Samsung Releases Enterprise SATA SSDs: Up to 3.84TB (PM863 & SM863)

[ahhming]

 

Samsung announces the PM863  features a top capacity of a mind-blowing 3.8TB, while the SM863 features a top capacity of 1.9TB.

"Powered by Samsung's leading-edge V-NAND technology -- which improves the performance of SSDs -- the PM863 and SM863 deliver outstanding performance and reliability while still achieving low power consumption levels. The 3-bit MLC V-NAND-based PM863 is developed for mixed pattern applications and ideal for use in content delivery networks and streaming or Web servers. Alternatively, the write-intensive SM863 based on 2-bit MLC V-NAND is an optimal choice for online transaction processing (OLTP) and serves as an ideal choice for email and database servers"

 

The PM863 and SM863 are based on Samsung's in-house "Mercury" controller.

SM863 is mostly aimed for write-intensive applications that includes use cases such as online transaction processing (OLTP) and financial services, whereas the PM863 is targeted at read and mixed IO workloads, such as media streaming.

 

Both feature tantalum capacitors for full power loss protection and support end-to-end data protection.

Source:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9455/samsung-releases-pm863-sm863-enterprise-sata-ssds-up-to-384tb-with-3d-vnand

[LegendKillerRG]

IMO SM863 is a much better option. Better in every scenarios.

[iFrostys]

Agreed^ SM863 looks just all round better...

[Jerakl]

Well, it's enterprise grade.

 

Honestly not surprised at what they can come up with at this point.

 

off topic

 

in my desktop I have 2 samsung (or is it hitachi?) enterprise grade drives in RAID 0. Really old though.

[Shakaza]

What is the point of the PM863 over the SM863? The SM863 seems better in almost all those specifications, including the warranty, and is around the same price.

[TrigrH]

What is the point of the PM863 over the SM863? The SM863 seems better in almost all those specifications, including the warranty, and is around the same price.

Whats the point in any of these? Just get 4x512gb MX100s and put them in raid 0, cheaper and faster.

[Shakaza]

Whats the point in any of these? Just get 4x512gb MX100s and put them in raid 0, cheaper and faster.

Um...these are enterprise drives, so they can't be compared to consumer ones. They will last longer on average and are probably rated for 24/7 usage. Apples to apples, man.

[TrigrH]

Um...these are enterprise drives, so they can't be compared to consumer ones. They will last longer on average and are probably rated for 24/7 usage. Apples to apples, man.

Mx100s are MLC and the full 512gb so you could over provision and get the same capacity.

[Shakaza]

Mx100s are MLC and the full 512gb so you could over provision and get the same capacity.

I still wouldn't trust those over any enterprise drive...

[TrigrH]

I still wouldn't trust those over any enterprise drive...

Why do you think Samsungs consumer line up is 500gb and the enterprise is 480, I bet my money that they use the same flash as the EVO and the PRO.

Id be more worried about power protection and the fact that they are in raid 0, but if you had a UPS and maybe a RAID 5 and wanted to save on coin...

[Shakaza]

Why do you think Samsungs consumer line up is 500gb and the enterprise is 480, I bet my money that they use the same flash as the EVO and the PRO.

Id be more worried about power protection and the fact that they are in raid 0, but if you had a UPS and maybe a RAID 5 and wanted to save on coin...

Well, whatever. If you'd rather trust a consumer drive for sensitive data, then you can go ahead and use them. I'm no expert on SSDs, but I imagine there must be some benefit of using these over the EVO or PRO consumer drives, or these drives would serve no purpose. I still think these things will last longer...

[TrigrH]

Well, whatever. If you'd rather trust a consumer drive for sensitive data, then you can go ahead and use them. I'm no expert on SSDs, but I imagine there must be some benefit of using these over the EVO or PRO consumer drives, or these drives would serve no purpose. I still think these things will last longer...

 

Both feature tantalum capacitors for full power loss protection and support end-to-end data protection.

 

+ over provisioning + enterprise controller + enterprise price tag.

[Shakaza]

+ over provisioning + enterprise price tag.

I'm sorry, but I don't believe that there are so few benefits of enterprise grade drives over consumer ones. There are plenty of tech-savvy people who create mass-storage systems for servers and such, so why would they choose these over consumer drives? They wouldn't buy these if there weren't tangible benefits, like the security in knowing they aren't going to fail randomly...

[TrigrH]

I'm sorry, but I don't believe that there are so few benefits of enterprise grade drives over consumer ones. There are plenty of tech-savvy people who create mass-storage systems for servers and such, so why would they choose these over consumer drives? They wouldn't buy these if there weren't tangible benefits, like the security in knowing they aren't going to fail randomly...

Well it depends on the sensitivity of the work, less chance of a bit error in a enterprise drive, thats why I find the PM863 series a little strange being TLC enterprise. 

[zacRupnow]

I want a few thousand of them.

[Sakkura]

What is the point of the PM863 over the SM863? The SM863 seems better in almost all those specifications, including the warranty, and is around the same price.

 

The PM863 is cheaper, and it scales to a higher capacity. So for applications that are price-sensitive or density-sensitive, the PM863 is preferable. If performance or endurance is much of a consideration though, the SM863 looks like it's easily worth the small premium.

[Sakkura]

Why do you think Samsungs consumer line up is 500gb and the enterprise is 480, I bet my money that they use the same flash as the EVO and the PRO.

Id be more worried about power protection and the fact that they are in raid 0, but if you had a UPS and maybe a RAID 5 and wanted to save on coin...

 

The NAND comes from the same fab (almost certainly), but it's probably binned differently. The enterprise drives probably also have a different firmware, as well as other improvements in eg. power loss protection.

[SurvivorNVL]

Yeah.  These enterprise drives are beautiful.  Enhanced PLP with some Tantalum Capacitors and the firmware is all tuned specifically for heavy operation.  Hell, even though they're enterprise drives they fall in line with consumer prices, at-least where the 3.84tb is concerned.  And the beauty of it all is they're both V-Nand technology.  One may be SLC(Cache)/TLC and the other pure MLC, but damn are they at a good size, fairly understandable price-point for said size, and they'll likely last longer than they are rated, on top of lasting longer than their warranties.  Far outside their warranties.  It'll be replaced before it dies.

[spartaman64]

Whats the point in any of these? Just get 4x512gb MX100s and put them in raid 0, cheaper and faster.

if you raid 0 drives in an enterprise situation you are asking for trouble

[qwertywarrior]

its cheap for an enterprise ssd

also im very interested at what that controller is