Toshiba expands storage evaluation services in EMEA with new HDD Innovation Lab

Toshiba Electronics Europe has inaugurated a new HDD Innovation Laboratory (HDD Innovation Lab) at its site in Düsseldorf, Germany. The facility expands Toshiba’s HDD (hard disk drive) evaluation capabilities to customers and partners in Europe and the Middle East, supporting them in identifying the optimal HDD setups for their applications. Its main purpose will be the evaluation of HDD configurations for larger IT such as storage area networks (SAN), network-attached storage (NAS), surveillance systems, and cloud storage.

“This new HDD Innovation Lab represents a significant leap forward in providing bespoke solutions and advancing HDD technology,” said Rainer W. Kaese, Senior Manager, HDD Business Development at Toshiba Electronics Europe GmbH. “It demonstrates Toshiba’s commitment to drive the industry forward and support customers and partners with technical expertise and resources. We look forward to strengthening existing collaborations and exploring the future business opportunities the new facility will bring."

Comprehensive testing services

At the core of the Lab's capabilities is the evaluation of HDDs and customer-specific architectures. It provides a platform for Proof-of-Concept activities and the configuration of unique architecture setups. A key feature of the Lab is its ability to conduct benchmarking across various architectures. It brings together all the essential components needed for benchmarking hard disk drive-based storage architectures such as different servers, JBoDs (Just a Bunch of Disks), chassis, controllers, cable and software for operating systems, video management, and storage. The facility is also equipped with accurate power analyzing equipment for energy consumption benchmarks.

Sharing knowledge

Post-evaluation, the HDD Innovation Lab provides tailored responses to customer questions, ensuring that the insights gained from rigorous testing are shared effectively. It will also conduct internal investigations into the performance and optimisation of its own ranges of HDDs. The results, in the form of whitepapers and lab reports, are made available on the Toshiba Storage website.

To further support customer engagement, the Lab offers additional services such as the shipment of loan samples for self-evaluation. This service is available for both smaller and larger quantities, ensuring that customers can thoroughly assess the devices in their own environments.

Toshiba will also use the facility to host live demonstrations for Enterprise, Surveillance, and NAS/SAN applications at forthcoming trade fairs, sharing knowledge and showcasing the latest advancements in storage solutions.