The need for hyperscale and cloud storage solutions continues to rise to unprecedented levels with the ever-increasing growth in data generation. According to a recent Seagate report, Rethink Data, enterprise data is expected to grow at an average rate of 42.2% over the next two years. The survey was conducted by IDC, which also forecast the global datasphere will reach a staggering 175ZB by 2025 in a previous IDC whitepaper sponsored by Seagate. The high-capacity Exos X18 supports this expanding need for data storage.

Using the Exos X18, Seagate’s Enterprise Data Solutions team combined high-capacity storage and compute into one platform. The recently launched AP combine servers and storage in an ultra-compact, dense system to meet the demands of businesses with varying performance and capacity requirements. The Exos AP 2U12 offers a new controller, flexible enclosure, enterprise-grade firmware, data protection, and automatic tiering.

“Seagate’s Exos X18 hard drives and upgraded Exos AP controllers enable enterprises to effectively tackle challenges associated with the exponential rise in data volumes by increasing system capacity and reducing deployment complexity,” said Ken Claffey, vice president and general manager of enterprise data solutions at Seagate Technology. “With the ever-increasing demand from enterprise data centers for greater storage capacity and efficiency, Seagate offers the industry’s leading density and configurability with ease of deployment for data lakes and private storage clouds.”

Exos X18 is the fifth-generation high capacity helium 3.5-inch 7200 RPM nearline enterprise drive offering 18TB with both SATA and SAS interfaces. It enables high-capacity storage solutions that ensure customers can scale capacity in a cost-effective way. It supports hyperscale, datacenter, and enterprise NAS system storage challenges by enabling ultra-fast data transfers, lower power and weight compared with traditional nearline drives, increased random reads/write (IOPS) than previous generations with 512e and 4KN formatting. Exos X18 includes built-in data protection through Seagate Secure™ technology that provides for safe, affordable, fast, and easy drive retirement.

The Exos X18 18TB hard drive is now available for an MSRP of $561.75.