Who Makes the Biggest SSD Drive?

SSD is one of the most reliable and widely used storage devices of today. In terms of speed and power, it can handle data processing more efficiently than the traditional HDD, urging enterprise users and regular consumers to upgrade to the modern storage device. Even more so since SSDs are built as a drop-in replacement for HDDs, means you can just swap them with your existing HDD in case you want to upgrade.

The rapid growth of digital data especially in the areas of cloud computing, finance, and artificial intelligence, propelled the use of SSDs to a greater height. There are cases, however, where a sizable amount of storage capacity is necessary to handle very large volumes of data.

Multiple storage drives can help expand the storage size but it will compromise the space in a system. Not to mention the amount of additional power required for each additional drive. An SSD with a capacity of multiple SSDs combined would be a good solution to this dilemma. But just how big can an SSD be?

World’s Biggest SSD

As of this writing, the world’s highest capacity SSD is Nimbus Data’s ExaDrive DC100, with a capacity of a jaw-dropping 100TB. This is a ground-breaking development and it still stands uncontested; holding the record for three years straight. This mammoth of an SSD is undoubtedly capable of storing as much data as you can imagine. The company claims the DC100 can store 20,000 HD movies, 20 million songs, or 2000 iPhones worth of data but aside from capacity, what other features would make it worthy of its hefty $40,000 price?

Size, Performance, and Interface

The ExaDrive DC100 follows the 3.5” form factor of the standard HDD which is still considerably small given the magnanimous amount of data it can store. It also connects via the SATA 6 Gbps interface, offering plug-and-play compatibility with regular desktop computers and any other server platforms. Although it targets data centers and other industries with large-scale data processing, its SATA interface allows you to snap it in easily on your PC. That is, if you need that much storage.

The ExaDrive DC100 gets the storage boost by using enterprise-grade 3D MLC NAND flash memories which is faster, stores more bits of data, and has a longer lifespan than 2D MLC. The drive is also supported by the underlying multiprocessor architecture enabling it to support much greater capacity than monolithic microcontrollers.

To manage the overall data traffic effectively, there are four controllers and a management processor onboard. The drive is also equipped with DRAM to make data processing even faster. All the components work out to deliver the drive’s 500 MB/s sequential read/write speeds and up to 100K read/write random IOPS. This goes to show that the DC100 is reliable not only in the aspect of capacity but also in speed.

If you think that 100TB is just too much capacity for your needs, there’s not only the 100TB drive under ExaDrive. The family of efficient drives include the DC series with 16TB to 100TB drive capacity and the NL series with 16TB to 64TB capacities.

Power Efficiency

Another strong selling point of ExaDrive DC100 is its power efficiency. Its 100TB capacity can be intimidating, leading other people to think that it could be an energy vampire. Contrary to that belief, the drive is actually power efficient drawing only 0.09W-0.14W per TB, 85% less power drawn per terabyte than other competing brands. The 100TB-drive draws only a total of 9W of power during idle times and 14W during load times. [1] There’s no need to worry about additional charges on your electric bill even if the drive has to work 24/7. Moreover, you can save space in your system with just one drive sitting inside rather than purchasing multiple drives for more storage.

Endurance

The most efficient SSD is also built for longevity. In terms of endurance, the DC100 boasts an impressive unlimited DWPD (Drive Writes Per Day) over a five-year warranty period. If you’re not familiar with DWPD, it is the maximum writes an SSD can perform in a day during its warranty period. If a 200GB drive has a DWPD of 1, for example, it means it can perform 200GB of writes per day throughout its warranty period, after which the drive’s performance will already start to degrade.

Most SSDs have a DWPD of 2-5, but DC100 is a powerhouse with an unlimited DWPD. In addition, the ultra-fast SSD also has a MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) of 2.5 million hours so you can expect longer uninterrupted functionality from DC100.

The Creator

After knowing about the stunning performance and all the other amazing things of the gargantuan DC100, you’re probably now thinking who is behind its design and architecture. Nimbus Data is not an everyday brand we hear about but they’re behind the flash memory solutions of world-leading companies we’re very familiar with like eBay, Dreamworks, and Walt Disney Animation Studios. Nimbus Data is an American data storage software and systems company specializing in developing flash memory solutions for enterprises.

Founded in 2003, Nimbus Data is under the care of their CEO and founder Thomas Isakovich. The company currently has four major storage solutions tagged to its name – Nimbus Data AFX storage operating system, ExaFlash all-flash arrays, ExaDrive solid state drives, and the all-in-one storage solutions, Tectonic.

Nimbus Data has set new standards for storage. Achieving various milestones in it’s almost two-decade run which includes providing the world with the highest capacity, most efficient, and most power-saving SSD, the ExaDrive DC100. The DC100 certainly did not disappoint with all its powerful performance and features. Although it comes with an exorbitant price tag. Manufacturers, the likes of Seagate and Samsung, have had plans of breaking the DC100’s record but until now, the plans have not yet materialized. We are yet to see until when Nimbus Data will hold the record and who can take over its spot in offering today’s largest capacity SSD.

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