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Customizing SSDs for performance and endurance<\/h3>\n
Factors such as flash memory type, block allocation and connection interface can have a big impact on an SSD\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n
One of the most straightforward ways to improve performance without any negative side effects or impacts on endurance is to simply choose the best NAND available. Not all NAND is created equal, and flash memory vendors are continually improving and upgrading their NAND products to beat the competition. It pays to do some research before purchasing. Phison\u2019s engineering<\/a> teams work in partnership with the leading NAND wafer manufacturers. It evaluates new NAND technologies before they ship and then validates NAND for use in storage products. Phison\u2019s expertise in NAND helps its customers select the optimal NAND for use in their storage applications.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How an SSD connects to a server\u2019s motherboard can increase throughput and therefore performance. When every enterprise was using HDDs in their data centers, the most common connection interface was Serial ATA, or SATA. The latest version of the interface, SATA III, has a maximum bandwidth throughput of 600 megabytes per second (MB\/s). SAS is popular, too, but it also relies on the SATA physical interface. Though the SAS interface is twice as fast, the physical platter capability is roughly the same as SATA.<\/p>\n In 2011, as SSDs became more widely accepted, a new storage protocol was created, called Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe). It quickly became the industry standard for connecting SSDs to a motherboard, because it uses the PCI Express (PCIe) 3.0 bus, which is approximately six times faster than SATA. That is because SSDs typically use x4 PCIe lanes, and they were achieving 3500 MB\/s throughput compared to 600 MB\/s in 2011. Today, the same x4 lanes provide 14 GB\/s throughput using Gen5 signaling. Unlike spinning platters, digital NAND flash memory can support the full interface bandwidth. In addition to being ultra-fast, NVMe PCIe SSDs can achieve shorter data access and command queuing latency. NVMe SSDs also have excellent multitasking capabilities. All these improvements result in greater performance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n SSDs are made up primarily of a flash controller and NAND flash memory cells that store the data. These memory cells come in several configurations that determine their speed and how many bits of data the cell can accept.<\/p>\n The challenge with all these memory cell types is figuring out how to balance the customer application’s need for performance, reliability and durability. Features such as read speed, write speed, program\/erase (P\/E) cycling, data retention and active power have direct impact on each one of those qualities.<\/p>\n For instance, mainstream enterprise storage today primarily uses TLC NAND. In comparison, an all SLC NAND SSD is three times more expensive to make, but yields excellent low-latency performance. Target applications include high-frequency stock market trading or write-heavy applications like 8K video drones used for recording Hollywood action scenes. QLC NAND is typically priced under TLC NAND and provides 33% more storage than TLC in the same NAND die. QLC NAND works well for data-intensive applications like oil surveying, developing new jet turbines or performing genomic studies. Matching the NAND to the application is only one of the factors that must be considered, as we will see below.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n NAND flash memory cannot be directly overwritten like magnetic media\u2014the old data that is still valid must first be moved to a new block before the old block is erased and able to be re-written. The process of collecting data that is still valid is called \u201cgarbage collection\u201d, though in this case it is referring to clearing out the old invalid obsolete data and collecting the use data that is valid. Erasing blocks is quite slow compared to read or write operations. If not handled correctly the erase operation slows down performance and pushes out the latency distribution significantly. Over-provisioning (OP) the SSD by providing spare capacity that is not directly addressable by the user allows more time for data to naturally invalidate as new data is written. This reduces the garbage collection overhead and drive wear, while tightening up the latency distribution curve significantly. Having extra OP allows the system to carry out program\/erase cycles without disrupting or slowing down system performance.<\/p>\n Increasing OP also boosts steady state performance, diminishes Write Amplification Factor (WAF) and actually increases SSD endurance. OP decreases user capacity, but that can be offset by adding more NAND, which unfortunately increases both cost and active power.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n An HDD has only one or two sweeping arms managing the read\/write head position relative to the media. Though each disk face has a dedicated head, all heads on the same arm must look at the same sector on each disk face, which greatly limits random performance. In contrast, a 4 TB SSD has 64 independent NAND die, each with two to six independent planes. This means that an enterprise SSD can process up to 384 I\/O commands simultaneously every 60 to 80 microseconds. This is how an enterprise SSD achieves 1 million to 2 million I\/O per second (IOPS) in comparison to HDD, which are limited to 150 to 400 IOPS every seconds. To put these numbers into perspective, an eye blink is approximately 1\/3 of a second.<\/p>\n Additional improvements are possible when looking at the storage controller design. A typical enterprise controller will have six to eight large processing cores, while Phison designs focus on 32 to 48 micro-cores. Though it takes additional effort to design a more complex processor, it brings several benefits including: additional parallelism, reduced latency and improved power.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n As enterprises try to reduce their carbon footprint, the data center provides several opportunities to save energy and lower costs. One option is to replace power-hungry HDDs with more efficient SSDs, though some SSDs are more efficient than others. Beyond simply replacing rotating media for digital media, SSDs can be customized to reduce power consumption in several additional ways.<\/p>\n Client SSDs based on the Phison E18 include an aggressive power management feature that provides up to 20% of additional battery life while playing high-end games on laptops. The Phison Enterprise X1 controller enables SSDs with industry-leading performance while reducing power by 30%.<\/p>\n One strategy to manage power consumption of the storage controller is to migrate to a smaller process node. Decreasing the process node size from 28nm to 12nm, for instance, allows the node to operate at higher frequencies with lower voltage used. By using less energy to move data over a bus or toggle the transistors, it reduces the energy used by the SSD. Using less power means the SSD generates less heat, which in turn reduces the transistor leakage current.<\/p>\n Another way to decrease power requirements is to reduce how many NAND channels an SSD uses. That capability is enabled by an improved ONFI bus speed, which is used to move data from the NAND to the SSD controller. Now you don\u2019t need eight or 16 channels to saturate the Gen4 and even Gen5 PCIe interface. You can potentially saturate the host interface with just four NAND channels. Reducing the number of back-end channels decreases the total SSD power by 20 to 30%.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It takes serious expertise to develop customized flash storage solutions such as SSDs. Smart enterprises find partners that have that knowledge and expertise to create custom components.<\/p>\n Since producing the world\u2019s first single-chip USB flash controller 20 years ago, Phison<\/a> has continued to grow and expand its knowledge base. Phison acts as an on-demand engineering service for its partners\u2014and owns all the critical IP for NAND flash controllers in-house. With such a high level of experience, the company offers greater flexibility when customizing products for OEM clients and enterprises.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nNVMe vs SATA<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Memory cell type<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Over-provisioning<\/h3>\n
Parallel processing<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Customizing SSDs for power usage<\/h3>\n
Phison is the SSD customization partner of choice<\/h3>\n
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