Samsung and Western Digital to standardize Zoned Storage technology through an MoU

Seoul, South Korea – San Jose, USA: Samsung and Western Digital have joined hands to collaborate on the standardization of Zoned Storage technology.

The electronics giant Samsung and Western Digital have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to standardize and drive broad adoption of data placement, processing and fabrics (D2PF) Storage technologies.

Creating ecosystem for Zoned Storage solutions

Initially, both companies will focus on aligning their efforts in creating an ecosystem for Zoned storage solutions. These steps will enable the industry to focus on countless applications that offer more value for customers.

This is for the first time, both Samsung and Western Digital have come together to collaborate on storage technologies mainly focusing on enterprise and cloud applications. As part of the MoU, both companies will engage in a range of collaborations around technology standardization and software development for D2PF technologies like Zoned storage.

Storage technology ecosystem

“Storage is the essential foundation for how people and businesses consume and use data. To enable today’s needs and tomorrow’s next big ideas, we must innovate, collaborate and keep pace as an industry in bringing new standards and architectures to life,” said Rob Soderbery, EVP and GM – Flash Business Unit, Western Digital.

“In order for a technology ecosystem to be successful, overall frameworks and general solution models must come together so they do not suffer from fragmentation, which delays adoption and adds unnecessary complexity for software stack developers,” added Soderbery.

Further Soderbery informed that for years Western Digital has been laying the foundation for the Zoned storage ecosystem by contributing to the Linux kernel and open-source software community.

“We are excited to bring these contributions to this joint initiative with Samsung in facilitating wider adoption of Zoned Storage for users and application developers,” he said.

“This collaboration is a testament to our relentless effort to exceed customers’ needs now and in the future, and holds special meaning in how we anticipate it will actively grow into a larger basis of engagement for Zoned Storage standardization,” said Jinman Han, Corporate EVP, Head of Memory Sales and Marketing – Samsung Electronics.

“Our collaborative efforts will embrace hardware and software ecosystems to ensure that as many customers as possible can reap the benefits of this highly important technology,” added Han.

Zoned Storage devices and approvals of SNIA, Linux Foundation

Samsung and Western Digital have already started an initiative around Zoned Storage devices, including ZNS (Zoned Namespaces) SSDs and SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording) HDDs.

Through industry bodies such as SNIA (Storage Networking Industry Association) and the Linux Foundation, both companies will define high-level models and frameworks for next-generation Zoned storage technologies.

Both the companies have shared a commitment to enabling open and scalable data centre architectures and have founded the Zoned Storage TWG (Technical Work Group). SNIA approved the Zoned Storage TWG in December 2021.