24 | AutoPartsAsia | OCTOBER 2017the cloud service providers and local
storage players. We are geared up to
support both the storage needs, local
and archival.Q: But is there any issue with
connectivity, where your role is
very limited?
A: Our role comes in when there is
bad connectivity because of local
storage, which is critical from the
connectivity aspect. For example, the
phone is a connectivity device that is
always connected. If the connection
is slow you cannot get your data
from the cloud all the time. So you
have local and back-up storage in the
cloud.Q: More complex computing
architecture and mix of
operating systems will add to
the complication. Will not an
explosion in the amount of codes
required to run the system and
make decisions demand new
software and testing?
A:The traditional computing
architecture was CPU-centric.
But CPU had limited parallelism
on code execution, which is why
industry introduced something called
GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).
Companies having GPUs, especially
for gaming and other applications,
require more parallel processing.We are also seeing the advent of
computing architectures shifting
around the memory as a centre place.Q: Information management is
a core issue for the technology
companies. How do you manage
the information flow from all
directions? What will be the
supporting infrastructure?
A: Most companies do ‘Tiering’ of their
storage of data; they have Tier-1, 2
and 3 storages. Tier-1 is local storage
in flash, which is immediately needed
for hot data being processed right
now or in the next couple of hours. It is
true for automotive storage, consumer
storage or EDGE/ IoT devices. For
Tier-2, let us take the example of
the smart cities project where you
have real time video surveillance. In
case an incidence occurs you need
to be able to access it online to run
analytics and get quick results. For
this, we have a special video grade
SD card that fits into the camera and
stores data for 24 hours. After that the
important data required is pushed
into the Tier-2 storage where you can
keep it for another week. Western
Digital provides hard drive-based
low cost storage with DVR, NVR type
of solutions to keep that data in a
cheaper and larger format as archival
storage for a longer period of several
years; this is Tier-3 storage. WDC,in combination with SanDisk, can
provide solutions in all tiers of storage
for all types of requirements.Q: What are the opportunities you
see in new mobility?A: Companies with fleet as well as
those like Uber and Ola are looking at
installing tablets, more video storage
and internet access in the back seat,
which is good for us because we can
easily provide local store solutions at
the rear.Q: What is the megatrend that
WDC follows?
A: For us the biggest megatrend is
data generation all over the globe.
In the past, only certain companies
created content and required storage.
Since the advent of Smartphone with
high resolution camera, at least three
billion people who carry smart phones
have become content creators; they all
require storage. So we are constantly
working to provide large density, low
cost, fast storage to the whole world.
The other development is the arrival
of the cloud. Currently, about eight
companies in the world control
more than 60-70 percent of the
cloud market. They have massive
requirements of storage; that is
another mega trend for us. Also, every
18 months the storage capacity in a
Smartphone is doubling. So we needSandisk CampusINTERVIEW