SK Hynix affiliate Solidigm unveils industry’s highest-capacity 122TB eSSD

Solidigm, the NAND flash-making subsidiary of South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc., said on Wednesday it has launched a 122-terabyte (TB) enterprise solid-state drive (eSSD), the largest capacity of its kind, for use at data centers.

The new eSSD, D5-P5336, boasts double the capacity of Solidigm’s earlier 61.44TB version and is based on quadruple-level cells (QLC).

An enterprise SSD, or eSSD, is a data storage device for servers. NAND flash is the main component of an eSSD, which also includes DRAM and a controller. With the advent of an AI era, demand for eSSDs, as well as high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, is growing fast.

NAND flash is divided into single-level, multi-level, triple-level (TLC), QLC and penta-level cells depending on how many bits of information are stored in a cell. A QLC has four bits in one cell. As data storage capacity increases, more information can be saved in the same area.

Despite its huge capacity, the D5-P5336 requires only a quarter of the setup space compared to hybrid HDD-SSD setups and reduces power consumption by up to 84%, according to Solidigm.

The company also said the eSSD is designed to support unlimited random writes over five years, enhancing durability, especially for AI workloads.

Solidigm plans to begin supplying the new product to global clients in the first quarter of next year, expanding its eSSD lineup from 7TB to 122TB to strengthen its leadership in the AI data center storage market.

SAMSUNG-SK HYNIX RIVALRY

Chipmakers are competitively unveiling new SSDs for individual and corporate use to grab a greater share of the growing market.

Last August, Samsung Electronics Co. said it plans to unveil a 128TB eSSD, BM1743, to compete with its crosstown rival SK Hynix.

In August 2023, Samsung teamed up with US cloud software provider VMware Inc. to strengthen its SSD competitiveness.

In the QLC-based high-capacity eSSD segment, SK Hynix and Solidigm control the market while Samsung is a fast follower.

According to market research firm Omdia, the eSSD market is forecast to grow to $19.8 billion by 2027 from an estimated $11.6 billion this year.

Major buyers of eSSDs include Big Tech companies such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon.

Write to Eui-Myung Park at uimyung@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.