Subj : Newly discovered Microsoft Z1000 SSD baffles experts  no, world's
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Sat Mar 16 2024 19:00:06

Newly discovered Microsoft Z1000 SSD baffles experts  no, world's most 
valuable company won't start selling SSDs anytime soon but it may well be 
tinkering with data center storage as it did with CPU

Date:
Sat, 16 Mar 2024 18:52:57 +0000

Description:
Newly discovered Microsoft Z1000 SSD could be used to optimize the company's 
data center storage.

FULL STORY
======================================================================

A newly-discovered, Microsoft-branded SSD suggests the tech giant may be  or 
has been at least - exploring new ways to optimize its data center storage. 

The leaked images of a Microsoft Z1000 SSD show a 1TB NVMe M.2 drive, 
apparently boasting sequential read speeds of up to 2,400MB/s and write 
speeds of 1,800MB/s. 

The Z1000 SSD, originally revealed by @yuuki_ans on X, is made up of a mix of 
components from various companies, including Toshiba NAND flash chips, 
Micron's DDR4 RAM cache, and a controller from CNEX Labs, a company best 
known for its work with data center hyperscalers. (Image credit: @yuuki_ans 
on X) Up to 4TB capacity 

Back in 2018, CNEX Labs closed a $23 million Series D funding round led by 
Dell Technologies Capital which also included Microsofts venture fund M12. 
This money was partially used to fund a proprietary, advanced CNX-2670 
controller that delivered 550,000 IOPS, a 25% performance increase over 
previously available M.2 form-factor SSDs at the time. The CNEX Labs 
controller in the leaked photos is CNX-2670AA-0821. 

The SSD has a capacity of 960GB made up of four 256GB Toshiba BiCS4 96-layer 
eTLC chips and features a 1GB DDR4 RAM cache made by Micron to boost 
performance. 

The leaked "engineering sample", produced on May 18, 2020 when much of the 
world was in Covid lockdowns, suggests the drive is part of a broader 
portfolio of SSD models. Its design allows for the addition of more DRAM and 
capacitors, hinting at larger versions. 

As Toms Hardware notes "several unused solder pads are on both sides of the 
PCB, presumably for additional capacitors. This implies that there may be 
larger versions of the Z1000 with 2TB and perhaps even 4TB of room, given 
that more capacity would require more DRAM and capacitors to ensure data 
protection." 

This isn't the first time Microsoft has experimented with hardware design for 
its data centers, having recently revealed its own-brand silicon hardware in 
order to help further the development and use of AI in businesses. SSD
Microsoft Z1000 960GB
M.2 22110 NVMe 1.2
(Control)
CNEXLabs
CNX-2670AA-CB2T(19y6w)
(Cache)
MicronD9VPP
DDR4 1GB MT40A1G8SA-075:E
(NAND)
Toshiba 3D eTLC - 256GB
TH58LJT1V24BA8Hbics4 96L https://t.co/pJegEYzsph pic.twitter.com/ifgxTDiiJM 
March 9, 2024 See more More from TechRadar Pro Microsoft is building its own 
silicon to take AI to the next level? Microsoft inches closer to glass 
storage breakthrough Will Arm start to build its own chips soon?



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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/newly-discovered-microsoft-z1000-ssd-baffles-exp
erts-no-worlds-most-valuable-company-wont-start-selling-ssds-anytime-soon-but-
may-well-be-tinkering-with-data-center-storage-as-it-did-with-cpu


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