This is getting ridiculous! Samsung preparing a 256TB SSD for AI servers only, just weeks after showing off 128TB model

5 September 2024, 11:10 published

A number of companies, including Samsung, Phison, and Huawei, have been teasing 128TB SSDs this year. Inevitably, these products are not intended for consumers but rather are designed to cater to the growing storage needs of AI servers and data centers.

128TB is unquestionably a huge leap forward in terms of capacity. It’s important to remember that Solidigm’s 61.44TB SSD was the world’s largest solid state drive when it went on sale back in January, and no one was offering anything close to it. How quickly things change.

Samsung recently showcased its forthcoming 128TB SSD, the BM1743, at the Future of Memory and Storage 2024 event (formerly Flash Memory Summit). There’s currently no word on when that model is expected to see the light of day, but Samsung would like you to know it is already preparing an SSD with double that capacity. Yes, really.

256TB SSD for servers

The Korean Economic Daily reports that South Korean memory rivals Samsung and SK Hynix recently took to the stage at Semicon Taiwan 2024 to talk about high-bandwidth memory (HBM), with the two firms detailing the efforts they are going to in order to boost production of the in-demand chips. During a keynote speech, marking the first time a Samsung representative has given a talk in Taiwan, Jung-Bae Lee, corporate president and head of Samsung’s memory business said, “To maximize the performance of AI chips, customized HBM is the best choice. We are working with other foundry players to offer more than 20 customized solutions.”

It was during this presentation, KED reports, that Dr. Lee dropped his casual bombshell, stating that “Samsung is preparing to unveil a 256 terabyte (TB) solid-state drive (SSD) for servers to meet growing demand for high-capacity storage devices in AI servers.”

No additional information was provided, so it’s unclear when such a device will be released – it could be next year or further in the future. However, the fact that Samsung mentioned it at all suggests the company is a decent way into the development process.