Kioxia shared slides at the 2021 Flash Memory Summit (CFMS) with new SSD technology. Two teased blistering-fast 15 GB/s speeds for a prototype PCIe 5.0 SSD. It is expected to launch in Q4 2021 and is part of the CD7 line. It is based on the EDSFF E3S form factor and will be offered with 8- and 16-channel controllers, the latter aimed at enterprise. Storage capacities will range from 1.6 TB to 30 TB. As PCIe 5.0 is still in its infancy and currently only has support via Intel Alder Lake CPUs, mainstream adoption is not expected until late 2022. The new technology is being tested and certified by manufacturers.
Kioxia also showed slides for another new type of SSD. The FL6 line will fill a gap between DRAM and flash memory. It is an SCM-grade SSD aimed at enterprise and server solutions. It promises lower latency on PCIe 4.0 and comes in storage sizes ranging from 800 GB to 3.2 TB. It has an expected lifespan of 60 DWPD. A current downside to SCM technology is that no large-scale fabs currently exist for it, so prices are higher, but that is anticipated to change.
Today, Moore’s Law is no longer valid in terms of CPU and DRAM technology, but it is still valid in terms of PCIe clock rate. 2015 is the third generation of PCIe, 2019 is the fourth generation, and 2022 will be the fifth generation. Even if people spend a lot of money, they can’t improve system performance by doubling the CPU nodes, but they can greatly improve system performance by buying Gen5 SSD instead of Gen4 SSD.