Western Digital has opened a newly expanded System Integration and Test (SIT) Lab in Rochester, Minnesota, a 25,600-square-foot facility designed to accelerate customer success in the rapidly growing AI and cloud storage landscape. The state-of-the-art lab enables faster qualification of next-generation high-capacity hard disk drives (HDDs), helping customers deploy storage solutions with maximum density and unmatched cost efficiency at scale. Ahmed Shihab, Chief Product Officer at Western Digital, emphasized the critical role of storage in the AI era. “The AI revolution has made one thing clear: storage is the foundation of the AI data-driven economy — and HDDs remain its backbone,” he said. With nearly 80% of cloud data stored on HDDs, these drives are essential for collecting, preparing, retaining, and accessing data over the long term. Western Digital’s focus on delivering superior storage economics at scale makes HDDs a key enabler of the AI revolution. The Rochester lab serves as a dedicated collaboration hub where Western Digital engineers work closely with customers throughout every phase of the product lifecycle — from early development and qualification to production ramp and end-of-life support. The facility features a mini data center environment that simulates real-world conditions, allowing for rigorous testing and validation of storage solutions under actual AI and cloud workloads. The expansion strengthens Western Digital’s global SIT lab network, which includes multiple sites across the U.S. and Asia, supporting more than 2,000 customer systems. This network enables cross-regional collaboration while offering localized, responsive support to meet regional demands. Beyond technical innovation, the Rochester facility reflects Western Digital’s long-term commitment to community development. With over 40 years of investment in the region, the company continues to cultivate next-generation engineering talent and strengthen its role as a local economic partner. The lab is part of a broader strategy to meet surging demand for reliable, high-capacity storage as AI applications generate unprecedented data volumes. By co-developing solutions with customers and investing in infrastructure and talent, Western Digital aims to remain a trusted partner in powering the future of data-intensive technologies.