Samsung to develop next-generation storage technology with Western Digital

From left are Samsung Electronics' zoned storage technology-based solid state drive (SSD) and Western Digital's zoned storage SSD. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

By Baek Byung-yeul

Samsung Electronics joined hands with U.S.-based data storage company Western Digital to develop a next-generation storage technology called zoned storage targeting the data center and enterprise markets that need to process large amount of data, the company said Wednesday.

The Korean tech giant said it signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. company to promote the standardization of zoned storage technology. The two companies also plan to collaborate to develop and promote software for products featuring zoned storage technology.

Samsung said the new technology enables a more efficient operation of storage at data centers and enterprises by enabling users to save data in several different zones.

"Using zoned storage technology, storage space is divided into zones. By storing data having the same use and same use cycle in the same area, data can be stored more efficiently than existing solid state drives (SSDs) that distributes and stores data," a Samsung spokesman said.

Samsung and Western Digital have been cooperating since last year. In June, 2021, Samsung developed the industry's first ZNS SSD using the zone storage technology. Samsung accounts for the largest share of the SSD market, while Western Digital has the third-largest stake as of 2021.

The two companies have also been leading the development of zoned storage-related technology working together in organizations such as the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) and the Linux Foundation. SNIA is a non-profit, storage-related standardization organization established in December 1997 and consists of 110 member companies.

Zoned technology is expected to help customers reduce costs and improve the quality of service, while the establishment of an ecosystem for next-generation, large-capacity storage products through cooperation between the two companies will lead to the production of more uniform products, Samsung said.

"This collaboration is a testament to our relentless effort to exceed customers' needs now and in the future, and holds special meaning in how we anticipate it will actively grow into a larger basis of engagement for zoned storage standardization," Han Jin-man, executive vice president and head of Memory Sales & Marketing at Samsung, said.

Robert Soderbery, executive vice president of Western Digital, also said, "We are excited to bring these contributions to this joint initiative with Samsung in facilitating wider adoption of zoned storage for users and application developers."

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