Nimbus previously released an SSD with up to 100 TB of capacity in its ExaDrive DC series, a 3.5" drive that uses a SATA/SAS interface like an HDD and targets data centers.
The ExaDrive DC series comes in several capacities, all of them very high compared with ordinary SSDs: 16 TB at the minimum, and now up to 200 TB.
Nimbus Data CEO Thomas Isakovich said: "We are developing a successor to the 100 TB SSD that delivers more storage capacity, better performance and better power efficiency than the 100 TB drive. It will launch this year." He did not share any further specs for the 200 TB drive, such as whether it will use the same 3.5" form factor as the 100 TB version, or whether it will use TLC NAND or QLC NAND. Pricing has not been revealed either.
TechRadar reports that in a 2020 interview with Isakovich, he mentioned this 200 TB version and expected it to launch last year. However, COVID and supply chain disruptions pushed the plan back. Now that things are gradually returning to normal, Nimbus has returned to its plan to develop the 200 TB SSD. A capacity of 200 TB is huge: it is 10 times that of the highest-capacity HDDs currently in production, such as the Seagate Exos/IronWolf Pro 20 TB or the WD Ultrastar DC H650 20 TB.
Nimbus Data's ExaDrive DC series aims to replace HDDs in data centers. That is why these drives use a 3.5" form factor and a SATA/SAS interface, which makes swapping and upgrading drives simpler, since this is also the common form factor and interface for HDDs.
In 2018, Nimbus used 256 Gbit dies for the 100 TB version, and die capacity has now reached 1024 Gbit, so in theory Nimbus could build a drive of up to 400 TB. The 200 TB version will likely use 512 Gbit dies, since they are no longer so new, and are cheaper and more readily available than 1024 Gbit dies.
A single 200 TB drive could fully replace an entire tray of 3.5" drives in a data center while consuming less power and giving off less heat, which in turn reduces cooling needs. If anything is unappealing, it is probably the price. It is unclear how much Nimbus will charge for the 200 TB drive, but the current 100 TB version already costs 40 thousand dollars, so the 200 TB model could cost double that.
Source: TechRadar
