Hardware

Published on April 12th, 2024 | by Andrew Bistak

Western Digital Showcases New Super Speeds and Massive Capacities for M&E Workflows at NAB 2024

At the NAB Show 2024, April 13-17, 2024, in Las Vegas, Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) is unveiling an exciting line-up of technologies and new storage solutions designed for today’s and tomorrow’s complex media and entertainment (M&E) workflows. Western Digital continues to focus on creating what’s next with advanced solutions that address a broad range of growing content needs.

The increasing demand for rich and engaging content, with higher resolutions and more frames per second, is generating the need for faster, more flexible high-capacity storage solutions to help streamline workflows and keep up with high-pressure project demands. For every step of the workflow – from capture and transfer to archive – Western Digital is committed to advancing technology to help professionals and creators get work done faster and more efficiently, ultimately saving time and money, so they can focus on their creativity.

Featuring super speeds and massive capacities, Western Digital will showcase its newest innovations from its world-renowned brands at the show. The company’s broad portfolio offers reliable, unique solutions that can significantly improve M&E workflows.

Advancing Tomorrow’s Workflow: Delivering Next-Gen Technology, Super Speeds 

Driving the future of performance, Western Digital is revealing its next-gen SanDisk® SD and microSD Express portfolio with a higher level of performance for current and future applications requiring faster storage solutions that help reduce the time it takes to access and save data. With performance levels reaching SSD speeds, SD Express cards work with current SD UHS-I and UHS-II devices, while giving M&E professionals a memory solution for future superspeed devices.  The new SD Express cards feature SanDisk® ThermAdapt™ technology with a specially designed enclosure and adaptive thermal managed controller, so devices stay well within a safe temperature range.  SanDisk SD and microSD Express cards are expected to be available at authorised retailers, e-tailers and the Western Digital store starting third calendar quarter of 2024.

  • SanDisk® SD Express (128GB/256GB) – With up to 4.4 times faster transfer speeds than Western Digital’s fastest SD™ UHS-I card1 this card is great for data-intensive workflows and high-performance cameras and other compatible devices. The card is backward compatible with today’s devices and ready for the future.
  • SanDisk® microSD™ Express (128GB/256GB) – With up to 4.4 times faster transfer speeds than Western Digital’s fastest microSD™ UHS-I card2, the SanDisk® microSD Express card offers unprecedented speed, storage, and performance for pros dealing with intensive workflows. This microSD card is also backward compatible for usage with today’s devices.

M&E professionals who create high-resolution videos with state-of-the art cameras, action cams, drones, and other digital devices, can be limited if they don’t have sufficient storage capabilities. To help pros evolve their creative process, Western Digital is announcing new ground-breaking memory cards at NAB:

  • 2TB* SanDisk Extreme PRO® SDXC™ UHS-I memory card – World’s first 2TB UHS-I SDXC™ card – offers massive storage capacity to capture more high-resolution images and record more 4K UHD4 videos on just one card.
  • 2TB* SanDisk Extreme PRO microSDXC™ UHS-I memory card – Western Digital’s first and world’s fastest 2TB UHS-I microSD card3 – high-capacity card for devices with microSD slots to capture more content than ever. The 2TB memory cards are expected to be available at authorised retailers, e-tailers and the Western Digital store starting third calendar quarter of 2024.
  • 4TB* SanDisk Extreme PRO SDUC ™ UHS-I memory card – introducing the world’s first-ever 4TB* UHS-I SD card to deliver an insane amount of capacity in the same-sized SD form factor. Leveraging the SDUC standard (Secure Digital Ultra Capacity), which enables up to 128TB, the new card is expected to release in 2025 and will be showcased at NAB 2024. Attendees will get a preview of the 4TB SD card’s full capacity and learn more about how it will expand the creative possibilities for cameras and laptops.

Enhancing Workflow Efficiency: Expanding Possibilities with Massive Capacities, Extreme Performance

SanDisk Professional’s award-winning line-up of premium-grade desktop hard drive solutions now feature 24TB* enterprise-class 7200 RPM Ultrastar® drives inside to better support demanding 4K, 8K and VR workflows. The new range of 24TB SanDisk Professional desktop solutions can be purchased through authorised retailers, e-tailers and the Western Digital Store.

  • 24TB* G-DRIVE® – Ultra-reliable storage supporting USB-C™ (10Gbps) for fast b
  • 24TB* G-DRIVE PROJECT – Backup and save valuable project work. Compatible with Thunderbolt 3™ and USB-C (10Gbps). Also features a PRO-BLADE™ SSD Mag slot for modular SSD performance in sharing and editing across devices.
  • 48TB* G-RAID® MIRROR – Ships in RAID 1 (Mirroring) to automatically create a duplicate of your working files for data redundancy. Compatible with Thunderbolt 3™ and USB-C (10Gbps). Also features a PRO-BLADE™ SSD Mag slot for modular SSD performance in sharing and editing across devices.
  • 96TB* G-RAID SHUTTLE 4 – Transportable 4-bay hardware RAID solution allows for super-fast access and real-time video editing. This device ships in RAID 5, and supports RAID 0, 1 and 10 configurations.
  • 192TB* G-RAID SHUTTLE 8 – Transportable 8-bay hardware RAID solution for those who need massive storage for consolidated backup, whether on location or in the studio.  It supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, and 60 configurations, and provides transfer rates up to 1690MB/s read and 1490MB/s write in default RAID 5.5

Conquering Enormous Data Demands: Increasing Scalability, Flexibility for Massive Workflows

Western Digital’s storage platforms are designed to tackle the M&E industry’s colossal data challenges with cost-effective enterprise-class storage that offers scalability, durability and mobility for broadcasters, CDNs, production houses and studios.

  • Western Digital Ultrastar® Transporter – High-throughput, large-capacity data transfer platform for data capture, storage and mobility. Offers up to 368TB* of fast NVMe™ SSD performance and dual port 200Gb/E connectivity for storing, editing and physically transporting dailies and massive files from one location to the next, including the cloud, which can save days or weeks when compared to using online file transfer services.  Take it on location where a network connection may not be feasible due to cost or poor connectivity. Weighs less than 30lbs, features a durable chassis design, and includes a proven transport case.  Features added data security with a tamper evident case and is designed for FIPS 140-2 level 2 compliance with Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Version 2.
  • Western Digital Ultrastar® Data102 JBOD Platform – Reliable, high-density external storage platform for mass storage, backup, online accessible archive and nearline content. This third-generation solution supports up to 24Gb SAS to the host to future proof your investment. The Data102 3000 platform provides up to 2.65PB* in a 4U enclosure, and supports the latest 24TB Ultrastar hard drives, including the now shipping Ultrastar DC HC580 SAS HDDs. Features the company’s unique ArcticFlow™ and IsoVibe™ innovations that have demonstrated a 62% reduction in hard drive returns caused by heat and vibration compared to the generation without.


About the Author

When he's not trying to save the world, Andrew enjoys travel (although loathes turbulence), going to the movies, reading and being a dad to his two dogs (and now twins) with his wife.


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