Kioxia Sends QLC Technology to Partners to Control Ultra-Fast SSDs

Japanese SSD manufacturer Kioxia, a spin-off from Toshiba, has begun shipping 2TB QLC devices to select partners and customers. This type of storage uses 8th generation BiCS FLASH 3D technology and is suitable for servers and other digital storage systems that require high capacity and efficient memory solutions.

Quad Level Cell (QLC) technology in NAND flash memory stores four bits of data per cell, which increases storage density Compared to older single-level cell (SLC), multi-level cell (MLC), and triple-level cell (TLC) technologies. The disadvantages are lower write speeds, higher latency, and lower endurance (number of write/erase cycles) compared to other writing technologies.

Faster with less latency

However, Kioxia’s BiCS FLASH technology improves the memory arrays vertically and horizontally and incorporates CMOS Direct Bonded to Array (CBA) technology to achieve greater density and interface speeds of up to 3.6Gbps. The bit density of this device is 2.3 times higher than its predecessors, which according to Kioxia means a 70 percent improvement in write power efficiency and a maximum capacity of 4TB thanks to a 16-die stacked architecture.

One company already excited about this is Pure Storage. The storage array provider plans to integrate Kioxia’s 2Tb QLC technology into its DirectFlash Module (DFM) storage systems. It’s already known for its high performance compared to traditional SSDs. Pure Storage plans to release 150TB DFMs in 2025 and 300TB DFMs the following year. Kioxia’s technology should play a significant role in achieving these milestones.

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