Micron Announces First 2.5-inch PCIe Enterprise SSD

Micron has announced plans to release the first 2.5-inch enterprise solid-state drive (SSD) based on a PCIe interface.

The Micron P320h 2.5-inch PCIe SSD solution has been selected as a key storage device in Dell's new PowerEdge 12th generation servers. These servers use innovative, front-accessible backplane designs that accommodate 2.5-inch SATA, SAS, and PCIe devices. The design allows the customer to choose the appropriate combination of data storage and caching devices to optimize performance and storage to suit their needs. Customers can easily configure their solutions by hot-swapping PCIe devices without powering down the server - a requirement with existing PCIe card solutions.

Micron P320h Specifications:

• Capacity 175GB, 300GB
• Interface PCIe (Gen 2-compliant), x4
• SFF-8639 Connection  

"The 2.5-inch PCIe SSD is a great example of how the Micron team has leveraged our NAND expertise and IP — the fundamental building blocks of SSDs — to develop high-performance, high-reliability enterprise storage solutions," said Glen Hawk, Micron Vice President of NAND Solutions. "Being selected as a key partner to Dell illustrates an important success in our ongoing strategy to transform leading-edge NAND technology into value-add enterprise solutions."

Micron and Dell are working together to help drive the global adoption of the 2.5-inch interface through the SSD Form Factor Working Group. Dell will offer the technology in their PowerEdge R720xd, R720, R620, T620, M620, C6220 and R820 servers. The full specifications and launch date of the Micron P320h is expected later this year.

Doug Crowthers is a contributing editor and freelance writer for feature articles and news at Tom's Hardware. See here for all of Doug's Tom's IT Pro articles.