Western Digital’s 18 TB CMR and 20 TB SMR HDDs Will Arrive in 2020

[Tsing]

To the delight of data centers and digital hoarders, Western Digital has announced that its 18 TB CMR and 20 TB SMR HDDs will be available in the first half of 2020. The 18 TB Ultrastar DC HC550 CMR HDD and 20 TB Ultrastar DC HC650 SMR HDD's capacity is made possible by a nine-disk platform, which includes energy-assisted recording technology.

This rapid ramp and availability of the 20TB SMR drive following a technology preview in June 2019, supports a growing ecosystem and the continued industry adoption of SMR. Western Digital estimates that 50 percent of its HDD exabytes shipped will be on SMR by 2023.

 

[Eduardo_Domingot]

My Plex just got an upgrade

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

My Plex is in serious need of some kind of backup. I've been watching drives on CDW thanks to a guy on hardocp for about $300 for 14tb drives. I'm still going to pick up at least one to backup what I have now. Been buying drives for years but never needed anything on the highest end of the spectrum, so I don't usually watch the prices. But price wise should I wait to expand my server til these are available to see if prices drop on 12/14tb drives?

 

[Eduardo_Domingot]

My Plex is in serious need of some kind of backup. I've been watching drives on CDW thanks to a guy on hardocp for about $300 for 14tb drives. I'm still going to pick up at least one to backup what I have now. Been buying drives for years but never needed anything on the highest end of the spectrum, so I don't usually watch the prices. But price wise should I wait to expand my server til these are available to see if prices drop on 12/14tb drives?

I really just started Plex six months ago so I was kidding but your last comment about a price drop might end up happening. I'll jump on 8 or 12 TB drives if that happens.

 

[ThreeDee]

These would be a great addition to my Plex stuff too .. as well .. also .. only running about 10'ishTB of stuff on 14'ish TB of space though