Data is created, copied, stored and consumed at an ever-increasing
rate, prompting an explosion in data growth globally. According to a recent
IDC Global DataSphere report, the amount of data created and replicated is
expected to reach around 180ZB by 2025*1. A super-information society is birthed from the
convergence of physical space and internet driving interconnectivity of all
web-enabled things, on-demand availability of computer system resources and the
emergence of artificial intelligence to enable machines to learn and carry out
tasks by replicating human intelligence.
*1 IDC, Worldwide Global DataSphere Forecast, 2021–2025:
The World Keeps Creating More Data — Now, What Do We Do with It All?, Doc #
US46410421, March 2021
One of core digital infrastructures are data centers
which are scattered throughout the world. These trends have fuelled to a higher
demand for data management and storage utilization solutions to be reliable, secure,
power-efficient and at the same time provide high-density storage capacities in
an increasingly distributed workload environment.
At the core of these data centers are nearline Hard Disk Drives
(HDD), which are the most cost-effective performance storage medium available
in the market. Data storage comes in primarily three broad
categories: offline, nearline and online.
While nearline storage is not immediately available, it can easily be
made online quickly without human intervention.
One of leading global technology companies in the storage
industry is Toshiba. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of HDD
products that addresses the storage needs of enterprise, data center, surveillance,
and client markets. Toshiba
enterprise HDDs are categorised in three main areas: “Enterprise Performance HDDs” for traditional mission critical
servers and storage systems, “Enterprise
Capacity HDDs” for entry servers and storage system for business critical
workload, and “Cloud-Scale Capacity
HDDs” for hyperscale data centers. In 1CQ21, Toshiba shipped at that time a
new nearline HDD and exabyte record of 2.11 million units and 25.6 exabytes,
respectively, delivering an average capacity of 12.1TB per unit, which outpaced
the industry average*2.
*2 IDC, Worldwide 1Q21 HDD Shipment
Results and Four-Quarter Forecast Update, Doc # US47667520, May 2021
Toshiba’s Strategic Data Storage Manufacturing Facility in the
Philippines
The company’s key
manufacturing facility is based in the Philippines. Toshiba Information Equipment
(Philippines), Inc. (TIP) began operations in 1996 and with about 12,000 employees,
the company has been instrumental in providing data storage solutions for over
20 years.
A
hard disk drive is produced under high precision manufacturing and ultra-clean
environments.
Since the hard disk demands high speeds of rotation and the head is in close
proximity to its platter, nearline HDDs go through an extensive manufacturing
process. One of key parts of a hard disk drive is the recording media. With
multiple recording media stacked with precision to allow efficient reading and
writing of data, a nearline hard disk drive including recording head, media,
electronics and firmware is carefully assembled and tested rigorously under
extreme environments such as pressure and temperature in test chambers to ensure
quality in the final delivery.
With the increasing
demand for nearline HDDs, the company has invested to support large-scale
production, ramping up output to meet the industry needs. This is with the consideration to minimize wastage of raw materials and
maximize technological resources to bring about total cost efficiency and
sustainable manufacturing.
What
sets Toshiba Apart
Toshiba’s engineers
are vital to keep the manufacturing facility going and ensuring business
continuity as far as possible.
John Mark Guilaran,
Engineer, TIP’s Enterprise Production Engineering division shares, “To meet the
increasing Nearline HDD demand, TIP
expanded its production capacity by setting up multiple automated lines, while improving
the productivity and efficiency of existing lines. We are constantly building a skilled labor
force through knowledge transfer, trainings, resource sharing and close collaboration,
especially with our Storage Products Division counterparts in Yokohama, Japan.
Two automated lines capable of producing 200,000 units of Nearline HDDs per
month were set up with minimal supervisory support from Japan. Having a strong desire to learn and ‘never
give up’ attitude are our key strengths. We see every challenge as an
opportunity to create, innovate, learn and grow.”
Gerald
Balingasa, Engineer, HDD Design Support Center adds, “TIP, like any other company, is affected by the COVID 19 pandemic. Prioritization
and resourcefulness are important to address the limited access to
transportation and rollout of new model evaluation activities. We once again
proved to be very resilient despite the challenges. We prioritize
the health of our employees, customers and community around us and mandated
health protocols are quickly adopted and new regulations are put in place. Our
determination to achieve our targets while ensuring everyone’s safety has given
us continued success amid the pandemic. The pandemic has taught me to never
underestimate the value of camaraderie, understanding life’s unforeseeable
moments and making the most out of the situation. Staying true to TIP’s policy of ‘Simple,
Speed and Flexibility’.”
Next-generation Data Storage Technology
The most recent development is Toshiba’s
first HDD models with energy-assisted magnetic recording. The MG09 Series
features Toshiba’s third-generation, 9-disk Helium-sealed design and Toshiba’s
innovative Flux Control – Microwave Assisted Magnetic Recording (FC-MAMR)
technology, to advance Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR) density to 2TB per
disk, achieving a total capacity of 18TB.
TIP’s HDD Design Support Center collaborated with Toshiba
Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation’s Storage Products Division, to
carry out the evaluation process and data analysis, making it ready for mass
production.
Hiroshi Okamura, President of TIP*3
remarks, “Philippines is a strategic
manufacturing location for Toshiba to deliver our data storage solutions to the
global market that demands large capacity storage in high speeds. We offer
an extensive range of products -from mobile HDDs in notebooks, car navigation
and game consoles, high capacity storage solutions for servers systems to
nearline series in data centers to support mission critical applications. Toshiba
Information Equipment (Philippines), Inc. is leveraging our extensive
capabilities as a digital storage provider and well-supported by a highly
capable talent pool to deliver customer-focused solutions and innovation to our
customers globally.”
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