Solidigm, a company owned by SK Hynix, has started serial production of its new SSDs, the D5-P5336. These SSDs are the largest NVMe (PCIe 4.0) storage devices on the market and will be available in capacities of 30.72 TB and 61.44 TB. The only larger units are the ExaDrive units from Nimbus, which can have capacities of 64 TB and 100 TB, but they use a significantly slower SATA interface.
The Solidigm SSDs are built on 144-layer NAND chips from SK Hynix with quad-level cells (QLC). While QLC technology increases capacity, it also limits endurance. However, the manufacturer claims that these SSDs can handle 1000 program/erase cycles, which is on par with triple-level cell (TLC) SSDs. This translates to 65 TB of written data for the larger SSD.
The D5-P5336 SSDs are primarily targeted at servers, where they will be used for reading data. The manufacturer promises sequential read speeds of 7 GB/s and write speeds of 3.3 GB/s. For random access, the SSDs offer 1 million input/output operations per second (IOPS) for reading, but only 43,000 IOPS for writing. The typical power consumption is 5 W at idle and up to 25 W under load.
Solidigm will produce these SSDs in U.2, E1.L, and E3.S form factors, with the E3.S format only available in the maximum capacity of 30.72 TB. U.2 slots can be found on several desktop motherboards, or an adapter can be used to connect them to more common M.2 slots. However, these SSDs are not intended for regular consumer PCs. The older and slower predecessor, still manufactured by Intel, is being sold in the 30.72 TB version for 70,000 CZK. Due to its uniqueness, an SSD with double the capacity could cost up to 200,000 CZK.
In data centers, price is not as important as speed and physical size. Solidigm boasts that the new SSDs can fit up to 2 PB of capacity in a single 1U server position, which would not be possible with significantly cheaper HDDs.
Overall, Solidigm’s D5-P5336 SSDs offer impressive capacities and speeds, making them ideal for data-intensive applications in server environments. However, their high price and specialized form factors limit their use in regular consumer PCs.
What are the primary advantages of Nimbus’ ExaDrive SSDs with a capacity of up to 100 TB compared to other storage units
Pacity of up to 100 TB. Solidigm, a subsidiary of SK Hynix, has recently commenced mass production of its latest solid-state drives (SSDs), known as the D5-P5336. These cutting-edge SSDs hold the distinction of being the most substantial NVMe (PCIe 4.0) storage devices currently available in the market. They will be offered in capacities of 30.72 TB and 61.44 TB, providing users with ample storage space for their data requirements. The only SSD units surpassing their size are Nimbus’ ExaDrive units, which boast a maximum capacity of up to 100 TB.
This is a game changer! Solidigm’s introduction of the D5-P5336 NVMe SSDs with such massive capacities of 30.72 TB and 61.44 TB will undoubtedly revolutionize the storage landscape. Exciting times ahead for data-driven industries!