Seagate has officially released its new 32TB Exos M hard drive, built using Thermal Magnetic Recording (HAMR) technology. The product became the world’s first HAMR-based HDD available for the mass market. The new product is built on the Mozaic 3+ platform and marks an important step in the development of data storage technologies. According to the company, this is “the highest-capacity hard drive we’ve ever created.”
Image source: Seagate
The Exos M line currently includes two models – a 32 TB drive using tile magnetic recording (SMR) and a 30 TB version using conventional magnetic recording (CMR). However, there was a little confusion about the name of the new series. The official product page lists it as Exos M, but the URL mentions “Exos M 3+”, while the teaser on YouTube features both variants. The company has not yet given a clear comment on the final name.
It is worth saying that an important advantage of Exos M is its compatibility with existing computer systems. This means that users will not have to change their devices to switch to new HAMR disks, and the process of introducing the technology to the mass market will be faster, which is especially important for popularizing the product. However, it is not yet clear how exactly the new Exos M differs from the first Mozaic 3+ discs, since there is no detailed technical information on the manufacturer’s website.
It is noteworthy that Seagate’s main competitor in the high-capacity HDD segment is Western Digital. So, in October last year they released drives based on ePMR technology, including a 32-terabyte model. So, while Seagate was the first to release a 32 TB HAMR drive, Western Digital appears to be the first to commercialize 32 TB HDDs. However, Seagate hopes to gain an advantage in future products with its HAMR technology.