Toshiba announced three new PCIe SSDs featuring the NVMe interface at Flash Memory Summit 2015. The NVMe interface is a lightweight register and command set designed specifically for non-volatile memories, which provides high performance and low latency. Toshiba’s latest products run the gamut from enterprise to client applications and utilize a new Toshiba controller platform and its own NAND.
The XG3 family packs a big punch in a small form factor. The M.2 SSDs come in the 2280 form factor (22 x 80 mm) and are geared for notebooks and all-in-one PCs. Toshiba announced that the devices support up to four lanes of PCIe 3.1, which indicates there may be versions that utilize fewer lanes to conserve power. The company is also offering 2.5″ versions of the XG3 for more traditional applications.
Toshiba’s new BG1 Series is designed specifically for thin notebooks, 2-in-1 convertibles and tablets. The BG1 comes in a tiny 1620 form factor (16 x 20 mm) and is one of the few M.2 SSDs that are slimmer than 22 mm in width. This helps with ultra-dense designs, and with a single module packing up to 256 GB, it will satisfy the requirements of most small computing devices. Both the aforementioned XG3 and the BBG3 support the Trusted Computing Group Pyrite specification and have an enhanced set of low power features to extend battery life.
Toshiba’s final offering is the most powerful weapon in the arsenal. The PX04P is a 2.5″ NVMe PCIe enterprise-class SSD that touts impressively low power consumption characteristics. The PX04P utilizes the same controller the company uses in its PX04S 12 Gb/s SAS SSDs and pulls a miserly 18 watts during operation. The SSD comes in both AIC (Add-In Card) and 2.5″ form factors, marking Toshiba’s entrance into the PCIe AIC market.
Detecting and correcting errors is the most important feature of any SSD, and all three products utilize Toshiba’s proprietary QSBC (Quadruple Swing-By Code) error correction algorithms, which provide a 10x boost over standard BCH ECC implementations and an 8x boost over standard Mini-Sum LDPC techniques.
“With analysts predicting greater NVMe SSD adoption in the next year, at Toshiba, we are ensuring our customers have plenty of choices and that their needs are met by offering a broad portfolio of high performance NVMe SSD solutions, in multiple performance levels and form factors,” said Cameron Brett, director of SSD product marketing at Toshiba Storage Products Business Unit.
Toshiba continues to offer a slew of SATA offerings, but with the latest announcements it is clear that the company intends to expand into the NVMe space rapidly, while also continuing to offer bleeding-edge 12 Gb/s SAS products. The new Toshiba SSDs will be available in Q4 2014 and are at display at the Flash Memory Summit 2015 in booth #407.
