NIMBUS DATA

64 TB QLC-based SSD

For a long time, traditional HDDs have maintained some advantages over SSDs. If we don't talk about speeds in linear operations and, mainly, in random operations, then the unit cost of storage and the total volume of the drive are still on the HDD side. But even the latest hard drives are 20 TB, and the use of inexpensive QLC NAND can make the new Nimbus Data drive the best choice where ultra-fast access speeds are not needed.
There are many such scenarios in the field of information technology: it is about any data archiving and backup and much more. For this type of task, hybrid storage systems are often used, as enterprise-class SSDs are still more expensive than similar Nearline HDDs. But the new Nimbus Data unit, called ExaDrive NL, aims to partially solve this problem.
The largest hard drive available today, with a capacity of 20 TB, is the Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC650. The new ExaDrive NL, presented by Nimbus Data, is more than three times bigger - 64 TB. The new series of SSDs uses QLC memory; its performance is low, especially for recording operations. In this mode, it is comparable to the performance of the HDD, but the access time to the ExaDrive NL data is 100 times less and consumes 75% less energy than the HDD.

Generate required usage and performance scenarios
The combination of QLC and high volume makes ExaDrive NL the ideal choice for nearline class tasks, especially since it uses a standard 3.5 ″ format and supports SATA-3 and SAS-2 dual port interfaces, meaning that can be easily installed on existing systems. The performance in random operations in 4K blocks is up to 100 thousand IOPS, the linear speeds are typical for SATA drives and are equal to 500 MB/s.
Despite the use of QLC, reliability is quite high and during the warranty period, Nimbus ExaDrive NL units can support up to 70 PB of recording. The manufacturer cites numbers in the region of 0.2 - 0.6 rewritten per day. The series includes models with volume of 16, 32 and 64 TB, costing 900, 600 and 0900, respectively.



Nimbus ExaDrive is not as cheap as HDDs, but in other ways they are better.
In terms of specific values, this is 70 per terabyte. For WD nearline drives, that number is 7 per terabyte, so for now, SSDs are six times more expensive than their mechanical counterparts. However, most analysts believe that QLC prices will continue to fall and, by the end of the year, the gap will narrow to five times. You can learn more about the new products on the manufacturer's website. ExaDrive NL is already approved for use on Dell EMC, HPE, Lenovo, Cisco and Supermicro servers.

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