Innovations in Data StorageContribute to Eco-Friendly Data Center Architecture
As the world continues to digitally transform, the need for more sustainable practices in hard-disk drive (HDD) manufacturing has become increasingly important. Leaning into these new sustainable practices and innovations will help sustain our planet for future generations to enjoy.
The challenges presented by increased digitalization demand have led to the development of more sustainable practices in HDD manufacturing. This includes new high-density architectures, storage disaggregation, and new sustainable recycling and remanufacturing processes.
One key development is the introduction of recycled content in components and materials, decarbonizing manufacturing processes, and substituting high-GWP chemicals in HDDs. These improvements aim to make HDDs more environmentally friendly.
Data centers are expected to produce 2.5 billion tons of carbon through 2030, and generative AI will increase power demands by 70% annually. AI-scale data centers are a growing contributor to global energy demand, with data center electricity use expected to surge 4X to 10X by 2030.
To address these challenges, current advancements in higher-efficiency HDDs for sustainable data centers focus on increasing storage density and reducing total cost of ownership while optimizing power consumption. Key developments include:
- The use of Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) technology, employed by drives like Seagate’s new 30 TB HAMR HDDs, which enable significantly higher data density on traditional magnetic media, reducing the number of physical drives needed and thereby improving energy efficiency per terabyte stored.
- The adoption of Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) HDDs in hyperscale cloud environments, which can reduce storage costs by about 20% while maintaining throughput and availability.
- A storage strategy that segments data by workload tier—using SSDs for hot data, HDDs for warm tier storage, and tape/archive for cold data—helps optimize overall data center power and cooling demands by matching performance needs to the right technology.
- Continued investment in HDD designs that focus on thermal stability, reliability, and flatness of storage media substrates is enhancing efficiency and longevity of high-capacity drives while reducing maintenance and replacement frequency.
- Broad sustainability initiatives in data centers emphasize the use of energy-efficient HDD and SSD technologies that consume less power per terabyte, combined with data management practices like deduplication and compression to further reduce storage footprint and operational energy.
Disaggregating storage and computing resources can result in fewer individual boxes in the data center, leading to lower costs associated with regular maintenance, networking, rack space, cooling, and overall power. This practice allows organizations to prevent over-provisioning, improving total cost of ownership and helping to meet sustainability goals.
Recycling and remanufacturing processes for HDDs can extend product lifespans, minimize e-waste, and reclaim valuable materials from old drives. The emergence of a circular economy for HDDs can lead to more sustainable manufacturing and recycling efforts.
Advances in HDDs are making data centers more sustainable through more efficient architectures, technological innovations, disaggregation of storage and compute resources, and recycling and remanufacturing initiatives. These developments are crucial for sustainable data centers, as they provide the foundation for today's extensive data lakes used to train AI models. Furthermore, the use of more sustainable HDDs can benefit AI applications, as they provide the storage capacity and performance needed in a more sustainable supply chain.
In summary, newer HDDs employing HAMR and SMR technologies, combined with intelligent data tiering and innovations in drive materials and architecture, form the current frontier of higher-efficiency HDD solutions aimed at sustainable, cost-effective data center operations in 2025. Digitalization is a key component of global sustainability, aiming to replace physical objects with digital representations to promote a sustainable planet.
Technology and data-and-cloud-computing advancements play significant roles in addressing the environmental impact of growing digitalization. For instance, the adoption of Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) technology and Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) HDDs aim to increase storage efficiency and reduce energy consumption in data centers, thereby contributing to a more sustainable digital future. Additionally, disaggregating storage and computing resources can lead to reduced e-waste and energy consumption, promoting a more circular economy for technology and data-centric applications.
