A unit of Irvine-based Western Digital Corp. has attracted an impressive list of customers to test a new storage drive that could reshape the industry and fuel a wave of innovation to ease the increasing demands of the data explosion.
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Ltd.’s 6-terabyte Ultrastar He6 hard disk drive is being used in data centers run by Netflix Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies Co., the world’s second-largest networking equipment maker, and some of the biggest social media and search companies.
The key ingredient behind the hard disk drive is helium, an abundant element that’s lighter than air and commonly used to fill up toy balloons, to detect leaks in piping and other industrial settings, and in MRI procedures.
Helium is difficult to trap and use in storage devices, but it holds great potential for the industry.
The new helium drive from San Jose-based Hitachi Global, which operates as a Western Digital subsidiary, increases storage capacity by 50% over the standard 4-terabyte drive.
Hitachi Global aims to shorten the widening gap between hard disc drive capacity, which is doubling about every two to three years but still falling behind demand amid the proliferation of mobile devices, streaming content and cloud computing, according to a recent study by Massachusetts-based market researcher International Data Corp.
Sealed helium-filled drives are among the new technologies the industry needs to increase capacity for enterprise customers, said IDC Research Vice President John Rydning, one of the authors of the report.
“The enterprise market provides about 30% of the [hard disk drive] industry’s revenue, and sealed helium-filled HDDs will help to sustain this revenue stream for [Hitachi Global] over the next several years,” he said.
Hitachi Global says its helium technology reduces power consumption by 23% and cuts room temperatures by 39 degrees compared to standard 4-terabite drives—both key benefits for large data centers that cost nearly as much to operate as to build out, with cooling costs a major part of overhead.
“We can eliminate entire racks of servers and storage in data centers by deploying helium,” said Hitachi Global Vice President of Product Marketing Brendan Collins.
It’s not uncommon for data centers used by social networks, online retailers, video streaming providers and search companies to house 100,000 servers and thousands of drives in racks.
Hitachi Global’s helium drives are being targeted to cloud services providers, a key segment coveted by Western Digital when it acquired Hitachi Global last year for $4.8 billion.
The priciest buy in the company’s 43-year history added key corporate customers and an entree into the growing server and storage market, fueling Western Digital’s ascent as the world’s largest drive maker in revenue and unit sales.
Introducing the industry’s first helium drive could further distance Western Digital from Cupertino-based rival Seagate Technology Inc. while paving a new road for growth, according to Andrew Nowinski, a senior research analyst at Minneapolis-based Piper Jaffray Cos., which puts an “overweight” rating on Western Digital’s stock.
“This is one of the bigger growth drivers for the company,” he said. “We’re bullish and see this as a big catalyst for the company.”
Western Digital shares have climbed steadily over the past year, more than doubling to a market value of about $17.7 billion and making the company the most valuable technology firm based in Orange County.
Manufacturers have been trying for more than a decade to incorporate helium technology into hard disk drives, which use spinning disks to read and store data. But hermetically sealing each component had evaded engineers from Asia to Silicon Valley.
“We started working on this in 2003,” Collins said.
The technology promises advancements in other innovative storage techniques, such as liquid cooling, which is denser than air. Helium can remove heat more efficiently and maintain a more constant operating temperature, thus bringing down expensive operational costs.
Helio Seal Brand
Hitachi Global’s HelioSeal brand of products, unlike other hard drives, can be submerged in any nonconductive liquid, the primary reason Austin-based Green Revolution Cooling was attracted to the technology.
“Helium creates an opportunity to come out with a whole new class of storage,” Collins said. “This is one of the most exciting technologies we’ve introduced in the disk drive industry in 20 years.”
Hitachi Global spent more than a decade to find the right mix to trap helium inside its latest storage drive.
Researchers zeroed in on every mechanical component in its Ultrastar He6 drive to ensure helium couldn’t escape and then had to reconfigure its manufacturing plants in San Jose and Japan for new automated tooling.
The total cost surpassed $100 million as they tested various gases to ensure they were nontoxic, light, in global supply, and didn’t interact with other chemicals, which involved more testing with adhesives, metals, magnets and lubricants.
Helium passed every stringent test and carried two additional important benefits: It’s found everywhere, and it’s cheap.
One standard helium tank can produce 10,000 hard disk drives and costs pennies per unit.
“Now we feel good we can ramp the product,” Hitachi Global’s Collins said.
