Seagate Launches 30TB HAMR Hard Drives in a Pitch to AI Data Center Builders

AI might prefer fast storage, but with the ultra-fast rollout of new data centers around the world, developers may need to work with what they can get.

Seagate has launched two new 30TB hard drives based on its heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology, which enables far greater data density on the individual platters. The new Exos M 30TB and IronWolf Pro 30TB units are now widely available and marketed to data center builders looking to max out their storage capacity for large AI training data, as well as edge-case inferencing.

Although AI tends to run best on fast storage hardware like SSDs, the incredible pace of AI adoption and development around the world is creating a scramble for hardware. That's mostly led to companies battering down Nvidia's door to get more graphics chips. But AI needs lots of storage space, too, and Seagate is keen for its hard ...