Data is created, copied, stored and consumed at an ever-increasing rate, prompting an explosion in data growth globally.
According to a recent IDC Global DataSphere report, the amount of data created and replicated is expected to reach around 180 zettabytes by 2025.
At the core of these data centers are nearline hard disk drives which are the most cost-effective performance storage medium available in the market.
One of leading global technology companies in the storage industry is Toshiba, which offers a comprehensive portfolio of HDD products that addresses the storage needs of enterprise, data center, surveillance, and client markets.
The company’s key manufacturing facility is based in the Philippines.
“Since Toshiba Information Equipment (Philippines) Inc. began operations in 1996, the company has grown to be a strategic manufacturing center for storage devices including large-capacity nearline HDDs for the global market. We will continue to support the development of a data-driven society and promote exports of electronics from the Philippines to drive economic growth,” said Jun Ito, president of Toshiba Information Equipment (Philippines).
TIP began operations with about 12,000 employees and the company has been instrumental in providing data storage solutions for over 20 years.
With the increasing demand for nearline HDDs, the company has invested to support large-scale production, ramping up output to meet the industry needs. This is with the consideration to minimize wastage of raw materials and maximize technological resources to bring about total cost efficiency and sustainable manufacturing.
“To meet the increasing Nearline HDD demand, TIP expanded its production capacity by setting up multiple automated lines, while improving the productivity and efficiency of existing lines. We are constantly building a skilled labor force through knowledge transfer, trainings, resource sharing and close collaboration, especially with our Storage Products Division counterparts in Yokohama, Japan," said John Mark Guilaran engineer at TIP’s Enterprise Production Engineering division.
He said two automated lines capable of producing 200,000 units of nearline HDDs per month were set up with minimal supervisory support from Japan.
"Having a strong desire to learn and ‘never give up’ attitude are our key strengths. We see every challenge as an opportunity to create, innovate, learn and grow," Guilaran said.
Gerald Balingasa, engineer at HDD Design Support Center said TIP, like any other company, was affected by the COVID 19 pandemic.
"Prioritization and resourcefulness are important to address the limited access to transportation and rollout of new model evaluation activities. We once again proved to be very resilient despite the challenges. We prioritize the health of our employees, customers and community around us and mandated health protocols are quickly adopted and new regulations are put in place," Balingasa said.
The most recent development is Toshiba’s first HDD models with energy-assisted magnetic recording. The MG09 Series features Toshiba’s third-generation, 9-disk Helium-sealed design and Toshiba’s innovative Flux Control – Microwave Assisted Magnetic Recording technology, to advance Conventional Magnetic Recording density to 2TB per disk, achieving a total capacity of 18TB.
TIP’s HDD Design Support Center collaborated with Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corp.’s Storage Products Division, to carry out the evaluation process and data analysis, making it ready for mass production.
Hiroshi Okamura, former TIP president, said the “Philippines is a strategic manufacturing location for Toshiba to deliver our data storage solutions to the global market that demands large capacity storage in high speeds.
"We offer an extensive range of products -from mobile HDDs in notebooks, car navigation and game consoles, high capacity storage solutions for servers systems to nearline series in data centers to support mission critical applications. Toshiba Information Equipment (Philippines), Inc. is leveraging our extensive capabilities as a digital storage provider and well-supported by a highly capable talent pool to deliver customer-focused solutions and innovation to our customers globally," Okamura said.