As data processing requirements continue to evolve, cloud-scale infrastructure requires solutions that maximize bandwidth, minimize latency, and are optimized for efficient resource utilization. Microchip Technology Inc. recently announced the newest member of the Flashtec® controller family, the NVMe® 4016 SSD controller.
Microchip claims that PCIe® Gen 5 NVMe SSD controller, is the industry’s highest-performing and hence Flashtec NVMe 4016 addresses the market demand for high-reliability, high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) delivering greater than 14 GB per second throughput and over 3 million IOPS.
With advanced Credit Management technology, this next-generation controller offers the stringent Quality of Service (QoS) required by today’s cloud-focused data center applications.
Microchip added regarding its specification that with the 16 high-speed programmable NAND Flash channels capable of up to 2400 MTs, this fourth-generation Flashtec controller can utilize full PCIe Gen 5 x 4-speed bandwidth. The NVMe 4016 allows current customers to leverage their existing firmware investment in previous generations and gives new clients the confidence and flexibility to adopt this proven platform for their toughest cloud and enterprise applications.
Pete Hazen, vice president of Microchip’s data center solutions business unit stated: “Microchip is proud to announce the next generation of our Flashtec NVMe controller product line. Its market-leading performance, coupled with our proven and flexible architecture, means the NVMe 4016 can provide our cloud and OEM customers with a cutting-edge platform for their PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSD solutions.”
Greg Matson, vice president of strategic planning and marketing, Data Center Group, Solidigm stated: “Microchip’s controller solutions are a strong match for our wide array of TLC and QLC SSDs and future NAND technologies. They offer a compelling combination of features, scalability, and security for next-generation cloud and enterprise architectures.”
Mr. Zhong Ji, deputy general manager, Storage R&D, Inspur stated: “How we rapidly promote cutting-edge technology to our clients is crucial for us. Maximizing the benefits of reusing known generational architectures reduces development risk and effort. Having a fully mature reference solution such as the Flashtec controller PCIe Gen 5 design will definitely accelerate the efficiency and quality with which we provide leading technology to the market.”
Ross Stenfort, hardware system engineer, Storage at Meta stated: “Meeting the challenging demands of hyperscale data center environments for scalable efficiency in terms of manageability, power, performance, and thermals has been the focus of industry standards such as the OCP data center NVMe SSD Specification and EDSFF E1.S as a form factor. The Flashtec NVMe 4016 controller supports these requirements to enable SSD makers to meet hyperscale needs.”
Dr. Taile Zhang, chief executive officer of Memblaze stated: “The Flashtec NVMe 4016 Gen 5 SSD controller provides the needed performance and architecture for next-generation NAND. Memblaze and Microchip have developed a great partnership to advance data center efficiency and bring the flexibility needed to address the cloud storage requirements of today and tomorrow.”
Dr. Debendra Das Sharma, senior fellow, and chief architect, I/O Technologies and Standards, Intel stated: “Intel’s upcoming Next-Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, code-named Sapphire Rapids, will implement PCI Express 5.0 running at up to 32.0 GT/s to deliver the low-latency and high-bandwidth I/O solutions our customers need to deploy. We are pleased to see Microchip’s PCIe 5.0 Flashtec drive controller investment strengthen the ecosystem and drive the broader deployment of PCIe 5.0 solutions.”
Raghu Nambiar, corporate vice president, Data Center Ecosystems and Solutions, AMD stated: “Supporting ecosystem growth with the industry’s latest standards is key for enabling modern data centers. Our next-generation technologies are well-positioned to take advantage of new standards like PCIe Gen 5, enabling next-generation applications in the data center. We are pleased to collaborate with key industry leaders such as Microchip to enable the performance and scalability our customers need for their demanding workloads.”
“We are pleased to work with enablers like Microchip that continue to advance the PCIe SSD ecosystem,” said Scott Beekman, vice president of memory products for KIOXIA America, Inc. “We congratulate Microchip on their newest addition, which features a flexible architecture to enable compatibility with the latest-generation Flash, including TLC, QLC and potentially future PLC, and new machine learning technology.”
“Supporting a wide variety of form factors allows growth and new development in the SSD ecosystem,” said Jin Lim, vice president of NAND Technology SK Hynix America. “Flashtec’s PCIe Gen 5 provides endless opportunities for our partners to optimize the management of NAND Flash while enjoying the maximum performance.”
Key Specs and Core Utilization
Microchip’s reports also added that As an NVMe 2.0 compliant controller, the NVMe 4016 not only supports all the latest storage and performance computing applications, including Zoned Name Spaces (ZNS) and cloud Open Compute Platform (OCP), its flexible architecture also enables customers to future proof for continually evolving NVMe specifications.
Microchip claimed that the NVMe 4016 is also the first PCIe Gen 5 controller to introduce PCIe link encryption support as one of the many feature enhancements in this new generation of Flashtec controllers.
With dual signature authentication and Trusted Platform support, the NVMe 4016 controller meets all critical storage and enterprise application security needs. The NVMe 4016’s advanced virtualization capabilities enable the large-scale deployment of Virtual Machines (VMs) as well as Physical Functions (PF) per port for the most efficient utilization of the PCIe resources in ever-growing data center and cloud computing infrastructures.
Microchip’s technology and R&D team added that the advanced ECC features armed with stronger bit error correction capabilities continue to pave the way for utilization of denser NAND Flash technologies like Qual-Level-Cell (QLC) Flash into the mainstream and storage space.
The Flashtec controller’s innovation continues with the addition of a new, programmable Machine Learning (ML) engine in the NVMe 4016 controller, capable of a variety of pattern recognition and classification functions that are employed in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ML applications. The NVMe 4016 controller’s new ML technology presents endless opportunities for SSD builders and suppliers to manage SSDs for maximum performance and cost benefits.
According to Team Microchip, it also added that Flashtec controller flexibility supports a wide variety of form factors, including EDSFF. Supported by a comprehensive development platform, debugging tools, and a dedicated, best-in-class, applications team, the Flashtec NVMe 4016 controller serves all the requirements for the latest SSD solution needs: high capacity, high performance, security, power optimization, and computational storage ready.
Press Release received on Mail from Microchip
