Specifications
Product
Ultrastar DC HC590 data center hard drive
Capacities
26TB and 24TB CMR
Platform Detail
World's first 11-disk CMR HDD platform
Recording Technology
Energy-assisted Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (ePMR) for higher tracks-per-inch
OptiNAND
Integrated iNAND embedded flash offloads housekeeping, freeing capacity and improving performance
ArmorCache
WCD mode for higher random write performance; WCE mode protects cached data on unexpected power off
Rotational Vibration Safeguard
Dual sensors anticipate and counteract disturbance in high-vibration enclosures
Dynamic Fly Height
Head-to-media protection against shock events
Form Factor
3.5-inch, 1.028 in height, 5.776 x 4 in, 1.47 lb
Interface
SATA 6 Gb/s and SAS 12 Gb/s
Security Options
SE (Secure Erase) or TCG (Opal) hardware encryption
MTBF
Projected 2.5 million hours
Workload
Rated to 550 TB/year, derated above 40 C device-reported temperature
Warranty
5-year limited warranty
26TB SKUs
WUH722626ALE6L4 (SATA/SE, 0F65672), WUH722626ALE6L1 (SATA/TCG, 0F65650), WUH722626AL5204 (SAS/SE, 0F59375), WUH722626AL5201 (SAS/TCG, 0F65638)
24TB SKUs
WUH722624ALE6L4 (SATA/SE, 0F65684), WUH722624ALE6L1 (SATA/TCG, 0F65642), WUH722624AL5204 (SAS/SE, 0F59373), WUH722624AL5201 (SAS/TCG, 0F65628)
Helium Sealing
Helium-sealed design for lower drag and better power efficiency per terabyte
Qualification
Leverages field-proven hardware and firmware from prior Ultrastar generations for rapid adoption
Related Family
Ultrastar DC HC580 (24TB) and HC570 (22TB) remain in the same 3.5-inch nearline line
Data Recovery
Optional Ontrack data recovery plan available (voided by RAID configurations)
Overview
The Ultrastar DC HC590 is Western Digital's density flagship for the capacity tier. It is the first CMR hard drive platform to fit eleven disks into the standard 3.5-inch, 1.028-inch-high enterprise envelope, reaching 26TB of conventional magnetic recording capacity where the previous generation topped out at 24TB. Density is delivered through ePMR recording, which raises tracks-per-inch, rather than through a new media chemistry — which is why the drive qualifies into existing enclosures without a requalification cycle.
Two pieces of WD silicon matter for AI workloads. OptiNAND adds an integrated iNAND embedded flash die that absorbs internal housekeeping metadata, so less of the platter surface is spent on translation tables in high-capacity configurations. ArmorCache then offers a deliberate trade-off: with the write cache disabled the drive prioritises random write performance, and with it enabled the drive can flush or persist cached data through an unexpected power loss — a meaningful property for storage nodes in remote or lightly protected edge AI sites.
QS Compute supplies the HC590 in both SATA and SAS, in Secure Erase and TCG-encrypted variants, sized to whatever density step a rack currently supports. It sits below the NVMe tier in the reference AI storage pyramid used across the site: NVMe for checkpoints and hot vector indexes, 26TB CMR nearline for corpora and archives.
Key Benefits
26TB in the existing 3.5-inch footprint lifts usable rack capacity without new chassis, backplanes or power budgets. ePMR + 11-disk stack delivers the density step without a new media chemistry, so qualification is fast. OptiNAND keeps the platter working on data, not bookkeeping. ArmorCache and RVS protect against power loss and enclosure vibration — the two dominant field failure causes in dense shelves. SED/TCG at the drive level gives compliant crypto-erase without application changes.
Applications
Cloud and private-cloud nearline tiers; AI training corpus and dataset storage; backup and long-term retention targets; content delivery and media libraries; video surveillance recording at scale; cold and warm object storage; academic and research HPC scratch and archive tiers.
Request a Quote — WD ULTRASTAR DC HC590 — 26TB 11-DISK CMR DATA CENTER HDD FOR AI AND CLOUD STORAGE
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