Enterprise-Class HDDs Using HelioSeal® Technology Deliver Breakthrough Performance and Capacity For Intense Data and Extreme Demands for Enterprise, Cloud and Hyperscale Workloads 

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) today announced that it has begun shipping its fourth-generation helium-based hard drive with its 12TB HGST-branded Ultrastar® He12 hard drive. The Ultrastar He12 12TB hard drive is the next generation of the company’s award-winning high capacity enterprise-class drive with HelioSeal technology, providing customers with a data storage solution addressing the expansive information management needs and demanding performance requirements of today’s enterprise, cloud and hyperscale workloads. 

     “We have again raised the bar in enterprise storage with the industry’s most advanced and cost effective highest capacity helium HDD storage solutions,” said Mark Grace, senior vice president of devices at Western Digital. “The Ultrastar He12 hard drive advances Western Digital’s portfolio leveraging the HelioSeal platform to deliver industry-leading high capacity HDD storage with exceptional power efficiency. Western Digital has shipped over 15M helium-based high capacity drives to date and continues to support our customers with outstanding reliability and Quality of Service (QoS). Our industry-leading data center portfolio enables customers across the spectrum to meet their evolving and dynamic data center demand.” 

Ultrastar He12 Helium HDD

     Known for high quality, the enterprise-class Ultrastar He12 HDD features an industry-first eight-disk design, to deliver 12TB capacity using PMR technology in a standard 3.5-inch form factor. It is the world’s highest capacity hard disk drive for active random workloads. Utilizing Western Digital’s unique HelioSeal process that seals helium in the drive to help provide the highest capacity HDD and exceptional power efficiency, the Ultrastar He12 HDD comes in a single 12TB capacity point and offers either a SATA or SAS interface both using Advanced Format. HelioSeal technology utilizes helium with 1/7 the density of air, enabling the use of thinner disks, while maintaining a stable recording interface. The unique Ultrastar He12 HDD design adds an eighth disk, two more than the highest capacity air-based enterprise drive, which enabled the capacity increase to 12TB, 50 percent more than the highest air-based enterprise drive. This additional capacity provides for increased storage density, reducing associated data center infrastructure required to store a given amount of data. It also encompasses a low-power design without compromising performance, which helps reduce overall cost of ownership. The Ultrastar He12 HDD is perfect for any application that requires massive amounts of cost-effective storage.

Features and Specifications: 

Ultrastar He12 Helium HDD

•    HelioSeal: Western Digital’s fourth generation, based on exclusive HelioSeal technology, bringing the highest capacity HDD to market much sooner than competing technologies 
•    World’s first 8-disk design, 12TB capacity, available with either 12Gb/s SAS or 6Gb/s SATA interface
•    Data Security: Instant Secure Erase, sanitize and safely redeploy HDDs using the Instant Secure Erase feature
•    SED Features: Help protect end user data with encryption (Self Encrypting Drive)
•    Reliability: Amongst the industry’s highest MTBF rating at 2.5M hours 

Availability
     The Ultrastar He12 HDD is currently shipping to distribution and comes with a 5-year limited warranty. For more information on the He12 12TB drive, visit: http://www.hgst.com/products/hard-drives/ultrastar-he12.

About Western Digital    

     Western Digital is an industry-leading provider of storage technologies and solutions that enable people to create, leverage, experience and preserve data. The company addresses ever-changing market needs by providing a full portfolio of compelling, high-quality storage solutions with customer-focused innovation, high efficiency, flexibility and speed. Our products are marketed under the HGST, SanDisk and WD brands to OEMs, distributors, resellers, cloud infrastructure providers and consumers. Financial and investor information is available on the company's Investor Relations website at investor.wdc.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

     This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including statements concerning the development, performance and capacity, capabilities, applications, and availability of the the Ultrastar He12 Helium HDD and the HelioSeal platform. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate including, among others: volatility in global economic conditions; business conditions and growth in the storage ecosystem; impact of competitive products and pricing; market acceptance and cost of commodity materials and specialized product components; actions by competitors; unexpected advances in competing technologies; our development and introduction of products based on new technologies and expansion into new data storage markets; risks associated with acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties listed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the 'SEC'), including our most recently filed periodic report to which your attention is directed. The company undertakes no obligation to update the information in this release in the event facts or circumstances change after the date of this release.