SSD with a ‘tail’: Kioxia unveils ‘optical’ SSDs for next-generation data centers

Kioxia, AIO Core, and Kyocera have announced the development of a PCIe 5.0-compatible optical SSD prototype for next-generation data centers designed for resource-intensive workloads, including data-intensive AI applications.

Kioxia announced the development of “optical” solid-state drives in August last year. This involves using an optical connection interface instead of the traditional electrical one. The new approach eliminates the influence of extraneous electromagnetic interference. The connection length can reach 40 m, with subsequent increase to 100 m.

The prototype SSD showcased here uses AIO Core’s IOCore optical transceiver and Kyocera’s Optinity optoelectronic integration technology. The implemented optical system is said to allow the device to operate at PCIe 5.0 interface speeds.

Image source: Kioxia

The development of the “optical” SSD is being carried out within the framework of the Japanese project JPNP21029 “Development of Next-Generation Green Data Center Technologies”. It is subsidized by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). The goal of the initiative is to reduce the energy consumption of data centers by more than 40% compared to current sites. Within the project, Kioxia is responsible for the new type of SSD, while AIO Core and Kyocera are creating optoelectronic components.

The emergence of “optical” SSDs is expected to open up new possibilities in terms of data center design. The presented technology will significantly increase the physical distance between computing and storage devices, while ensuring energy efficiency and high signal quality.