On January 30, yesterday, Samsung announced that it was developing its next-generation QLC technology (V9 QLC).The number of stacks reached a staggering 280 layersThis means that the capacity of SSDs will increase dramatically in the future, and there is even a trend of catching up with HDDsIf you want to ask how long this "future" is, the answer is this winter!
According to the information that has been revealed so far,The storage density of the Samsung V9 QLC flash reaches an unprecedented 28 per square millimeter5gb, compared with the current YMTC 232-layer QLC stack, 2062GB of storage density is up to 36% higher. Of course it is important to note that this isSolid-state stacking technology in development vs. already available.
The reason why the 232-layer QLC stacking of YMTC is used for comparison is that the stacking of other manufacturers is really not enoughMicron has 232 layers of QLC and a density of 195GB, SK hynix is 176 layers of QLC, density 144GB, Western Digital Kioxia is 162-layer QLC, density 1386gb。
The original flash memory particle technology is called SLC, the full name is Single Level Cell, that is, single-level cell, its important feature is that each memory cell stores 1 bit of information (charge high and low state record storage), which is commonly known as 1bit. Although it has the fastest read and write speed (only two electrical signal states), it is difficult to expand the capacity, so it evolves in and out of MLC (Multi-Level Cell), TLC (Triple-Level Cell), and QLC (Quad-Level Cell) one after another.
How do they increase capacity? To put it bluntly, it is to increase the charge state to record data, such as MLC is 2bit data, that is, 2 to the 2nd power (4) electrical signal difference; TLC is 3-bit data, which is 2 to the 3rd power (8) of electrical signals; QLC is 4-bit data, 2 to the 4th power (16) electrical signalsSimilarly, the more signal differences per unit area, the more data can be recorded, and the larger the capacity. In addition, stacking technology is always spiraling with the evolution of the manufacturing processHigher-end processes can reduce the unit physical area and increase the stackable space.
AbsolutelyIt is precisely because of the excessive and complex charge state, coupled with the continuous impact of voltage and current, that the more complex the unit, the shorter the life. However, with the expansion of the capacity of the SSD (the redundancy has increased significantly), and the optimization of the algorithm when writing data in the SSD,The total lifespan of SSDs is actually increasing, so you can't just look at the technology used in SSDs and make a blind inference.
Speaking of Samsung's V9 QLC flash technology, what can the 280-layer stack bring? Of course, it's a jump in capacity – theoretically it will be able to achieve ultra-high capacity of 8TB on one side and 16TB on both sides! Truth be told, an SSD exceeding 8TB will be a significant watershed moment that will meet the daily storage needs of most users.
Of course, the mechanical hard disk is not useless, in the cost of ownership, failure rate, the advantages of the mechanical hard disk is still huge. In other words, the role of solid-state drives should be "hot data" storage and processing, and mechanical hard disks are more used for data storage and data cold backup.
Remember, most SSDs die from the master! And if something goes wrong, the data recovery from the SSD can be a disaster.
At least for three years, 8TB and 16TB consumer SSDs are a good choice for high-end gamers, and of course, ultra-high stack SSDs will also drive price reductions for lower-end capacity products, and 4TB is expected to soon become the "standard capacity".
Finally, whether it is YMTC or Micron, or SK hynix and Western Digital Kioxia, they are also in full swing to develop higher stacked QLC, maybe Samsung is not the first manufacturer to officially launch 280 layers + QLCDon't forget that it was also the first to be released by others, but it was the first to officially launch the 230-layer + QLC by YMTC!