The amount of data that can be stored on HDDs is currently limited by existing technology, with current models topping out at around 8TBs. At the recent Magnetism and Magnetic Materials Conference, however, a number of new technologies were discussed which could, when combined, potentially result in HDDs capable of storing up to 100TBs of data.
New technologies such as hermetically sealed, helium-filled HDDs and shingled magnetic recording (SMR) have allowed manufacturers to develop drives with greater storage capacities by decreasing resistance in order to squeeze more platters into a drive and by writing data together more closely respectively. These technologies alone are unlikely to help the likes of Seagate and Western Digital to develop drives which boast capacities greater than the 10TB models that are expected to be unveiled in 2015, however.
Thanks to techniques that are currently being developed, though, it was predicted at the conference that 100TB HDDs will be available by 2025. What, though, are the key developments that will facilitate the creation of such a drive?
Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording, which is expected to increase the storage density of platters by up to one hundredfold, is set to be rolled out in 2017. This is likely to be followed by bit pattern media (which will allow drives to record data in small magnetic islands) in 2021. By 2025, these two technologies are expected to be combined with SMR and experts have claimed that this will increase the areal density of drives to 10TBs per square inch. As current HDDs offer areal densities of up to 0.86TBs per square inch, it is conceivable that the HDDs of 2025 will indeed boast storage capacities of 100TBs.
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