Long-Term Economic Case for HDD Storage

This white paper analyzes the economic drivers behind the adoption of hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs) in data centers. It outlines the importance of HDDs as a cornerstone of data center storage, particularly in the context of increasing global data generation, which is projected to rise significantly from 173.4ZB in 2024 to 527.5ZB in 2029. The paper explains that while SSDs are suitable for high-access data, HDDs provide cost-efficient capacity for 'warm' and 'cold' workloads. It details the total cost of ownership (TCO) considerations that operators must evaluate when selecting storage solutions, highlighting the cost advantages of HDDs over SSDs. Additionally, the paper discusses the reliability of HDDs at scale, emphasizing their essential role in supporting AI and cloud infrastructures. The conclusion reinforces that HDDs will continue to be vital for economically sustainable storage solutions as data demands grow.