Administrator DKT27 Posted June 29, 2017 Administrator Share Posted June 29, 2017 Toshiba has announced that it is the first company to surpass a flash storage density milestone. Thanks to its development of 4-bit-per-cell, quadruple-level cell (QLC) 3D flash memory it has enabled a 768Gb (96GB) die capacity. For comparison its 3-bit-per-cell, triple-level cell (TLC) 3D flash topped out at 512Gb. According to Toshiba its new technology helps it to achieve "the world's largest die capacity." Furthermore, it enables a 1.5TB device with a 16-die stacked architecture in a single package - again an industry first. Toshiba says that the challenge of reliably utilising QLC technology in 3D flash memory has been met by a combination of advanced circuit design and its leading 3D flash memory process technology. "There will always be demand for compelling storage solutions that bring higher densities and produce a favourable cost/performance equation – our QLC technology falls squarely into that sweet spot," said the SVP of TAEC's memory business unit, Scott Nelson. "History has proven us right in the past when it comes to our visionary flash memory roadmap, and we fully expect QLC BiCS FLASH to continue our industry-leading track record." The new flash memory will be used in diverse applications. QLC will help solve challenges facing data centres thanks to its lower power consumption and reduced footprint. Other targeted markets will include; enterprise and consumer SSDs, tablets and memory cards. It will be interesting to see any cost savings to consumers delivered by this higher density memory technology. Toshiba has already shipped out QLC flash memory to SSD and SSD controller vendors earlier this month and they will be testing and evaluating it. Samples will be showcased at the 2017 Flash Memory Summit, from 7-10th August in Santa Clara, California. In other flash memory news from Toshiba today, it announced that it had developed a prototype sample of 96-layer BiCS Flash three-dimensional (3D) flash memory with a stacked structure, with 3-bit-per-cell (triple-level cell, TLC) technology. It hopes in the future to apply its 96-layer process technology to QLC flash. View: Original Article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliverjia Posted June 29, 2017 Share Posted June 29, 2017 I would rather stick with the old MLC SSD (2-bit per cell). No matter how a company improve its technology, they can not bypass physics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted June 29, 2017 Author Administrator Share Posted June 29, 2017 As someone who still has not bought an SSD due to high prices and high space requirements, this is a good thing. But, as people might know, this type of SSDs, if made, might be considered the least best of SSDs out there. I would ask everyone to read this article. It further increases the need to have a higher density and cheaper SSDs. Even though it does not serve the original purpose, it is much required for the mainstream market I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylence Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 18 hours ago, oliverjia said: I would rather stick with the old MLC SSD (2-bit per cell). No matter how a company improve its technology, they can not bypass physics. All Physics laws are subject to change. some of the laws of Physics before 19th century are obsolete now thanks to the findings of Max Planck and Einstein. who knows, maybe in the next few years some other laws become obsolete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliverjia Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 6 hours ago, saeed_dc said: All Physics laws are subject to change. some of the laws of Physics before 19th century are obsolete now thanks to the findings of Max Planck and Einstein. who knows, maybe in the next few years some other laws become obsolete LOL yes, maybe, but the possible change is not likely happening in SSD industry. IF at all, it'll happen in a research institution maybe in 200 years or more from now. 23 hours ago, DKT27 said: As someone who still has not bought an SSD due to high prices and high space requirements, this is a good thing. But, as people might know, this type of SSDs, if made, might be considered the least best of SSDs out there. I would ask everyone to read this article. It further increases the need to have a higher density and cheaper SSDs. Even though it does not serve the original purpose, it is much required for the mainstream market I think. You get the point. More and more SSD vendors are using TLC to make SSDs cheaper and larger in size but at the cost of lifespan and reliability. Now Toshiba comes out with this QLC it almost becomes a joke to me. I have purchased 8 SSDs so far (all purchased before the year 2016) and all of them are MLC, and I use them as boot/OS drive only. for me, there is no need to use a larger SSD than 256GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted July 3, 2017 Author Administrator Share Posted July 3, 2017 On 30/6/2017 at 8:00 PM, oliverjia said: LOL yes, maybe, but the possible change is not likely happening in SSD industry. IF at all, it'll happen in a research institution maybe in 200 years or more from now. You get the point. More and more SSD vendors are using TLC to make SSDs cheaper and larger in size but at the cost of lifespan and reliability. Now Toshiba comes out with this QLC it almost becomes a joke to me. I have purchased 8 SSDs so far (all purchased before the year 2016) and all of them are MLC, and I use them as boot/OS drive only. for me, there is no need to use a larger SSD than 256GB. I think the masses are missing out on the SSD. I really appreciate people who have enlighten me on how bad TLCs are, I believe, including you. But, still, I consider this is a cheap alternative to what we can call good quality SSDs. I feel even QLC can be, atleast something better than HDD. Also, while I'm no expert in SSDs, technology innovations, as suggested above, do improve the products I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batu69 Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Quote Besides intention to produce 768 Gb 3D QLC NAND flash for the aforementioned devices, the most interesting part of Toshiba’s announcement is endurance specification for the upcoming components. According to the company, its 3D QLC NAND is targeted for ~1000 program/erase cycles, which is close to TLC NAND flash. This is considerably higher than the amount of P/E cycles (100 – 150) expected for QLC by the industry over the years. At first thought, it comes across a typo - didn't they mean 100?. But the email we received was quite clear: - What’s the number of P/E cycles supported by Toshiba’s QLC NAND? - QLC P/E is targeted for 1K cycles. It is unclear how Toshiba managed to increase the endurance of its 3D QLC NAND by an order of magnitude versus initially predicted. What we do know is that signal processing is more challenging with QLC than it is with TLC, as each cell needs to accurately determine sixteen different voltage profiles (up from 2 in SLC, 4 in MLC, and 8 in TLC). Toshiba's 768Gb 3D QLC NAND Flash Memory: Matching TLC at 1000 P/E Cycles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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