from the maybe-you-CAN-take-it-with-you? dept.
Samsung has announced a 30.72 TB SSD. It uses 64-layer 512 Gb TLC NAND dies, with 16 of each stacked to make a 1 TB package. It has 40 GB of DDR4 DRAM cache, also using layered packages:
The PM1643 drive also applies Through Silicon Via (TSV) technology to interconnect 8Gb DDR4 chips, creating 10 4GB TSV DRAM packages, totaling 40GB of DRAM. This marks the first time that TSV-applied DRAM has been used in an SSD.
Complementing the SSD's hardware ingenuity is enhanced software that supports metadata protection as well as data retention and recovery from sudden power failures, and an error correction code (ECC) algorithm to ensure high reliability and minimal storage maintenance. Furthermore, the SSD provides a robust endurance level of one full drive write per day (DWPD), which translates into writing 30.72TB of data every day over the five-year warranty period without failure. The PM1643 also offers a mean time between failures (MTBF) of two million hours.
Samsung started manufacturing initial quantities of the 30.72TB SSDs in January and plans to expand the lineup later this year – with 15.36TB, 7.68TB, 3.84TB, 1.92TB, 960GB and 800GB versions – to further drive the growth of all-flash-arrays and accelerate the transition from hard disk drives (HDDs) to SSDs in the enterprise market.
Also at Ars Technica and The Verge.
Related: SK Hynix Plans 72-Layer 512 Gb NAND for Late 2017
SK Hynix Developing 96 and 128-Layer TLC 3D NAND
Western Digital Announces 96-Layer 3D NAND, Including Both TLC and QLC
Toshiba Develops 512 GB and 1 TB Flash Chips Using TSV
Expect 20-30% Cheaper NAND in Late 2018
Related Stories
Samsung recently announced its fourth generation of 3D/vertical NAND, with 64 layers and a capacity of 512Gb (64GB) per die. Now SK Hynix is announcing its plans for 512 Gb V-NAND dies with 72 layers:
Later this year SK Hynix intends to start volume production of 72-layer 3D TLC NAND (3D-V4) memory and this is where things start to get interesting. Initially, SK Hynix intends to produce 256 Gb 3D TLC ICs and these are going to be available already in Q2 2017, according to the company's product catalog. Later on, sometimes in Q4, the company plans to introduce 512 Gb 3D TLC ICs (64 GB), which will help it to significantly increase capacities of SSDs and other devices featuring NAND flash.
What is important about SK Hynix's fourth-gen 3D NAND is that it will feature block size of 13.5 MB, which will increase the performance of such ICs compared to 3D-V3 and 3D-V2 that have a block size of 9 MB. At this point, we do not know whether SK Hynix intends to increase interface speed of its 512 Gb 3D-V4 ICs to compensate lower parallelism in lower-capacity SSDs, like Samsung did with its high-capacity 64-layer 3D V-NAND chips. What we do know is that SK Hynix's catalog already includes NAND multi-chip packages of 8192 Gb capacity (1 TB) that will enable high-capacity SSDs in smaller form-factors (e.g., [2 TB] single-sided M.2). Meanwhile, 64 GB NAND flash chips may force SK Hynix and its partners to abandon low-capacity SSDs (i.e., 120/128 GB) unless there is sufficient demand.
The article also talks about the company's plans for 18nm DRAM and fabrication facility expansion.
Related: Toshiba and SanDisk Announce 48-Layer 256 Gb 3D NAND
Toshiba Teasing QLC 3D NAND and TSV for More Layers
SK Hynix is currently developing 96-layer and 128-layer 3D NAND with 3 bits per cell, but may be skipping quad-level cell 3D NAND for some time:
The 64-layer 3D NAND about to land from Micron and Toshiba certainly sounds impressive, but it pales in comparison to what Sk Hynix is working on for future release. The company is developing 96-layer and 128-layer 3D NAND flash. The new flash won't be available for a few years, but that makes it no less exciting. We have yet to see 72-layer 3D from Sk Hynix in our lab, but it will begin shipping soon in the PC401 using 256Gbit TLC die, according to the UNH-IOL list of tested products.
The information we found about the successor to 256Gbit 72-layer 3D TLC shows 96 layers with 512Gbit die capacity. The follow up to that is a massive 1Tbit die from 128-layer TLC from the other South Korean SSD manufacturer with full vertical integration.
Toshiba (or whichever company acquires Toshiba's memory division) may be more likely to introduce QLC 3D NAND.
Previously:
SK Hynix Plans 72-Layer 512 Gb NAND for Late 2017
64-Layer 3D NAND at Computex
Western Digital has announced that it will begin production of 96-layer 3D NAND in 2018. It will make triple-level cell and quad-level cell NAND with die capacities ranging from 256 Gb to 1 Tb. QLC NAND is predicted to have 100-150 program/erase cycles (endurance) compared to about 1000 for TLC:
Given such endurance, it is logical to expect 3D QLC NAND to be used for primarily removable storage as well as for ultra-high capacity datacenter drives for the so-called near-WORM (write once read many) storage applications. For example, Toshiba last year discussed a QLC-based datacenter SSD with 100 TB capacity for WORM apps.
Western Digital plans to begin sampling of select 96-layer BiCS4 3D NAND configurations in the second half of this year, but the manufacturer does not specify which dies will sample when. As for mass production, Western Digital intends to start volume manufacturing of their 96-layer 256 Gb 3D NAND in 2018, with other dies to follow later. Based on Western Digital's announcements made earlier, the company will gradually introduce more sophisticated BiCS4 96-layer configurations in 2018 and 2019, before moving to BiCS5 sometimes in 2020. That said, it makes sense to expect the highest capacity BiCS4 ICs to ship later rather than sooner.
[BiCS = "Bit-Cost Scaling". Yes, it does not make sense to me, either. --Ed.]
While other manufacturers are making 512 Gb to 1 Tb 3D NAND flash dies, Toshiba is using through-silicon vias (TSVs) to stack their dies, effectively cramming 384 to 768 layers of 3D NAND into a single chip. Toshiba announced that it was developing this capability back in 2015, and now the first products to use it will be available in 2018:
Toshiba on Wednesday introduced its first BiCS 3D TLC NAND flash chips with 512 GB and 1 TB capacities. . The new ICs stack 8 or 16 3D NAND devices using through silicon vias (TSVs) and are currently among the highest capacity non-volatile memory stacks available in the industry. Commercial products powered by the 512 GB and 1 TB packages are expected to hit the market in 2018, with an initial market focus on high-end enterprise SSDs
Stacking NAND devices to build high capacity flash memory ICs has been used for years to maximize the capacities and performance of SSDs and other solid state storage devices. In many cases, NAND makers use wire-bonding technique to stack multiple memory devices, but it makes packages larger and requires a lot of power for reliable operation. However in more recent years, Toshiba has adopted TSV techniques previously used for ASIC and DRAM devices to stack its NAND ICs, which has enabled it to shrink size of its NAND packages and reduce their power consumption.
TSVs are essentially electrodes that penetrate the entire thickness of a silicon die and connect the dies above and below it in the stack. A bus formed by TSVs can operate at a high data transfer rate, consume less power, and take up less space than a bus made using physical wires. Since 3D NAND is based on vertically stacked memory layers and has numerous vertical interconnects, so far Toshiba has not used TSVs to interconnect such devices. To wed TSV and 3D NAND, Toshiba had to develop a special 512 Gb BiCS NAND die featuring appropriate electrical conductors.
The devices both measure 14 mm × 18 mm. The 8-stack chip has a height of 1.35 mm, and the 16-stack chip has a height of 1.85 mm.
64-layer 3D NAND is shipping, but the 256Gbit die will come and go rapidly. That's what makes this NAND cycle different. Many of the companies we've spoken to do not want to invest in products with such a limited shelf life. The 512Gbit die are right around the corner from the fabs. Some estimates put a major ramp up coming before mid year. The technology offers a 2x capacity increase while taking only a little more space on the wafer. The bits per wafer doesn't double, but it gets very close. The retail products coming in the second half of 2018 with have a heavy impact on SSD pricing. Some estimates from engineers we've spoken with put retail pricing on track for a 20% to 30% reduction over similar-capacity products shipping today.
Emerging technologies and form factors that reduce the material costs will also play a role. Toshiba Memory America showcased the new RC100 NVMe SSD that uses multi-chip packaging to cram the controller and flash in a single package.
Toshiba has described stacking 8-16 512 Gb dies with through silicon vias (TSVs) to create 512 GB and 1 TB packages. Samsung plans to stack 32 256 Gb dies to make 1 TB packages for an upcoming 128 TB SSD.
Previously: SK Hynix Plans 72-Layer 512 Gb NAND for Late 2017
SK Hynix Developing 96 and 128-Layer TLC 3D NAND
Intel First to Market With 64-Layer 3D NAND SSDs
Western Digital Announces 96-Layer 3D NAND, Including Both TLC and QLC
Toshiba's 3D QLC NAND Could Reach 1000 P/E Cycles
WD Announces 64-Layer 3D QLC NAND With 768 Gb Per Die, to be Shown at Flash Memory Summit
Western Digital Begins to Sample QLC BiCS4: 1.33 Tbit 96-Layer 3D NAND
Western Digital has started sampling its 96-layer 3D NAND chips featuring QLC architecture that stores four bits per cell. The chip happens to be the world's highest-capacity 3D NAND device. The company expects to commence volume shipments of this memory chip already this calendar year.
Western Digital's 96-layer BICS4 3D QLC NAND chip can store up to 1.33 Tb of raw data, or around 166 GB. The IC will be initially used for consumer products Western Digital sells under the SanDisk brand, so think of memory cards (e.g., high-capacity SD and microSD products), USB drives, and some other devices. The manufacturer expects its 3D QLD[sic] NAND memory to be used in a variety of applications, including retail, mobile, embedded, client, and enterprise, but does not elaborate on timing at this point.
The 1.33-Tb BICS4 IC is Western Digital's second-gen 3D QLC NAND device. Last year the company announced its BICS3 64-layer 3D QLC chips featuring a 768 Gb capacity, but it is unclear whether they have ever been used for commercial products. Meanwhile, it is clear that the device was used to learn about 3D QLC behavior in general (i.e., endurance, read errors, retention, etc.)
[...] What is noteworthy is that officially the BiCS4 range was to include both TLC and QLC ICs with capacities ranging from 256 Gb to 1 Tb, so the 1.33 Tb IC is a surprising addition to the lineup which signals Western Digital's confidence of its technology.
Recent products have been using 512 Gb per die NAND, with 768 Gb and 1 Tb on the horizon. Samsung's announced 128 TB SSD was supposed to use 1 Tb 3D QLC dies, so ~1.33 Tb dies could bring that capacity to about 170 TB. Given a couple more generations of NAND or some fancy die/package stacking, and we will probably see a 1 petabyte SSD.
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday February 21 2018, @10:59AM (1 child)
I sent my military guys to Yakla, it's a village in Yemen. One got killed -- William Owens. And some of the villagers got killed too. But it was highly successful, they captured 1 TB of cyber. And this is almost 31 TB's, that's tremendous. Great job, Samsung!
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 21 2018, @11:21AM
(Score: 2) by leftover on Wednesday February 21 2018, @03:30PM (1 child)
This is truly a remarkable and interesting technical development. The die-level vias seem like a big deal to me too. I just had to chuckle remembering platters like a garbage can lid in a drive the size of a washing machine to provide a whole whopping 5 megabytes of storage at a 5-digit $ price in the early 1980s. Snort!
Bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday February 21 2018, @03:43PM
The stacked dies are really important, see the "Toshiba Develops 512 GB and 1 TB Flash Chips Using TSV" story above.
512 Gb dies aren't necessarily state-of-the-art either, in "Western Digital Announces 96-Layer 3D NAND, Including Both TLC and QLC" and other stories you can see that 768 Gb and 1 Tb dies are being produced soon.
Samsung also used TLC instead of QLC here. Making an 81 (81.92) terabyte 2.5" SSD will not be difficult.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by RedBear on Wednesday February 21 2018, @03:55PM (5 children)
It's fabulous that they're making such progress in data density. Solid state is now obviously far outstripping the density of spinning platters. So what is with the prices? It's been years since 2TB 2.5 inch drives arrived on the market and they still cost anywhere from $499 to $999 (well, there's a Micron for $385, but still). Meanwhile a 2TB 2.5in spinning drive is down to about $85. How are we supposed to ever switch to SSD if almost nobody can afford it? We can't store everything in the cloud.
With density increasing so rapidly compared to mechanical drives, why aren't the prices of SSDs dropping at least steadily, if not precipitously?
¯\_ʕ◔.◔ʔ_/¯ LOL. I dunno. I'm just a bear.
... Peace out. Got bear stuff to do. 彡ʕ⌐■.■ʔ
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday February 21 2018, @04:04PM (2 children)
I remember when 1 TB SSDs were no less than $350-400. So if you're saying that 2 TB is down to as low as $400, I would say the prices are dropping. And will continue to drop.
Expect 20-30% Cheaper NAND in Late 2018 [soylentnews.org]
Each new "generation" of NAND (1-2 years) is expected to lower cost-per-byte by around that much.
Many users can get away with having less than 1 TB of storage, or having a smaller SSD and an external HDD. With an SSD you are getting the #1 practical thing (no expensive ramdrive) that can speed up your computer.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Informative) by Hyperturtle on Thursday February 22 2018, @12:08AM
Keep in mind that the drives in question are SAS-3, not SATA (of any kind). SAS drives always have been more expensive than SATA, just as SCSI had been more expensive than IDE (and mfm and rll and...)
I have a number of 1625s (the 843T is the SATA version) on a SAS2 controller that is embedded in the desktop motherboard I am using, and they perform much better than the typical consumer counterparts. It has 4GB of their DDR3 ram caching; most consumer SATA drives come with 128MB or 256MB for the larger ones.
While my drives are only 400GB, but they have 10 "writes per day" (WPD) for 5 years-- meaning I can write 400GB to the drive every day for 5 years before I enter the danger zone of drive endurance exhaustion. Consumer drives are much less than that. (Even if I was wrong and it was say 40GB per day, I've had them for a year and written 6TB across them so far -- I'm still safe!)
These new drives look like they took the version I have and layered them multiple times in the same shell and presented them as a single volume to the host PC/OS (Which someone already mentioned, I think, about the layering).
Speaking of which, I have my drives presented to the OS as a raid 0, for both data volume purposes and also acting as a cache that supplements the ramdisk I set up--that's much smaller, but with tiering it flows over into the raid 0 as needed.
The 1625s I have read up to 925MB/s with dual port sas2 connectivity and write up to 595MB/s--I don't have dual port capability, but I get about 550 for both. There is some losses in the raid0, but overall I get about 1250MB/s for reads and writes on average.
The endurance is rated to be more than 170 times that of a consumer drive -- a drive from the same time frame is the Samsung 840 EVO series. And the fact these things came encased in a metal shell means the heatsink is built right in. There is never a problem with thermal throttling.
Best of all, I bought these as 0 hour pulls off an IT reseller on ebay. There was only a few traces of write activity on them; they seemed to be part of some flash appliance that probably got replacement storage that was larger, since 400GB on a SAN appliance nowadays is pretty small (even if you'd need dozen 10gb network interfaces to present the data over a SAN at anything close to native storage speeds).
If I were to buy them new, that'd be crazy. I might like blinkenlights, but this is just for my personal use. A cheap NVMe drive can go much faster, but then again, it won't last nearly as long. In that regard you get what you pay for. (and yeah, I have NVMes too...)
I am hoping the new release of these drives and others in the same family/generation end up driving the prices of the past generations down even more. If you want to upgrade an older system with new life, having full duplex SSD storage in a raid certainly does the trick.
And back to high prices for SAS and SCSI -- remember, SATA is half-duplex, so you can't read and write to one at the same time. If you RAID SATA drives, you are still limited to one or the other across all of the drives. But with SAS and related technologies, you can go full speed bidirectionally. These Samsung SSDs also have capacitors to prevent data loss when power is lost; this means you can enable all the internal caching without risk of loss. (People often enable the write caching on any drive anyway, but it's not without risk without redundant power of some kind no matter what the drive type).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @10:48AM
From $400 to $400 is not prices dropping, it's sizes increasing. Problem is, spinning disk sizes are increasing just as much, as is basically everything in computing (RAM, GPU...)
The result is SSDs still being way more expensive that spinning drives.
(Score: 2) by Spamalope on Wednesday February 21 2018, @04:39PM
This really just indicates that Samsung feels there is a market for this type of drive at this price point, or feels the design will be produced with newer Nand and be profitable over time that way.
The Cost/Nand module hasn't changed nearly as much as capacity/Nand. We're getting retail price drops via Nand density increases.
When new Nand types first go to retail, the cost/Nand is often higher than prior types as long as the cost/capacity is lower. Over time the new Nand pricing trends towards the old provided there isn't a price fixing arrangement as had happened with ram.
At a guess Samsung decided that the time to market low endurance bulk storage SSDs as an alternative to bulk storage HDDs is now.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday February 22 2018, @06:15AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday February 21 2018, @05:35PM (4 children)
It's gonna take a room with walls covered in screens, Black Mirror-style, to be able to watch that much porn.
(Score: 4, Touché) by takyon on Wednesday February 21 2018, @06:15PM (1 child)
Not if it's 360-degree VR porn with an effective 4K-8K resolution @ 120 FPS. Yes, even recording the wall behind "you".
I believe in our ability to
wastefill the space given to us.[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Informative) by HyperQuantum on Wednesday February 21 2018, @09:08PM
This is actually Parkinson's law [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by stretch611 on Wednesday February 21 2018, @09:18PM
I am willing to test that theory assuming someone is willing to pay for the drives.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 21 2018, @11:20PM
That is about 600-800 bluray discs. I have well over 3000 DVDs plus another 200 blurays. I could easily use that space up.