Samsung’s tie-up with VMware to strengthen SSD competitiveness

LAS VEGAS – Samsung Electronics Co. has partnered with US cloud software provider VMware Inc. to strengthen its competitiveness in the next-generation solid-state drive (SSD) storage devices.

The South Korean tech giant said on Wednesday it has obtained the VMware All Flash Certification, which guarantees that the US company’s software operates normally on the certified hardware vendor’s products.

Obtaining the certification means Samsung’s PCle Gen5-based server SSD, PM1743, when combined with VMware’s vSAN, offers optimal performance and efficiency, it said.

Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, VMware is a leading provider of multi-cloud services for various applications, enabling digital innovation with enterprise control.

VMware’s vSAN, or virtual storage area network, is enterprise storage virtualization software that supports hyper-converged infrastructure. The software aggregates local and direct-attached data storage devices across the VMware cluster to create a single data store that all hosts can share.

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Under the partnership forged during this year’s VMware Explore 2023 conference held in Las Vegas, California, Samsung said it will collaborate with the US firm to achieve optimal storage virtualization and high performance at big-data platforms.

“Our PM1743 receiving the industry’s first All Flash Certification is remarkable. We’re looking forward to working even more closely with VMware in the future,” said Bae Yong-cheol, vice president of the memory product planning team at Samsung Electronics.

“We are firmly committed to creating new customer value and diverse technological solutions through enhanced collaboration with VMware.”

He said combining Samsung’s latest Gen5 SSD and VMware’s vSAN8 with vSAN Express Storage Architecture will deliver systems that help Samsung’s customers unlock the full potential of artificial intelligence at enterprises.

Given VMWare’s collaboration with AI companies, including Nvidia Corp., the certification also opens up possibilities for companies using AI platforms created by Nvidia and others to use Samsung’s SSDs, industry officials said.

Write to Jin-Suk Choi at iskra@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.