Western Digital has begun shipping its fourth-generation helium-based hard drive with its 12TB HGST-branded Ultrastar He12 hard drive.

The Ultrastar He12 12TB hard drive is the next generation of the company's high capacity enterprise-class drive with HelioSeal technology.

The new drive features an eight-disk design, to deliver 12TB capacity using PMR technology in a standard 3.5-inch form factor. It is the world's highest capacity hard disk drive for active random workloads. Utilizing Western Digital's HelioSeal process that seals helium in the drive to help provide the highest capacity HDD and power efficiency, the Ultrastar He12 HDD comes in a single 12TB capacity point and offers either a SATA or SAS interface both using Advanced Format. HelioSeal technology utilizes helium with 1/7 the density of air, enabling the use of thinner disks, while maintaining a stable recording interface. It also encompasses a low-power design without compromising performance, which helps reduce overall cost of ownership.

Through the Instant Secure Erase feature, owners can sanitize and safely redeploy HDDs. The Self Encrypting Drive has amongs the industry's highest MTBF rating at 2.5M hours.