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POWER CONSUMPTION
For our power consumption testing, we have the drive connected to the system as a secondary drive. To record the wattage, we are now utilizing a Quarch Technology Programmable Power Module. It allows us to accurately measure power consumption over time and is flexible enough to allow us to test any SSD that comes our way.
When enterprise-class storage is deployed, not only one or two drives are set out in a deployment, hundreds to thousands are, therefore, when booting a NAS or SAN it is important to ensure the power sources will be able to provide enough power to the systems. First, we look at idle power consumption and workload averages at a QD of 32. This helps us gauge IOPS per Watt.
Our power analysis may change as time goes on, but for now, we are looking at just a few metrics with the main goal of measuring our results against the manufacturer’s ratings.
Overall, we can see that the power consumption results are all within spec. Power consumption for the Micron 5100 MAX is on average more than the competition during the 4K, 8K, and sequential tests. During the server tests, however, it proves to consume less power than the Samsung SM863 except during the web server profile. The 5100 ECO, on the other hand, consumes the most power out of all the drives we have tested, except for during sequential writes, where the 510DC consumes more.
Now, looking at the IOPS per Watt under workloads we can see that the 5100 MAX is fairly efficient. In 4K and 8K reads the 5100 MAX is beat by the HK4E and SM863, but during 4K and 8K writes it is more efficient by a large margin. During the database and file server tests it averaged 10.5K IOPS per watt, which is very competitive. During the File Server and Web Server tests it averaged a bit over 8K IOPS. The 5100 ECO’s results, unlike the 5100 MAX’s, were all dead last, except for when compared to the M510DC.
REPORT ANALYSIS AND FINAL THOUGHTS
Over the course of testing the Micron 5100 series, both drives met or exceeded their ratings. The Micron 5100 ECO reached 94K/28K IOPS during the 4K read/write testing and achieved over 48K/14K IOPS during the 8K read/write performance tests. The 5100 MAX achieved 95K/78K IOPS during the 4K read/write test, which is absolutely amazing. No other SATA drive can touch that. Not only that but during the 8K test, it reached 48K/42K IOPS read/write, which again, resulted in the 5100 MAX being number one in random write performance by a huge margin. In sequential testing, the Micron 5100 ECO and MAX both achieved 540MB/s read speeds by QD4. As well, both achieved over 525MB/s write during our sequential write test.
So far, performance seemed great and we looked forward to what the server profile test results would have to show, however, after seeing the results, we were a bit disappointed. While the sequential and random performance was great in our previous tests, the server profiles didn’t live up to our expectations. In the server rounds, we saw that performance, while was improved over the M510DC, was not better than the Samsung and Toshiba competitors we ranked them against. The 78K IOPS 4K write performance of the 5100 MAX didn’t mean much in mixed workloads and the ECO lagged behind as well. This came back to bite the 5100 series in the behind during our power efficiency testing.
During testing the 5100 ECO proved to be the most power hungry and least efficient SSD when compared to the Toshiba HK4R and Samsung PM863. The 5100 MAX, on the other hand, consumed less power. It delivered much more competitive efficiency results that were close to that of the HK4E and/or SM863 depending on the test. Of course, during the pure 4K and 8K write tests it demolished the competition once again, but in the pure read tests, it was typically less efficient.
FINAL THOUGHTS
From an overall value perspective, the Micron 5100 Series SSDs are great products. They offer high capacity, 2.5″ and M.2 form factors, a 5-year warranty, 1-5DWPD endurance, and while the performance figures show mixed results, performance is still good enough for most. With very compelling MSRPs, ranging from $0.45/GB (5100 ECO 7.68TB) to $0.59/GB (5100 MAX 1.92TB), the 5100 series proves that it will be a very strong competitor in the SATA segment. And to top things off, their FlexPro architecture gives you the freedom to purchase a cheaper or higher capacity model and over provision as needed for more endurance or performance depending on how your workloads change over time. Packed with the enterprise features you know, love, and need, the Micron 5100 series is a win for everyone. Just as Micron’s marketing states, “spinning media is winding down.” With drives like these in the market it is getting harder and harder to consider HDD storage. We award the Micron 5100 Series our Gold Seal.
