Just in time for OCP Summit 2018, Toshiba released new SSDs and its KumoScale NVMeoF solutions. The three new SSDs cover the SATA and NVMe U.2 and m.2 factors using 3D NAND to provide read-focused storage. During the show, we were able to see KumoScale in action using the SSDs and it worked well. Show floor demos are always risky but the process of setting up NVMeoF storage targets and running workloads worked flawlessly.
Toshiba XD5, HK6-DC and CD5 SSDs Launched
The Toshiba XD5, HK6-DC and CD5 SSDs covered NVMe and SATA form factors. The new drives utilize 64-layer TLC 3D NAND. That is important since the industry transition to 3D NAND and TLC technologies is expected to help ease the current NAND supply situation and stay the gradual rise in prices we have seen. Check out our DeepLearning11 pricing update article for more information on that trend. All of the new Toshiba drives are rated as under 1 DWPD which is a trend we are seeing with new, multi-TB SSDs. These new drives are focused on read-heavy workloads which makes sense as that is a fast-growing segment in the data center market.
The Toshiba HK6-DC series is a 2.5″ SATA 3.2 interface SSD that is intended for read focused workloads. Toshiba is addressing the performance market with its new NVMe offerings, but there are still a lot of SATA ports in server designs. Toshiba rates the HK6-DC as a 550MB/s drive with up to 87K random read IOPS and a 5-year warranty. Capacities for the HK6-DC are 960GB, 1.92TB, and 3.84TB.
Turning to NVMe, the Toshiba CD5 is the go-to option in the 15mm 2.5″ U.2 form factor. It features up to 2.6GB/s read speeds, 500K random read IOPS, and a 5-year warranty. Capacity points for the Toshiba CD5 range from 960GB to 7.68TB. We managed to snag an internal pic of the Toshiba CD5 at the OCP Summit 2018:
One of the trends in storage is the proliferation of m.2 drives. They are everywhere from the OCP Lightning platform to local storage for various compute nodes. In the NVMe m.2 22110 (110mm) form factor is the Toshiba XD5 series. On the performance side, the Toshiba XD5 offers up to 2.5GB/s read speeds and 240K random read IOPS and comes with a 5-year warranty. Capacities are listed as 1.92TB and 3.84TB. Here is a shot of the drives populated, and running workloads, in an OCP Lightning platform:
Perhaps one of the more interesting demos was of the new Toshiba KumoScale NVMeoF solution.
