Seagate this week signed an settlement with Showa Denko in a bid to safe a second supply of platters for its laborious drives based mostly on warmth assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) know-how. Under the phrases of the deal, Seagate will consider SDK’s present supplies for HAMR media and the 2 corporations will collectively develop future supplies.
Seagate began to ship its Exos HDDs that includes HAMR inside its Lyve storage programs late final 12 months. These laborious drives use key elements, corresponding to recording heads with a close to subject transducer that heats up the media in addition to glass platters with an FePt magnetic layer, developed and made totally in-house. Being a vertically built-in firm, Seagate has sufficient manufacturing capacities to proceed constructing platters for HAMR drives internally, however having a second supply for a crucially vital part makes loads of sense for high-volume merchandise.
Having spent over 10 years on HAMR pathfinding and analysis, Showa Denko formally started to develop its glass platters for HAMR HDDs in February, 2020. Back then, the corporate stated that HAMR would obtain areal density of 5-6 Tb/in2 sooner or later, enabling 3.5-inch laborious drives with eight or 9 platters to retailer 70 TB – 80 TB of information.
By now, Showa Denko has completed growth of its first HAMR media materials that includes a FePt magnetic alloy and know-how to mass-produce laborious drive platters. Under the phrases of the settlement between SDK and Seagate, the laborious drive maker will consider the fabric designed by the Japanese firm. Going ahead, Seagate and SDK will collectively develop new magnetic alloys for HAMR HDDs.
For now, Seagate will proceed utilizing its personal FePt glass media inside its HAMR HDDs, but when it finds Showa Denko’s HAMR media ok, it would use it for future laborious drives.
The contract between Seagate and Showa Denko ensures that the laborious drive maker can have two sources of HAMR platters sooner or later, which will likely be vital if Seagate considerably expands utilization of its HAMR know-how. In truth, as soon as HAMR media hits sure areal density (i.e., considerably larger than PMR’s 1.14 Tb/inch2), it is going to make an awesome sense to undertake the know-how nor just for highest-capacity HDDs, but in addition for midrange HDDs to chop down their prices.
“[HAMR] is not only about the highest capacity point,” stated David Mosley, CEO of Seagate, at a convention final 12 months. “If we can save a disk and two heads in a 16 TB drive, we will look at doing that as well. So, it is really across the whole portfolio, which is why we think that this platform play is so important. We can introduce HAMR into the same platform. The cost increases are really nominal.”
Furthermore, Seagate may even be certain that SDK-made HAMR platters will likely be suitable with its HAMR implementation, which could turn out to be the corporate’s aggressive benefit towards Toshiba and Western Digital as soon as they undertake this know-how.
“We expect this alliance will further accelerate technological development pioneered by the two companies,” an announcement by Showa Denko reads.
For Showa Denko, the world’s largest impartial maker of HDD platters, it is very important preserve shut relationship with all makers of laborious drives. Nowadays the majority of SDK’s shipments are platters designed for PMR and SMR HDDs, however it is usually ramping up manufacturing of media for Toshiba’s MAMR-based drives. The pact with Seagate ensures that Showa Denko may even be part of upcoming HAMR HDDs.
Source: Showa Denko
