From Expanded Open Composable Compatibility Lab Capabilities to New Storage Platforms and Broader SSD Qualifications, Western Digital is the Partner of Choice for Interoperability and Customer-centric Designs for Modern Datacenter Architectures
SAN JOSE, Calif. & TAIPEI, Taiwan, May 19, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Computex 2025 – Western Digital (Nasdaq: WDC) is redefining what’s possible in storage infrastructure for AI/ML, disaggregated storage and software-defined storage (SDS) for CSPs, enterprises and STaaS providers. From massive-capacity, reliable JBODs (Just a Bunch of Disks) to ultra-fast EBOF (Ethernet Bunch of Flash) NVMe-oF™ disaggregated storage solutions for AI, the company’s Platforms Business delivers world-class HDD- and SSD-based solutions that power today’s most demanding workloads.
As AI, ML and data-heavy workloads continue to accelerate, organizations face growing pressure to build flexible storage infrastructures that are scalable, efficient and sustainable. Traditional systems may struggle to keep pace with modern demands. Giving customers the flexibility to scale and the freedom to avoid vendor lock-in, Western Digital is announcing the expansion of the company’s Open Composable Compatibility Lab (OCCL); a new Ultrastar® Data102 ORv3 JBOD and an OpenFlex® Data24 4100 with single-port SSDs; as well as new SSD qualifications for its OpenFlex Data24 NVMe-oF storage platform.
Open Lab. Smarter Infrastructure. OCCL 2.0 is Here.
Western Digital’s Open Composable Compatibility Lab (OCCL) in Colorado Springs accelerates industry-wide interoperability for fabric-attached devices and software-defined storage. Designed for CSPs and enterprise customers, the OCCL serves as a vendor-neutral proving ground to simulate real-world environments and workloads—providing critical insights into system compatibility, interoperability, energy efficiency, and performance optimization. For modern NVMe-oF architectures, OCCL provides testing across disaggregated compute, storage and networking to help customers scale more efficiently, reduce costs, and deploy with greater confidence. Key enhancements include:
Solutions Architectures: OCCL 2.0 will generate detailed solutions architectures, offering guidance on deploying and managing composable disaggregated infrastructure effectively.
Disaggregated Storage Best Practices: OCCL 2.0 will highlight best practices for disaggregated storage, helping organizations to maximize efficiency and scalability.
Industry Expertise: OCCL 2.0 will continue to be a source of thought leadership, sharing strategic insights and innovations in the field of composable infrastructure.
SSD Partner Benchmarking: OCCL 2.0 will include comprehensive results from benchmarking tools to evaluate the performance of SSD partners, ensuring optimal storage solutions.
These advancements will further solidify OCCL's role as a leading lab in the industry for creating partnerships with customers and suppliers, benchmarking for establishing architectural control points, and driving forward the adoption and implementation of new open ecosystems to replace proprietary architectures.
OCCL 2.0's growing list of ecosystem participants include: Arista Networks, Broadcom, DapuStor, Graid Technology Inc., Ingrasys, Intel, Kioxia, MinIO, NVIDIA, OSNexus, PEAK:AIO, Phison, Sandisk, ScaleFlux, ThinkParQ Gmbh/BeeGFS, and Xinnor.
New Product Enhancements for Cloud and Enterprise Workloads
At Computex, Western Digital is also introducing the new OpenFlex Data24 4100 EBOF to its Data24 4000 series, complementing the already available Data24 4200 dual-port SSD model. The Data24 4100 is designed for cloud-like environments where high availability is not a primary requirement. It uses single-port SSDs where performance is optimized via a single connection to each SSD and redundancy is provided by mirroring the storage system. This new addition ensures that customers have access to the best options for optimizing their storage infrastructure. The Data24 4100 is expected to be available in CQ3 2025.
The new Ultrastar® Data102 3000 ORv3 JBOD is designed to meet the increasing data demands of cloud data centers. In alignment with the broader Open Compute Project (OCP) initiative, the Data102 3000 ORv3 is designed to meet the Open Rack v3 (ORv3) specification, which focuses on rack design and power supply regulation. Complying with Rack Geometry Option 1, this future-ready solution is designed to deliver improved power efficiency, better airflow, and enhanced system manageability over the prior generation design. Additionally, the ORv3 version of the Ultrastar Data102 3000 leverages common building blocks from the 3000 series such as controllers, enclosures, and Customer Replaceable Units (CRUs), and complies with FIPS 140-3 Level 3 and TAA standards, making it a robust and reliable choice for modern data centers. The Data102 3000 is expected to be available in CQ4 2025.
Flexibility and Choice: Now Qualifying Multiple SSD Vendors
Western Digital’s Platforms Business now offers customers enhanced flexibility and choice in building their storage infrastructure. By supporting a multi-SSD vendor strategy, Western Digital has currently qualified SSDs with leading providers such as DapuStor, Kioxia, Phison, Sandisk and ScaleFlux with additional vendors in the qualification process.
This approach empowers both Western Digital and its customers to leverage preferred suppliers while optimizing for performance, cost, and supply chain resilience. By qualifying multiple SSD vendors, Western Digital ensures that customers have access to the best possible options for their storage infrastructure, reinforcing its commitment to innovation and excellence in the industry.
"As workloads grow more complex and AI accelerates infrastructure demands, the future will be defined by those who can scale smarter, move faster, and deploy with confidence," said Kurt Chan, vice president and general manager, Western Digital’s Platforms Business. "With OCCL 2.0 and our latest Platform innovations, we’re not just keeping up—we’re setting the pace for what modern, disaggregated, and software-defined data centers can achieve. We remain deeply committed to enabling open, flexible architectures that empower customers to build scalable infrastructure tailored to their evolving data needs."
Meet Us at Computex: Experience the Future of Data Infrastructure
Visit Western Digital at Computex in Taipei. Find us at booth J1303a in Hall 1 Storage and Management Solutions at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center from May 20-23.
Western Digital’s OpenFlex Data 24 NVMe-oF data storage platform, RapidFlex™ NVMe-oF controllers, Ultrastar Data102 hybrid storage platform and the Ultrastar Transporter will be on display.
About Western Digital
Western Digital empowers the systems and people who rely on data. Consistently delivering massive capacity, high quality and low TCO, Western Digital is trusted by hyperscale cloud providers, enterprise data centers, content professionals and consumers around the world. Core to its values, the company recognizes the urgency to combat climate change and is on a mission to design storage technologies that not only meet today’s data demands but also contribute to a more climate-conscious future. Follow Western Digital on LinkedIn and learn more at www.westerndigital.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, including statements regarding expectations for: the performance, value, capabilities, availability and market position of our products; AI-driven uses and demand for data storage products; and market opportunities. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.
Key risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements include: adverse global or regional conditions, including new or additional tariffs or trade restrictions; volatility in demand for the company’s products; inflation; increases in interest rates and an economic recession; future responses to and effects of global health crises; the impact of business and market conditions; the outcome and impact of the company’s completed separation of its HDD and Flash businesses, including with respect to stock price volatility and the diversion of management’s attention from ongoing business operations and opportunities; the impact of competitive products and pricing; the company’s development and introduction of products based on new technologies and expansion into new data storage markets; risks associated with cost saving initiatives, restructurings, acquisitions, divestitures, mergers, joint ventures and the company’s strategic relationships; difficulties or delays in manufacturing or other supply chain disruptions; hiring and retention of key employees; the company’s level of debt and other financial obligations; changes to the company’s relationships with key customers; compromise, damage or interruption from cybersecurity incidents or other data system security risks; actions by competitors; any decisions to reduce or discontinue paying cash dividends; the company’s ability to achieve its greenhouse gas emissions reduction and other sustainability goals; the impact of international conflicts; risks associated with compliance with changing legal and regulatory requirements and the outcome of legal proceedings; and other risks and uncertainties listed in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on August 20, 2024 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on May 2, 2025, to which your attention is directed. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements to reflect new information or events, except as required by law.
