Global data storage tech and solutions company, Western Digital, has gone for gold, expanding its “WD Gold hard drive line-up to include a 12TB capacity model".

Designed to address demanding big data workloads, the new high-capacity hard drives “provide for increased storage density in a range of enterprise and cloud storage applications".

Whether data comes in the form of confidential consumer data, healthcare records or business intelligence, WD says its “Gold hard drives provide a no-compromise storage solution that modern day IT manager’s need".

Brendan Collins, vice-president of WD’s Devices business unit, said: “As data growth continues unabated, retaining more of that data and generating meaningful insight from it becomes increasingly important.

“Businesses that most effectively extract value from operational data are able to make smarter decisions, improve business outcomes and ultimately gain a competitive advantage.”

With the “WD Gold” designated hard drives “designed to store users’ most precious data”, they use the company’s “4th generation HelioSeal technology".

This technology “seals helium in the drive to help provide exceptional capacity, reliability and power efficiency".

So, what will they cost, and when can you get them?

The new WD Gold 12TB hard drives (model number WD121KRYZ) feature a “five-year limited warranty with an RRP of $969.00”, and will be available “next quarter through select distributors".

The drive was once available in 1, 2, 4 and 6TB sizes, but no longer, with only 8, 10 and 12TB sizes now available. How time flies – and how long before 20TB, 50TB and even 100TB becomes available!

Obviously not too soon, we’ve only just reached 12TB, but with technology evolving so rapidly, will 2025 see 1000TB drives, or is that either too optimistic, or too far off into the future?

More information on the drive’s features, specs, workload ratings and reliability of the WD Gold product line is here.