Adata Joins M.3 Party With New IM3P33E1 SSD

[Guest]

Adata joins Samsung and Supermicro in the push for a new M.2 SSD standard that adds NVMe hot swap and width to over the M.2 specification.

Adata Joins M.3 Party With New IM3P33E1 SSD : Read more

 

[2Be_or_Not2Be]

How can you say that a physically smaller drive (NGSFF/M.3) could fit more memory than a 2.5" drive could? Physically, the 2.5" size is bigger, and you could theoretically fit more components onto the surface area. I know most mfg's have really small boards inside their 2.5" drive sleds, but technically they could fit a lot more than the NGSFF/M.3 size.

 

[thejorge123]

@2BE_OR_NOT2B 2.5" is using SATA ports which are an old technology that has already reached it's limit for years. M.2, and now M.3 are more recent and built more efficiently to handle faster speeds, bigger capacities, and smaller sizes.

 

[TJ Hooker]

@2BE_OR_NOT2B 2.5" is using SATA ports which are an old technology that has already reached it's limit for years. M.2, and now M.3 are more recent and built more efficiently to handle faster speeds, bigger capacities, and smaller sizes.

The U.2 interface offers the same PCIe x4 speed as M.2, but in a 2.5" form factor.

 

[Sakkura]

How can you say that a physically smaller drive (NGSFF/M.3) could fit more memory than a 2.5" drive could? Physically, the 2.5" size is bigger, and you could theoretically fit more components onto the surface area. I know most mfg's have really small boards inside their 2.5" drive sleds, but technically they could fit a lot more than the NGSFF/M.3 size.

It's not the drives that fit more memory, it's the server. You can put a LOT more M.3 drives than 2.5" U.2 drives in a server.

 

[littleleo]

How can you say that a physically smaller drive (NGSFF/M.3) could fit more memory than a 2.5" drive could? Physically, the 2.5" size is bigger, and you could theoretically fit more components onto the surface area. I know most mfg's have really small boards inside their 2.5" drive sleds, but technically they could fit a lot more than the NGSFF/M.3 size.

Think of it this way, how many M.3 SSDs could you fit in the space of one 2.5" drive physically (not worrying about the bus)?

 

[bit_user]

So, what's the ruler-shaped form factor called? I think Intel is pushing that one.

 

[CRamseyer]

I was talking about the surface area of the M.3 compared to the M.2. I need to see what edits were made. Also, you can fit more M.3 drives in a 1u server than 2.5" drives. I think SuperMicro has a 1u with 10 2.5" drive bays. There are 34 in the server shown with M.3.

 

[2Be_or_Not2Be]

I was talking about the surface area of the M.3 compared to the M.2. I need to see what edits were made. Also, you can fit more M.3 drives in a 1u server than 2.5" drives. I think SuperMicro has a 1u with 10 2.5" drive bays. There are 34 in the server shown with M.3.

Gotcha - I see what you mean.

I could argue that if you had a full-size (length & width) 2.5" board with maxed-out amount of memory modules (not including heat-removal mechanisms) instead of the current way wherein only half (or less) of the interior space is used, then I would think you should be able to get *more* storage. You would have *one* controller with more memory modules than the M.3/NGSFF form factor where the single controller only has the memory modules that can fit onto its small surface area.

For example, I have one M.3 module with 4 memory chips. If I lay two down side-by-side, let's just say that equals the width of a 2.5" board. So I would have two controllers & 8 memory chips total. However, on the 2.5" board, I only need the one controller, and I can then stuff more memory chips onto the board than just 8 chips -maybe 10-12 total. So physically, I have more memory chips on the same surface area (i.e. more storage space).

I know the consideration was lining up the M.3/NGSFF drives vertically in a 1U server. Maybe the same could be done if you stacked 2.5"-width boards (sans case), and maybe not. However, my main thought was that physically, a 2.5" board can offer more space for memory modules than a M.3 board.