Workloads and businesses are evolving fast, flash storage must become more customizable to match the complexities.
Sandisk has announced a new solution in flash storage with the debut of its 256TB NVMe enterprise SSD. It is designed on the company’s new UltraQLC platform. The UltraQLC architecture combines BiCS8 QLC CBA NAND, custom controllers, and advanced system optimizations to push traditional NAND design boundaries.
The storage drive targets AI-driven, data-heavy workloads, offering high storage capacity, performance, and power efficiency for high-capacity applications in hyperscale cloud environments.
The purpose is to create fast AI data lakes, large-scale data ingestion, and preparation. The new SSD delivers lower latency, higher bandwidth, and improved reliability, which seems critical for next-generation enterprise demands.
Primary users will include hyperscale cloud operators, AI research labs, data center providers, and enterprises managing massive data lakes.
The key benefits include high capacity in a compact footprint, enabling storage of vast datasets without expanding infrastructure.
AI developers gain faster model training and inference speeds, while analytics teams benefit from quicker data ingestion and real-time insights. Data centers can reduce power consumption and cooling costs.
Key Features Include:
- Direct Write QLC: Enables power-loss-safe first-pass writes by eliminating SLC buffering.
- BiCS8 2Tb QLC die: Doubles storage density while keeping die sizes compact.
- Dynamic Frequency Scaling: Improves performance by up to 10% at the same power level (projected).
- Scalable multi-core controller: Ensures high throughput and endurance at extreme capacities.
- Data Retention (DR) profile: Cuts DR recycles by up to 33% (projected), boosting reliability and reducing power use.
Mission-critical industries like finance, healthcare, and autonomous systems enjoy greater reliability, resilience, and uninterrupted data access, all while lowering total cost of ownership.Khurram Ismail, Chief Product Officer at Sandisk, says, “Our UltraQLC platform is the culmination of years of work and learning to build a flexible and robust architecture that achieves extraordinary capacities and maximum performance while maintaining efficiency. This enables us to further expand our portfolio to meet AI demands at scale and helps our customers move faster, process more, and turn data into real innovation.”
