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Micron is announcing that they have begun shipping the industry’s first SSD to feature their revolutionary new quad-level cell (QLC) NAND technology. The Micron® 5210 ION SSD, revealed at Micron’s 2018 Analyst and Investor Event, represents a 33% increase in bit density over triple-level cell (TLC) NAND, and is targeted toward market segments that were still leaning toward mechanical HDDs. Micron will utilize these new QLC SSDs to provide higher capacity at lower costs for applications such as AI, big data, content delivery, database systems and business intelligence.
Workloads continue to evolve to keep pace with the ever-increasing need for real-time data analytics and insight, and these workloads require data centers to be able to provide increased capacity, speed and reliability, as well as steady-state performance that only enterprise flash storage can deliver. Micron’s QLC NAND can reach densities of 1 terabit with their latest-generation 64-layer 3D NAND structure, which is optimized to meet these demands, and making the performance and capacity of SATA SSDs a more realistic option than ever before.
According to Sumit Sadana, Micron’s Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer, “This breakthrough QLC SSD will usher in a new generation of storage products that allows enterprise and cloud customers to experience the benefits of NAND flash across an expanding array or workloads that were previously relegated to slow, power-hungry hard drives. This innovative solution is another example of Micron’s accelerating momentum in bringing high value solutions to market and creating true value for customers.”
The Micron 5210 ION SSD is built in the 2.5” form factor and will offer capacities ranging from 1.92TB up to 7.68TB, which can reduce server sprawl by packing more density and performance into fewer server racks and allowing for significant savings in power and cooling costs. The 5210 ION SSD also features a full suite of enterprise features. Users can leverage Micron’s unique Flex Capacity™ feature, allowing them to custom-configure their drive’s write performance and endurance for workloads that are still mostly read-intensive, but with a higher mix of writes.
Mr. Liu Chao, Baidu’s general manager of System Technology, states that “Baidu is pleased to work closely with Micron on the latest innovations in solid-state storage, including Micron’s QLC technology. This deep technical collaboration helps Baidu to build on our leadership position as the premier AI service and cloud service provider in China, providing an exceptional user experience for our customers.”
Micron’s 5210 ION SSD is shipping now to strategic customers and enablement partners, and broader market availability is expected in the fall of 2018. Watch for Micron to expand the use of the new QLC NAND technology into other product series, form factors and interfaces. 7.68TB of storage capacity in a 2.5” x 7mm form factor may be just the beginning!
