Western Digital's 368 TB "SSD" weighs 28 to 33 pounds and is portable

Western Digital has introduced the Ultrastar Transporter, a storage solution that allows users to easily carry 368 TB of SSD storage in one package.

It is certainly debatable whether the SSD is not actually a server or a NAS system. After all, the device contains a Xeon 4310 with 12 cores. To achieve high data rates, however, a powerful CPU is needed, especially via network interfaces. There is also 128 GB of RDIMM RAM. All SSDs, including the two boot SSDs, are accessed via NVMe.

According to Western Digital, the Ultrastar Transporter is explicitly designed for the transportation of data. Wherever a network connection is too slow or too expensive, the Transporter is intended to store all data on site that might be required by a film crew, for example. However, working with the Ultrastar Transporter on the train is unlikely to be an option: the device requires 1300 watts at peak consumption and is also very bulky with two height units in a 19-inch rack. Nevertheless, one of the design goals was to make it manageable by a single person, and this individual does not necessarily have to carry the storage device around so openly.

The weight specifications are contradictory. According to the data sheet, it weighs almost 15 kg (around 33 lb). Both the product description and announcement specify this to be around 13 kilograms (just under 29 lb). There is also a suitable carrying case, which, according to Western Digital, is supplied together with the Ultrastar Transporter is supplied. It could well be that the carrying case is responsible for the extra two kilograms.

Once at its destination, the "SSD" is connected to the network via 200GbE via two QSFP112 ports in order to then provide or collect the data on site. A 10GbE interface via RJ45 is also embedded.

As the Ultrastar Transporter was just recently announced at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. Western Digital has not yet announced availability or pricing.