Western Digital has quietly introduced a new ultra-dense storage rack called the Ultrastar Data102. This 4U rack shelf holds 102 3.5-inch drives, offering just over three petabytes of raw storage when equipped with today's 30 TB hard disks. Upgrading to 32 TB drives increases the raw capacity to about 3.26 PB, providing a modest but valuable boost for customers aiming to maximize terabytes per rack unit. The chassis is designed for dense, continuous operation, featuring redundant, hot-swappable power supplies, front-serviceable cooling, and SAS host connectivity suitable for large storage fabrics.

Western Digital's product documentation indicates 102 drive bays without separate SSD mounting points. However, there is room for up to 3.84 TB of SSD capacity for a hybrid storage design. A fully populated enclosure is both heavy and power-intensive, accommodating up to two 80 Plus Platinum 1800 W power supplies. Cloud providers, archival services, and AI training clusters that prioritize raw capacity and cost per TB will find the Ultrastar Data102 appealing. However, organizations needing integrated flash tiers might opt for enclosures that explicitly include SSD bays. As with other enterprise-grade systems, the final price is typically negotiated through OEM and integrator channels rather than listed as a retail figure.

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