Micron and Intel Pimp 3D NAND Flash Memory with Promise of 10TB Solid State Drives

[[Coi] Mr.CLuBBeR]

Holy high capacity, Batman!

When it comes to storage, you typically have to choose between raw performance or oodles of storage space. If you value the former, a solid state drive is hands down the way to go. And if you need the latter, well, traditional hard drives with spinning platters are still the best option. But what if you could have both? Micron and Intel have made available 3D NAND flash memory that they say will enable SSDs to scale beyond 10 terabytes in 2.5-inch form.
It will also enable gum stick-sized SSDs with more than 3.5TB of storage. Both are made possible by stacking layers of data storage cells vertically "with extraordinary precision," resulting in storage devices that offer three times more capacity than competing NAND technologies.
This isn't a new concept, by any means. Samsung is already using vertically stacked cells in some of its newer SSDs, and Toshiba and SanDisk just recently jointly announced 3D NAND cell technology of their own. Indeed, stacking cells is the way of the future for SSDs, as planar NAND is reaching its practical scaling limits. By transitioning to 3D NAND flash memory, flash storage solutions can stay aligned with Moore's Law.
So, what's different about the way Micron and Intel are going about it? They're the first to use a floating gate cell in 3D NAND, which they describe as a key design choice enabling greater performance, quality, and reliability.
Their new 3D NAND technology stacks flash cells vertically in 32 layers. By doing so, they're able to achieve 256Gb (gigabit) multi-level cell (MLC) and 384Gb triple-level cell (TLC) die that fit in a standard package. Since they're now stacking cells, they can use individual cells that are significantly larger, which allows them to achieve up to 48GB (gigabyte) of NAND per die.
Intel and Micron have begun sampling 256Gb MLC versions of 3D NAND to select partners and will sample 384Gb TLC later in the spring. Both companies are also working on their own brand SSD solutions based on 3D NAND technology slated for release by 2016.
Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook


More...