Western Digital doubles the performance of hard drives with dual-actuator High-Bandwidth, with path to 8X performance increase — Power-Optimized HDDs will reduce power by 20 percent

Western Digital has introduced High-Bandwidth HDDs with dual-actuator technology to double performance, aiming for an 8X increase over time. These drives use multiple heads to read and write simultaneously, boosting bandwidth. Additionally, the company is developing Power-Optimized HDDs that reduce power consumption by 20% for 'active cold' storage, targeting AI workloads. Western Digital plans to combine these innovations to deliver 4X higher I/O performance compared to traditional hard drives, positioning them as competitive alternatives to data center-grade SSDs.