'Launch' of a new server product is preceded by many months of small-scale usage by large customers in order to test and refine it. Cooper Lake being a recent example: in the hands of Facebook since before August 2019, but released for volume sales yesterday. That's not unusual, it;s the norm for the server products. This is why the server products have been an 'architecture behind' the consumer products.
I would be surprised if they did not test those in EPYC servers also. After all, Intel will gladly sell you a bunch of expensive enterprise SSDs to run in your AMD setup, just like they sell OEMs wired and wireless networking adapters for use in AMD motherboards.
Then you've never been to an Intel testing lab. All businesses buy other products for testing, whether they are a competitor or not. You don't think AMD has Intel products and laughing too?
No, the development cycle is quite long, so POWER 9, probably. Rome-based boards can be used for validation/qualification/certification testing, though.
At an AMD launch event I don't expect to see anything related to Intel - I don't expect Ford to be mentioned at a Toyota event ... how is that Fanboyism?
No Intel! Just no! The ONLY storage standard that should be in use today is eMMC as we all know full well that is the best option for anything from one of those creeper watches that monitors your biometrics for Google to a facility sized Top 100 list supercomputer. In fact, we should be using eMMC as a RAM interface so we can get rid of HBM, GDDR, and DDR iterations. The world needs fewer traces and Intel has NOT been helping.
Intel develops their own controllers for their enterprise SSDs, and only uses third-party controllers for consumer drives. Their last MLC enterprise drives were a few models with their first-generation 32-layer 3D NAND. All the P4xxx SSDs were TLC or QLC (Or Optane).
In terms of write endurance, when you have a 2+ TB drive rated for 1 DWPD, the need for MLC diminishes rapidly unless your workload literally has you pounding the drive with 2+ TB of writes every single day for years on end. For most use cases (with a few relatively exotic exceptions), that's not really the case...
The only other advantage of MLC would be faster programming times (i.e. higher write performance), but another way to improve that is to just use more dies/channels to spread the writes across.
Although AT does not always get pricing information from companies for new products and that is disappointing, that really only applies to consumer products. Enterprise hardware almost never has a listed price since purchases are usually done in large quantities typically negotiated between buyer and seller on an individual basis using a supply contract.
How about this for a wild rumor, without any evidence in my possession: SONY's PS5 (the one with the really fast SSD) might use an Intel-designed fast SSD controller. Let the rumor mill go wild...
I'm not sure the PS5 market is big enough to entice Samsung to develop a custom SSD controller ASIC. They tend to prefer very high-volume products, or at least high-margin (ie. enterprise pricing, not consumer). There are several companies that are much more likely partners for Sony.
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spaceship9876 - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
Pretty sure your power consumption figures but be wrong, uses 4x more when idle?romrunning - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
Yeah, those should be flipped.It's always nice when writers read comments to their articles; sometimes it can really improve the accuracy. XD
shabby - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
Is intel using amd hardware to test these drives?😂yeeeeman - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
Nope, ice lake server platform support pcie 4.0Deicidium369 - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
No - Intel has had PCIe4 working for quite some timeKorguz - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
oh ? prove it, post a link that shows this, i dare you.amnesia0287 - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
https://wccftech.com/intel-10nm-ice-lake-sp-xeon-c...Spunjji - Friday, June 19, 2020 - link
That shows they have them working now (which you'd hope would be the case for a Q3 launch), not necessarily for "quite some time".I'd be extremely surprised if they didn't have *some* form of PCIe 4 test platform even prior to Ice Lake SP, though.
edzieba - Friday, June 19, 2020 - link
'Launch' of a new server product is preceded by many months of small-scale usage by large customers in order to test and refine it. Cooper Lake being a recent example: in the hands of Facebook since before August 2019, but released for volume sales yesterday. That's not unusual, it;s the norm for the server products. This is why the server products have been an 'architecture behind' the consumer products.eastcoast_pete - Friday, June 19, 2020 - link
I would be surprised if they did not test those in EPYC servers also. After all, Intel will gladly sell you a bunch of expensive enterprise SSDs to run in your AMD setup, just like they sell OEMs wired and wireless networking adapters for use in AMD motherboards.Deicidium369 - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
I can guarantee you that the only thing AMD products are used for at Intel is a good laugh.Intel had PCIe4 working in the lab some time ago .. regardless of what the Tres Troll Amigos say
Dug - Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - link
Then you've never been to an Intel testing lab.All businesses buy other products for testing, whether they are a competitor or not.
You don't think AMD has Intel products and laughing too?
eSyr - Monday, June 22, 2020 - link
No, the development cycle is quite long, so POWER 9, probably. Rome-based boards can be used for validation/qualification/certification testing, though.Xajel - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
I guess intel put a clear notice on the press kit not to mention anything about AMD :DDeicidium369 - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
Same as when Ford has a product announcement that GM or Toyota should not be mentioned.Samus - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
Damn Deicidium, nothing slips by you and your Intel fanboism. 3 rebuttal comments all heavily in Intel's favor XDKorguz - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
you expected any thing else from him ?Deicidium369 - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
At an AMD launch event I don't expect to see anything related to Intel - I don't expect Ford to be mentioned at a Toyota event ... how is that Fanboyism?romrunning - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
Any news of the 2nd gen Optane - the "Alder Stream" line?Deicidium369 - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
Would expect an announcement pretty soon. Cooper Lake was launched today, and Ice Lake SP will be in the next couple of weeksKorguz - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
yea ok.. care to share when you got this ? oh wait, you cant.schujj07 - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
Same place s/he gets all his/her information...his/her a$%PeachNCream - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
No Intel! Just no! The ONLY storage standard that should be in use today is eMMC as we all know full well that is the best option for anything from one of those creeper watches that monitors your biometrics for Google to a facility sized Top 100 list supercomputer. In fact, we should be using eMMC as a RAM interface so we can get rid of HBM, GDDR, and DDR iterations. The world needs fewer traces and Intel has NOT been helping.trivik12 - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
Is the controller internal or 3rd party. Plus does Intel have MLC models as well or are all SSD's only TLC.Billy Tallis - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
Intel develops their own controllers for their enterprise SSDs, and only uses third-party controllers for consumer drives. Their last MLC enterprise drives were a few models with their first-generation 32-layer 3D NAND. All the P4xxx SSDs were TLC or QLC (Or Optane).boeush - Thursday, June 18, 2020 - link
In terms of write endurance, when you have a 2+ TB drive rated for 1 DWPD, the need for MLC diminishes rapidly unless your workload literally has you pounding the drive with 2+ TB of writes every single day for years on end. For most use cases (with a few relatively exotic exceptions), that's not really the case...The only other advantage of MLC would be faster programming times (i.e. higher write performance), but another way to improve that is to just use more dies/channels to spread the writes across.
olafgarten - Sunday, June 21, 2020 - link
It's a new Intel controller, and I don't think any of their Data Center SSDs are MLC, only TLC or QLC on some models.Ahnilated - Friday, June 19, 2020 - link
I don't see pricing information or availability. That is what disappoints me. Release this information without what really matters.PeachNCream - Saturday, June 20, 2020 - link
Although AT does not always get pricing information from companies for new products and that is disappointing, that really only applies to consumer products. Enterprise hardware almost never has a listed price since purchases are usually done in large quantities typically negotiated between buyer and seller on an individual basis using a supply contract.eastcoast_pete - Friday, June 19, 2020 - link
How about this for a wild rumor, without any evidence in my possession: SONY's PS5 (the one with the really fast SSD) might use an Intel-designed fast SSD controller. Let the rumor mill go wild...shabby - Friday, June 19, 2020 - link
Unlikely, would be too pricey.Deicidium369 - Tuesday, June 23, 2020 - link
Would more than likely tap SamsungBilly Tallis - Thursday, June 25, 2020 - link
I'm not sure the PS5 market is big enough to entice Samsung to develop a custom SSD controller ASIC. They tend to prefer very high-volume products, or at least high-margin (ie. enterprise pricing, not consumer). There are several companies that are much more likely partners for Sony.hanselltc - Sunday, June 21, 2020 - link
That is a lotta random readsDug - Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - link
1M IOPS for both versions and across all sizes? If only our current servers had PCIe 4.0 I could replace many arrays with just two drives.