Micron P320h 2.5-inch PCIe SSD Announced

Micron has announced plans to commercialize the first 15mm 2.5" SSD based on the PCIe interface. Of course the new interface requires server infrastructure, to that end Dell is the first to announce a solution to support these drives in their PowerEdge 12th generation servers. The PowerEdge servers will feature a new backplane that exclusively supports the 2.5" form factor with PCIe interface. The eventual path for the interface is expected to offer an alternative to enterprise customers who want PCIe throughput, with hot-swappable and easy to access SSDs.

Micron has announced plans to commercialize the first 15mm 2.5" SSD based on the PCIe interface. Of course the new interface requires server infrastructure, to that end Dell is the first to announce a solution to support these drives in their PowerEdge 12th generation servers. The PowerEdge servers will feature a new backplane that exclusively supports the 2.5" form factor with PCIe interface. The eventual path for the interface is expected to offer an alternative to enterprise customers who want PCIe throughput, with hot-swappable and easy to access SSDs. 

The new 2.5-inch PCIe-based P320h will offer scalable performance through the new interface/form factor combo, albeit with half the capacity. The shrink in form factor takes away from the real estate needed to mount that much NAND, with the new 2.5-inch PCIe models being offered in capacities of 175GB and 300GB, half of the capacities available in the P320h PCIe cards. Another change is the current PCIe card solution has an 8x PCIe interface, whereas the new 2.5-inch solution will be x4.

Micron P320h 2.5-inch PCIe SSD Specifications:

• Capacity 175GB, 300GB
• Interface PCIe (Gen 2-compliant), x4
• SFF-8639 Connection

Micron and Dell will be helping drive global adoption of the 2.5" interface through the SSD Form Factor Working Group. Making the interface generally available should help increase exposure and deployment by other storage hardware providers. The Micron P320h 2.5" PCIe SSD will get a detailed spec sheet and full launch later this year. Dell will offer the technology in their PowerEdge R720xd, R720, R620, T620, M620, C6220 and R820 servers. 

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