Sandisk Highlights UltraQLC Platform Featuring Enterprise-Level SSD Capacity at FMS 2025 Conference
SanDisk Unveils Groundbreaking UltraQLC 256TB NVMe SSD for AI-Driven Workloads
SanDisk, a leading name in the storage industry, has announced the development of its latest innovation - the UltraQLC 256TB NVMe SSD. The new SSD is set to revolutionise the enterprise flash storage landscape for AI-driven workloads, promising improved total cost of ownership (TCO) for high-capacity applications in hyperscale cloud.
The UltraQLC 256TB NVMe SSD is a culmination of years of work and learnings at SanDisk, according to Khurram Ismail, the Chief Product Officer at the company. The SSD is designed to meet the demands of AI, real-time analytics, and data-intensive computing environments, offering high-performance speeds and power efficiency.
The key innovations in the UltraQLC 256TB NVMe SSD include the use of BiCS8 218-layer 3D NAND with CBA (CMOS directly Bonded to Array) 2Tb dies, effectively doubling storage density while maintaining compact die sizes. This, combined with a scalable multi-core controller and system-level firmware optimizations, enables a massive 256TB storage capacity in a standard U.2 form factor without increasing physical footprint.
The SSD also features Direct Write QLC technology, which bypasses the traditional SLC caching layer by enabling power-loss safe writes directly to the QLC planar layers on the very first write pass. This reduces write latency and improves performance consistency, although it may trade off some short-burst speed for better data reliability and integrity.
The UltraQLC 256TB NVMe SSD also includes a Data Retention (DR) profile that reduces DR recycles by up to 33%, enhancing drive reliability, continuous data access, and lowering power consumption - important for AI workloads requiring consistent data availability.
Moreover, the drive boasts a PCIe Gen 5 NVMe interface, providing high bandwidth to feed AI-driven data ingestion, preparation, and large-scale AI data lakes with fast, low-latency access to massive datasets.
SanDisk will host a keynote at FMS 2025 on Wednesday, August 6, at 11:40 AM, to highlight its UltraQLC platform and will demo its milestone 256TB NVMe SSD, alongside additional innovative storage solutions, at FMS Booth #607. The SANDISK SN670 128TB NVMe SSD and SANDISK UltraQLC 256TBNVMe SSD will be available in U.2 form factor in the first half of 2026, with additional form factors available later in the year.
The SANDISK UltraQLC 256TB NVMe SSD has set a new benchmark for hyperscale flash storage, marking a significant breakthrough in enterprise flash storage for AI workloads. The new SSD is designed for fast, intelligent data lakes powering AI at scale.
The UltraQLC 256TB NVMe SSD, a product of SanDisk, is a testament to the advancement of technology in data-and-cloud-computing, specifically geared towards AI-driven workloads. It showcases an innovative fusion of technology and data storage, promising to revolutionize hyperscale cloud and high-capacity applications.
