Micron Technology, Inc. announced the release of two SSDs, the Micron 6500 ION NVMe SSD and the Micron XTR NVMe SSD. Designed to keep pace with the accelerating growth of data, these drives provide a major advancement for data centers by lowering operating costs and improving storage efficiency. The Micron 6500 ION is a high-capacity SSD that offers a superior value over competitive QLC-based drives by providing best-in-class performance and enabling a more environmentally sustainable data center. The 6500 ION is able to deliver TLC performance and QLC-like cost due to Micron’s 232-layer technology node leadership compared to the competition’s use of sub-200-layer QLC technology. When paired with Micron 6500 ION drives or other SSDs, the Micron XTR SSD delivers extreme endurance that enhances system performance.
The Micron 6500 ION SSD is the demonstrably better performing high-capacity value SSD compared to the primary alternative1 with: 34% better average read latency; 58% faster sequential writes; Up to 62% more 4KB random read IOPS; Over 30 times more 4KB random write IOPS at a queue depth (QD) of 128 and over 10 times more at QD1; More than 10 times better 4KB random write endurance (RDWPD);
For Ceph object storage workloads, high-performance, high-capacity NVMe SSDs like the Micron 6500 ION are an ideal fit offering high performance and massive capacity in the same object store. Moreover, the Micron 6500 ION NVMe SSD test results show meaningful performance improvements in all tested workloads against the leading competitor.1
Ceph object storage workload results: 100% sequential writes are up to 3.5 times better; 100% sequential reads are up to 47% better; 100% random reads are up to 49% better; Mixed I/O (sequential reads and writes) are up to 62% better; Mixed I/O (random reads and sequential writes) are up to 27% better;
For Cassandra NoSQL database, a highly scalable, distributed database used for workloads such as fraud detection, global logistics, cloud document storage, and social media applications, the Micron 6500 ION SSD routinely demonstrates higher peak performance and better 99.99% (four nines) read latency than the competitor’s QLC SSD. The Micron 6500 ION’s peak performance is up to 2.6 times better than the competitor’s drive for the Yahoo! Cloud Serving Benchmark7 (YCSB) Workload C (100% read profile). The four nines read latency is up to 9.2 times better for the YCSB Workload F (recording user sessions profile). These improvements across a broad range of common NoSQL workloads will often have a significant impact on data center performance, making the Micron 6500 ION SSD the preferred high-capacity SSD for Cassandra and other NoSQL database deployments.
For WEKA software-defined storage, a high-performance, scalable software storage solution, the Micron 6500 ION proves that it can help deliver massive storage capacity and workload results without the compromises of the competitor’s QLC SSD. In a six-node cluster configuration, the WEKA cluster with 48 Micron 6500 ION SSDs delivers up to 5.2 million IOPS and up to a whopping 112GB/s throughput per node – all while providing nearly 1.5PB to the cluster.
The Micron 6500 ION reduces upfront purchase costs by coming in at a comparable price point to QLC SSDs while improving performance and endurance. It decreases operating expenses by using less power and requires less cooling. The drive’s 30.72TB capacity and dense form factors facilitate server consolidation lessening server software license costs9 and carbon emissions — all while outperforming and outlasting the competition. The 6500 ION also provides the industry’s most advanced security features including Federal Information and Processing Standards (FIPS) ASIC certifiability and compliance with the Trade Agreement Act (TAA).
The Micron XTR SSD delivers extreme endurance to enable the reliable caching necessary for write-heavy workloads. When paired with the Micron 6500 ION, the Micron XTR optimizes storage workloads with minimal investment when compared to storage class memory-based solutions. The Micron XTR SSD is ideal for use cases that are write-intensive such as caching tiers, write buffering, logging and journaling, and online transaction processing workloads. Designed with Micron’s proven vertically integrated storage architecture, the Micron XTR SSD also features an industry-leading security suite to instill confidence in data center deployments.
The Micron XTR SSD allows: Up to 35 random drive writes per day (DWPD) and up to 60 sequential DWPD; endurance ratings that far exceed conventional SSDs; Up to 35% of the random DWPD endurance at 20% of the cost of an SCM SSD; Up to 44% less power consumption; 20% more usable capacity;
In Microsoft SQL Server Analytics workload testing, where exceptional storage performance and optimal endurance are vital, the Micron XTR and Micron 6500 ION SSDs perform similarly to a solution using Micron 6500 ION and storage class memory (SCM) SSDs. When the Micron XTR and 6500 ION SSDs are combined, the Micron XTR fulfills the same role as the SCM SSDs by delivering nearly identical query performance. The Micron 6500 ION offers primary storage to meet the SQL Server performance and capacity needs, while the Micron XTR enables the endurance needed for write-intensive operations in SQL Servers, such as the tempdb volumes.
With the availability of the 6500 ION and XTR SSDs, Micron now delivers an innovative duo of high-capacity and high-endurance NVMe SSDs. This new SSD combination enables data center operators to massively scale storage, control costs, and improve data center sustainability by using less power than previous technologies.
The 30.72TB capacity Micron 6500 ION SSD is available in the U.3 (15mm) and E1.L (9.5mm) form factor, while the Micron XTR is available in the U.3 (15mm) form factor in both 960GB and 1.92TB capacities.