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Microsoft reports customer demand for tens of exabytes in hard disk drive storage
Thursday, February 5, 2026 at 12:28 AM
A Microsoft Technical Fellow stated during Western Digital Innovation Day that customers are requesting tens of exabytes of hard disk drive storage capacity, highlighting massive scaling in data center infrastructure requirements.
Context
At Western Digital's Innovation Day on February 3, 2026, a Microsoft Technical Fellow revealed a significant shift in data center requirements, stating that customers are now requesting "tens of exabytes" in hard disk drive (HDD) capacity. This surge is primarily fueled by the massive storage needs of the generative AI era, which requires high-density, cost-effective infrastructure to manage the "active cold data" generated during AI training and inference.
Western Digital, which recently rebranded as WD, reported that 89% of its $3.1 billion Q2 2026 revenue was driven by cloud demand. To address the exabyte-scale requirements of hyperscalers like Microsoft, the company unveiled a roadmap featuring 40TB UltraSMR drives set for volume production in H2 2026, with capacities projected to reach 100TB by 2029. These new technologies aim to provide up to 4x better I/O performance and 20% lower power consumption, ensuring that HDDs remain the primary storage tier for AI data due to their superior economics compared to flash memory.
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