Western Digital's April 2024 white paper explores how to effectively implement Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) HDDs to boost storage density and reduce TCO. SMR's sequential write model increases areal density but requires SMR-aware or SMR-friendly applications. The paper outlines software and hardware strategies—like Linux kernel support, direct access, zonefs, and btrfs—to enable integration. Use cases include smart video, AI/ML datasets, archival storage, and cloud backups. Though SMR presents challenges like garbage collection and write constraints, modern tools and file systems make adoption feasible for more organizations than before.

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