Subj : WD drops NAND memory bombshell with massive 2Tb flash chips  desi
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Thu Jun 20 2024 19:00:05

WD drops NAND memory bombshell with massive 2Tb flash chips  designed to meet 
data center needs, they could bring about the new era of 100TB SSDs

Date:
Thu, 20 Jun 2024 17:45:56 +0000

Description:
Western Digital previewed the new BiCS8 2Tb QCL for investors, with 2 
trillion bits on a fingertip.

FULL STORY
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At a webcast for investors titled New Era of NAND, Western Digital revealed 
the worlds highest capacity memory die, the BiCS8 2Tb QCL. 

Created in partnership with Kioxia (the two companies are responsible for 
producing about a third of global bit output in the NAND industry, WD said), 
it uses the eighth generation BiCs technology (or BiCS8), announced in 2023. 

Western Digital revealed a slide which revealed BiCS8 offers 50% improved 
memory density over the previous generation, as well as 12% better layer 
density, 30% better program bandwidth, 21% better read latency and >80% 
transfer speed. The company also stated its BiCS8 IO speed is 50% higher than 
peers for the same generation. (Image credit: Western Digital) Smaller than a 
fingertip 

After going into some details about the BiCS8 and Circuit Bonded Array (CBA) 
technology, Alper Ilkbahar SVP Technology and Strategy, surprised investors 
by announcing, "I am really, really excited to share with you a preview of 
the BiCS8 2Tb QLC die. We designed this die to meet the data center and AI 
storage needs. We are going to shortly announce this product, but I want to 
share it with you today. This happens to be the world's highest-capacity 
memory die." 

Investors then got a chance to see the new die. We typically show you a 
wafer, but I felt a view of a wafer doesnt convey what we have achieved, 
Ilkbahar said, before briefly disappearing from view and returning with the 
tiny die balanced on his fingertip, which you can see in the photo above. It 
stores 2 trillion  2 trillion!  bits, and this is what I think technology 
leadership looks like, Ilkbahar said, in his mic drop moment. 

The new flash memory could potentially reshape the high-capacity solid-state 
drives market, enabling much faster, larger and more energy efficient SSDs. 
Although details concerning the exact architecture of the 2Tb IC remain 
unknown for now, Toms Hardware points out, A 256GB 3D QLC NAND device would 
allow manufacturers to build a 1TB SSD using just four memory ICs and a 2TB 
drive using eight devices, which greatly lowers their costs. Creating a 
16-die package would enable a stunning 4TB in a single chip package. 

We will find out more about the 2Tb QLC NAND when Western Digital formerly 
announces it. More from TechRadar Pro These are the best SSDs you can buy 
right now Want to cram super fast 64TB storage in your PC? There's a RAID 
card for that At 100TB, the worlds biggest SSD gets an (eye-watering) price 
tag



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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/wd-drops-nand-memory-bombshell-with-massive-2tb-
flash-chips-designed-to-meet-data-center-needs-they-could-bring-about-the-new-
era-of-100tb-ssds


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