In context: Sandisk is creating a brand new structure for high-capacity SSDs known as Stargate. Sandisk CEO David Goeckeler described it as a “dynamite” mission that can considerably advance enterprise storage, particularly when paired with the corporate’s BiCS 8 QLC NAND flash. He added that it is arriving sooner fairly than later.
After a number of years as a subsidiary of Western Digital, Sandisk cut up from the guardian firm earlier this yr. Former WD head David Goeckeler, now Sandisk CEO, has some bold tasks within the works.
Goeckeler mentioned Stargate’s potential throughout a latest investor Q&A session. ComputerBase notes that the mission entails a brand new controller structure and ASIC design, although technical particulars stay scarce. Nonetheless, Sandisk’s present product roadmap reveals Stargate’s doubtless function.
The roadmap unveiled throughout Sandisk’s investor day features a 128TB solid-state drive set for launch this yr, adopted by a 256TB mannequin in 2026 and a 512TB model in 2027. The final word aim is to ship a 1PB storage unit, focusing on the high-capacity calls for of synthetic intelligence ventures and Huge Tech, which proceed shifting their enterprise towards chatbots. Laborious drive producers see the identical alternative, with Seagate planning a 100TB drive for 2030.
Stargate will energy a brand new enterprise storage platform known as “Extremely QLC” (often known as the DC SN670), with 64TB and 128TB fashions transport within the third quarter. Prospects can count on vital efficiency features. Random learn speeds will enhance by 68 %, random writes by 55 %, and sequential learn and write speeds will enhance by 7 and 27 %, respectively.
The brand new drives use the PCIe Gen5 bus, although Stargate might additionally leverage the newer PCIe 6.0 commonplace. Due to QLC reminiscence, every storage unit will function a 2TB capability per chip. Tome’s {Hardware} notes Stargate will scale as much as 64 dies per channel, with the 512TB drive using 32 channels.
Typical shopper SSDs provide as much as eight channels, so advanced storage administration applied sciences like Stargate will not seem in shopper SSDs anytime quickly. The expertise will goal the enterprise sector, which can stay a key focus for Sandisk.
