impacts the speed, efficiency and accuracy of AI models, especially as larger, higher quality datasets become more prevalent. As a leader in flash and HDDs, Western Digital has the opportunity to benefit from this growing AI environment with its strong market position and broad portfolio, addressing the different needs at different stages of the AI data cycle.”
“Data fuels AI. As AI technologies are embedded into nearly every industry sector, storage has become an increasingly critical and dynamic component of AI. AI technology “The new AI Data Cycle framework enables customers to build storage infrastructure that impacts the performance, scalability and deployment of AI applications,” said Rob Soderberry, executive vice president and general manager of the Flash business unit, Western Digital. “This underscores our commitment to delivering unparalleled value to our customers.”
Expanding enterprise AI storage solutions for compute- and storage-intensive workloads
The new Ultrastar DC SN861 SSD is Western Digital's first enterprise-class PCIe Gen 5.0 solution with industry-leading random read performance and best-in-class power efficiency for AI workloads. Available in capacities up to 16TB, it delivers up to 3X increased random read performance compared to the previous generation, with ultra-low latency and incredible responsiveness. Large-scale language models (LLM) It is ideal for training, inference, and AI service deployments. Additionally, the low power profile improves IOPS/Watt, lowering overall TCO. Increased PCIe Gen5 bandwidth is driving the AI market needs for fast accelerated computing combined with low latency to address AI's compute-intensive environments. Built for mission-critical workloads, the Ultrastar DC SN861 offers a rich feature set, including NVMe 2.0 and OCP 2.0 support, 1 and 3 DWPD, and a 5-year limited warranty.1The Ultrastar DC SN861 E1.S is sampling now, and the U.2 will begin sampling this month with volume shipments expected in Q3 2024. More details on the E1.S and E3.S form factors will be announced later this year.
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Complementing the Ultrastar DC SN861 is the expanded Ultrastar DC SN655 enterprise-class SSD series designed for storage-intensive applications. New options for U.3 SSDs reach up to 64TB, delivering higher performance and capacity for AI data prep and faster, larger data lakes. These new DC SN655 variants are sampling now; more details about the drives will be announced when production shipments begin later this year.
Western Digital is currently sampling the industry's highest capacity 32TB ePMR enterprise-class HDD to select customers. Designed for massive data storage in hyperscale cloud and enterprise data centers, the new Ultrastar DC HC690 high-capacity UltraSMR HDD plays a key role in AI workflows where large-scale data storage and low TCO are paramount. Leveraging the proven design of multiple generations of highly successful products, the new 32TB drive delivers unmatched capacity for rapid deployment with seamless certification and integration while maintaining exceptional reliability. More details about the drive will be available later this summer.
“Each stage of the AI data cycle is unique, with different infrastructure and compute requirements. By understanding the dynamic interplay between AI and data storage, Western Digital is providing tailored solutions that not only deliver higher capacity, but also support next-generation extreme performance and endurance,” said John F.Generation AI “Our goal is to help our customers make the most of AI's transformative capabilities,” said Soderberry. “With our expanding portfolio, long-term roadmap and ongoing innovation, our goal is to help our customers make the most of AI's transformative capabilities.”
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