Flashtec NVMe 4016 controller is cloud ready for security
The evolution of data processing requires maximum bandwidth, minimal latency in the cloud infrastructure, together with efficient resource utilisation. Microchip Technology believes that the newest member of the Flashtec controller family, the NVMe 4016 SSD controller is claimed to be the industry’s highest-performing PCIe Gen 5 NVMe SSD controller.
The Flashtec NVMe 4016 delivers greater than 14Gbyte per second throughput and over three million IOPS. It also has advanced credit management technology to offer the stringent Quality of Service (QoS) required by today’s cloud-focused data centre applications.
The controller is equipped with 16 high-speed programmable NAND flash channels capable of up to 2400M transfers per second. The fourth generation Flashtec controller can use full PCIe Gen 5 x 4 speed bandwidth, added Microchip. Existing customers can leverage existing firmware when using the NVMe 4016, advised the company.
The NVMe 4016 is an NVMe 2.0 compliant controller which supports the latest storage and performance compute applications, including zoned name spaces (ZNS) and cloud Open Compute Platform (OCP). The flexible architecture also enables customers to future proof for continually evolving NVMe specifications.
It is believed to be the first PCIe Gen 5 controller to introduce PCIe link encryption support. With dual signature authentication and Trusted Platform support, the NVMe 4016 controller meets all critical storage and enterprise application security needs, confirmed Microchip. Virtualisation capabilities enable the large-scale deployment of virtual machines (VMs) as well as physical functions (PF) per port for the most efficient use of the PCIe resources in data centre and cloud computing infrastructures.
“Meeting the challenging demands of hyperscale data center environments for scalable efficiency in terms of manageability, power, performance and thermals has been the focus of industry standards such as the OCP data centre NVMe SSD Specification and EDSFF E1.S as a form factor,” said Ross Stenfort, hardware system engineer, Storage at Meta. “The Flashtec NVMe 4016 controller supports these requirements to enable SSD makers to meet hyperscale needs.”
“The Flashtec NVMe 4016 Gen 5 SSD controller provides the needed performance and architecture for next-generation NAND,” added Dr. Taile Zhang, chief executive officer of Memblaze.
Intel’s next generation of Xeon Scalable processors (codenamed Sapphire Rapids) will implement PCI Express 5.0 running at up to 32Gtransfers per second. Intel’s senior fellow and chief architect, I/O Technologies and Standards, Dr. Debendra Das Sharma, commented: “We are pleased to see Microchip’s PCIe 5.0 Flashtec drive controller investment strengthen the ecosystem and drive broader deployment of PCIe 5.0 solutions.”
Flashtec controller flexibility supports a variety of form factors, including EDSFF. Development support includes a complete software development kit which includes Microchip’s reference firmware with optional hardened firmware modules, simulation tools, debug tools including Microchip’s Chiplink diagnostic tools, evaluation boards and reference designs.
The NVMe 4016 is sampling now.
