Western Digital has introduced a groundbreaking 2 terabyte 3D QLC NAND flash memory chip that sets a standard, for storage capacity. This innovative chip squeezes a 256 gigabytes of storage into one chip thanks to WDs state of the art 8th generation BiCS 3D NAND technology. By incorporating 218 layers within a chip WD has nearly doubled the layer count compared to NAND flash memory.
The QLC NAND chip delivers performance improvements offering a 50 percent boost in I/O throughput and consuming 13 percent power per gigabyte written compared to competing NAND technologies. WDs inventive manufacturing process involves creating the CMOS controller circuitry as a die flipping it over and linking the stacked QLC NAND memory layers using bonding resulting in a denser die that is 15 19 percent more compact than other brands, on the market.
QLC NAND’s Impact on AI and Data Centers
Initially Western Digital (WD) aims to focus on the AI training and data center markets by introducing its high density QLC NAND packages. These industries have a need, for storage capacities and WDs innovative technology is designed to cater to their requirements. The enhanced endurance, reduced latency and consistent throughput of this QLC NAND make it ideal for handling demanding workloads.
While QLC NAND has historically struggled with issues related to write endurance and performance consistency when compared to higher quality TLC and MLC NAND technologies WD claims to have made advancements in resolving these challenges. The company states a 60 percent enhancement in QLC endurance compared to iterations along, with improved latency and throughput consistency. As WD unveils details the industry eagerly anticipates the full capabilities of this groundbreaking 2Tb 3D QLC NAND flash memory chip.
