X
Tech

WD ships 'world's largest' 12TB HGST Ultrastar He12 Helium 7200 RPM Enterprise HDDs

Need more storage space? Western Digital is now shipping the HGST Ultrastar He12 helium-based 'HelioSeal' 12TB hard drive.
Written by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Contributing Writer
WD 12TB HGST Ultrastar He12 Helium 7200 RPM Enterprise HDD

WD 12TB HGST Ultrastar He12 Helium 7200 RPM Enterprise HDD

Need more storage space? Western Digital is now shipping the HGST Ultrastar He12 helium-based 'HelioSeal' 12TB hard drive.

Must read: Apple's big $1,000+ iPhone gamble

The HGST Ultrastar He12 is a fourth-generation 3.5-inch helium hard drive, featuring an eight platter design that allows 20 percent more capacity than seven-platter drives, and Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) technology to cram more bits onto the surface of the platter.

This drive is built for reliability -- pretty much a given since it's an enterprise drive -- with a MTBF (mean time between failures) rated at 2.5 million hours.

Compared to 8TB air-filled drives, HelioSeal hard drives provides 50 percent more capacity, uses 54 percent less power (Watts/TB), and offers 25 percent greater reliability.

Ultrastar He12 comes with Instant Secure Erase (ISE) and Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) options and is available with either 6Gb/s SATA or 12Gb/s SAS interfaces.

Full specs here [PDF].

No word on pricing, but it is likely to be dependent on the number of drives purchased.

Best Raspberry Pi alternatives

See also:

The Plextor S2C solid-state drive:

Editorial standards