Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation (Toshiba）at October 18, 2022 announced the launch of MG10 20TB HDD, that boosted capacity up to 20TB with conventional magnetic recording (CMR) and has a 10-disk helium-sealed design that leverages Toshiba’s innovative Flux Control Microwave Assisted Magnetic Recording (FC-MAMR™) technology to boost storage capabilities. 

With 11.1% more capacity than Toshiba’s prior 18TB model, 20TB MG10 Series are compatible with the widest range of applications and operating systems, and are adapted to mixed random and sequential read and write workloads in both cloud-scale and traditional data-center use cases. The drive features 7,200rpm performance, a 550TB per year workload rating, and a choice of SATA and SAS interfaces—all in a power-efficient helium-sealed, industry-standard 3.5-inch form factor.

The 20TB MG10 series further showcases Toshiba’s commitment to boost capacity for storage devices in cloud-scale servers and object and file storage infrastructure. The new improved power efficiency and increased capacity helps cloud-scale infrastructure to advance storage density, thereby reducing capex and improving total cost of ownership (TCO).

Applications

• Cloud-scale Sever and Storage Infrastructure
• Software-defined data center infrastructure
• File- and Object-based storage infrastructure
• Tiered Storage Infrastructure Solutions
• Workloads and Use-Cases that Benefit from High Capacity per Spindle disk drives
• Capacity-Optimized Cloud-scale and Rack-Scale Storage Systems
• Compliance Data Archives and Data Life-Cycle Management Storage Systems
• Data Center Data-Protection and Data Back-up Infrastructure

As data growth continues at an explosive pace, the advanced 20TB MG10 Series with FC-MAMR™ technology will help cloud-scale service providers and storage solution designers to achieve higher storage densities for cloud, hybrid-cloud and on-premises rack-scale storage. 

Key Features

• Massive Capacity: Up to 20 TB of Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR) capacity. Available in SATA models with 512e or 4Kn Advanced Format Sector Technology.
• Enterprise Grade Reliability: Includes Toshiba Persistent Write Cache Technology for Data-Loss Protection in Sudden Power-Loss Events (512e models).
• Industry Leading Mechanical Design: Seals helium inside the 10-disk mechanics to reduce aerodynamic drag and deliver a lower operational power profile.
• Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Lower operational power profile, providing excellent power efficiency (W/TB) for better TCO.

Features

• Up to 20TB capacity
• Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR) for broad compatibility
• Toshiba Flux Control Microwave-assisted Magnetic Recording (FC-MAMR™) Technology
• Industry-leading 10-disk helium-sealed design for superior storage density
• Industry Standard 3.5-inch 26.1mm height Form Factor
• 7200rpm Performance
• SATA 6.0Gbit/s Interfacess
• Lower operational power profile, providing excellent power efficiency (W/TB) for better TCO
• 550 Total TB Transferred per Year Workload Rating
• 512e or 4Kn Advanced Format Sector Technology; (512e Model) Includes Toshiba Persistent Write Cache Technology for Data-Loss Protection in Sudden Power-Loss Events
• Power efficiency improvements vs. prior MG Series generations
• Sanitize Instant Erase (SIE) option model and Self Encrypting Drive (SED) option model

Specifications

• Available Capacities: 20 TB
• Form Factor: 3.5-inch
• Buffer Size: 512MiB
• Rotation Speed: 7200rpm
• Maximum Data Transfer Speed (Sustained)(Typ.): 268MiB/s
• Power Consumption (Idle-A): SATA 20TB: 4.38W
• MTTF/MTBF(AFR): 2 500 000 h (0.35%)
• Weight (Max): 20TB: 720g
  

Models

- Retail package

We received the MG10ACA20TE sample unit from Toshiba in a protective plastic case. The 20TB platform has two variations depending the used format (4Kn or 512e), most users will use the 4Kn models, while users with older systems might prefer the 512e model, which might increase compatibility, especially if you use this drive as a "boot drive". The 512e variation also includes Toshiba Persistent Write Cache Technology for Data-Loss Protection in Sudden Power-Loss Events.

Looking at online stores, the drive is listed around €400, depending your local region the VAT. Competition offers from WD (Ultrastar DC HC560) has similar price range, while Seagate IronWolf Pro 20TB costs around ~500 Euro, much higher than both Toshiba and WD HDDs.

The design of the Toshiba MG10 20TB series is very simple, its dimensions are according to the 3,5" HDD format and its weight is at 720gr.

Below is a close up from the external product label. Our drive is build 08-10-2022 and was running the latest available firmware.

The drive uses normal SATA connectors for connecting with the host. There are also four headers also present, which however are not documented at the official manual for its use, probably for service purposes.

After connecting the HDD to the system, we formatted the disk with NTFS file format and users should expect around 18.1TB of useable free space.

The ClystalDiskInfo software gives us more information about the installed drive, our sample came with 0102 firmware and no hours power on, so it's a brand new drive. As we can see the drive is connected at SATA 3 ports and supports S.M.A.R.T., APM, NCQ and GPL features..