The fastest SSD and suitable for AI: Solidigm introduced PCIe 5.0 drives D7-PS1010 and D7-PS1030

Solidigm has introduced a series of high-performance SSDs D7-PS1010 and D7-PS1030 based on the new 176-layer SK hynix flash memory. The main innovation can be called the transition to a newer version of the interface: if the D7-P5x20 used PCI Express 4.0, then the D7-PS10x0 uses PCI Express 5.0. This made it possible to increase the read speed to 14.5 GB/s and, slightly ahead of the Micron 9550 in this indicator, call the new products the most productive SSDs in the world.

The new drives are targeted at scenarios with high intensity IO I/O operations, typical, among other things, for AI workloads. Both model ranges are presented in E3.S (7.5 mm) and U.2 (15 mm) form factors. In the hierarchy of Solidigm drives, the new products are located immediately behind the D7-P5810, which use flash memory in SLC mode.

Image source: Solidigm

The third digit in the designation of new models indicates the number of complete overwrites per day (DPWD) for 5 years. Thus, the D7-PS1010 are SSDs for mixed workloads with a PBW of 28 PB for the older model (1 DWPD), and the D7-PS1030 will show greater reliability in scenarios with active data recording (3 DWPD), since they are guaranteed to withstand up to 70 PB records.

For all options, the stated mean time between failures is 2.5 million hours. The presence of protection against power failures and error correction in SRAM allows us to declare a high level of reliability (UBER) – according to the manufacturer, it is 100 times higher than JEDEC requirements. The new products comply with the standards NVMe v2.0, NVMe-MI v1.2, OCP v2.0r21, TCG-OPAL 2.02, DMTF SPDM 1.1.0 and support Secure Boot, signed firmware, secure erase, lifecycle management, etc.

The PS1010 model range starts at 1.92 TB and ends with a version with a capacity of 15.36 TB, and the PS1030, due to its focus on increased reliability, is produced in capacities from 1.6 to 12.8 TB. Linear recording speeds start at 4.1 GB/s, 3.2/3.84 TB versions develop 8.2 GB/s, and the highest capacity options reach 9.3 GB/s. Performance on random operations ranges from 2.35–3.1 million IOPS when reading and 0.15–0.8 million IOPS when writing.

The new SSDs are very economical; the specific ratio of performance to power consumption, according to Solidigm, is 70% better than solutions from other manufacturers. At the same time, the performance of new products in loads with a high proportion of random read operations is 46% higher than that of competitors. Together with GPUDirect support, this makes the D7-PS1010 and D7-PS1030 an ideal choice when building AI clusters, the manufacturer says.