Innovations

What difference does areal density make?

The future of sustainable mass-capacity storage is now.

AI is driving an unprecedented surge in data creation, which is projected to triple by 2028—far outpacing forecasted storage capacity.

As a result, areal density innovation is more crucial than ever for sustainable mass-capacity storage.

First, what is areal density?

It’s the measurement of data stored per unit of surface area on any medium.

This measurement directly impacts how efficiently data is stored within limited physical space. To manage this growth, enterprises can adopt strategies deployed by cloud data centers, which prioritize high storage density to achieve affordable, scalable, long-term storage solutions.

Key breakthroughs in the evolution of areal density.

Over the past 70 years, only two major advancements in areal density have expanded the limits of storage capacity, enabling data centers to scale efficiently.

Transitioning from LMR to PMR.

In the early 2000s, the transition from longitudinal magnetic recording (LMR) to perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) marked a pivotal increase in areal density.

By reorienting data bits from a horizontal to a vertical alignment, PMR reduced magnetic interference between bits to increase data stability and density. 

Transition from PMR to HAMR.

Because PMR technology hit its limit of areal density per platter at 3TB, a new way to increase areal density was needed. Developed by Seagate engineers and launched in January 2024, the Mozaic 3+^™ platform marks the world’s first implementation of heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) enabling 3.2TB per platter with a roadmap to 5TB and beyond.  

By leveraging high-coercivity media and localized plasmonic heating, HAMR achieves stable, precise writing at atomic scales, pushing areal density to unprecedented levels while maintaining the industry-standard 3.5-inch form factor. 

How areal density drives efficiency, from disk platters to data centers.

Increasing areal density optimizes data centers and improves real estate investment ROI for new scale-out or managed fleets.

It achieves this by offering higher per-platter density storage by packing in more storage capacity per drive slot, improving data center utilization without compromising power and sustainability objectives. 

Higher per-platter density enables greater capacity without expanding physical infrastructure, reducing real estate costs.

Enterprises can improve real estate investment ROI for new scale-out or managed fleets with higher per-platter density storage; transitioning from 1TB to 3TB per platter allows a drive to achieve 30TB capacity in the same form factor as a 10TB drive. 
Drives with higher areal density deliver 2.6× better power efficiency per terabyte than current 10TB drives. 
Seagate's leadership in areal density supports these scaling benefits for data centers while also lowering the bill of materials (BOM) cost per TB across its full hard drive portfolio, benefiting all markets and applications.

How does an extra platter change things?

Select Target Capacity

Optimization

Build Savings

Power Savings

Fewer Platters

Areal Density

Areal density drives sustainable growth.

Innovations in areal density are indispensable for sustainable data centers, enhancing resource efficiency and reducing environmental impact.

Higher-density drives use fewer raw materials per TB, cutting manufacturing needs, energy use, and e-waste. 
Seagate’s roadmap to achieve 5TB+ per platter in coming years enables scalable data growth while increasing sustainability.

Improved areal density lowers carbon footprints by reducing drive counts and optimizing embodied carbon in data centers. Drives with higher density deliver up to 3.5× better embodied carbon efficiency than standard 10TB drives.

Seagate is leading the way.

As the world’s only hard drive manufacturer with areal density capabilities of 3TB per disk, with 5TB per disk on the horizon, Seagate is at the helm of a storage revolution. It starts with Mozaic 3+.

Learn more

Exos Mozaic 3+

The proven path to breakthrough areal density is here. Built to enable hyper-efficient, sustainable data storage, Exos mass-capacity hard drives now feature Mozaic 3+, a powerful platform that unleashes areal density of 3TB per disk so that you can store more exabytes in the same space for a significantly lower cost.

Learn more

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Mozaic 3+

Mozaic 3+™ incorporates Seagate’s unique implementation of HAMR to deliver mass-capacity storage at unprecedented areal densities.

White Paper

What Is Mozaic 3+, How Does It Work, and What Can It Do for My Data Center?

Seagate's Mozaic 3+ white paper details a breakthrough in data storage, featuring HAMR technology for unparalleled areal density per disk, enabling future-ready, high-capacity hard drives.

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What difference does areal density make?

AI is driving an unprecedented surge in data creation, which is projected to triple by 2028—far outpacing forecasted storage capacity.

First, what is areal density?

It’s the measurement of data stored per unit of surface area on any medium.

Key breakthroughs in the evolution of areal density.

Transitioning from LMR to PMR.

In the early 2000s, the transition from longitudinal magnetic recording (LMR) to perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) marked a pivotal increase in areal density.

Transition from PMR to HAMR.

How areal density drives efficiency, from disk platters to data centers.

Increasing areal density optimizes data centers and improves real estate investment ROI for new scale-out or managed fleets.

How does an extra platter change things?

Select Target Capacity

Optimization

Areal Density

Areal density drives sustainable growth.

Innovations in areal density are indispensable for sustainable data centers, enhancing resource efficiency and reducing environmental impact.

Seagate is leading the way.

Exos Mozaic 3+

Related Resources

Have Questions?