Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced the release of SSD 990 EVO — the newest addition to the company’s lineup of consumer SSDs — which delivers powerful performance with better energy efficiency. Designed to enhance everyday computing experiences like gaming, work and video/photo editing, the NVMe SSD is expected to be an ideal solution for a diverse range of users.

“Samsung has been leveraging its advanced memory technologies for optimized SSD solutions, and for our latest consumer product, we’ve combined both innovation and practicality to enhance the computing experiences for users,” said Hangu Sohn, Vice President of Memory Brand Product Biz Team at Samsung Electronics. “The 990 EVO balances performance, power efficiency and reliability, making it a versatile choice for the latest interface that is suitable for a variety of everyday tasks, including gaming, business workflow and creative endeavors.”

Enhanced Performance

The 990 EVO offers enhanced performance of up to 43% compared to the previous model, 970 EVO Plus. Sequential read speeds come up to 5,000 megabytes-per-second (MB/s) and write speeds up to 4,200 MB/s. Random read and write speeds also get a boost with up to 700K input/output operations per second (IOPS) and 800K IOPS, respectively.

By using Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology to directly link to the host processor’s DRAM, the SSD can achieve optimized performance even with a DRAM-less design. Users upgrading from previous mainstream SSDs will experience significantly faster loading speeds for games and swift access to large files.

Improved Power Efficiency and Smart Thermal Solution

The Samsung 990 EVO improved power efficiency of up to 70% when compared to the 970 EVO Plus, allowing users extended usage on PCs without the constant concern for battery life. It also supports Modern Standby,¹ which enables an instant on/off function with uninterrupted internet connectivity and seamless notification reception, even in low-power states.

The 990 EVO’s heat spreader label effectively regulates the thermal condition of the NAND chip, allowing operations to consistently run at their highest levels without compromising drive integrity.

A Versatile SSD for Current and Future Computing

The 990 EVO is a versatile SSD created to meet current computing needs and in anticipation of future requirements. Users can experience seamless multitasking with a single SSD that caters to the demands of everyday such as gaming, business and creative workflow.

Supporting both PCIe 4.0 x4 and PCIe 5.0 x2 interfaces, the 990 EVO fits the needs for today’s PCs supporting PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots while it also offers compatibility along with thermal control and power savings for PCIe 5.0 interfaces in upcoming applications.

The 990 EVO comes in 1 terabyte (TB) and 2TB capacity options.

Samsung Magician Software Support

Samsung Magician software presents a suite of optimization tools for enhanced functionality for all Samsung SSDs, including the 990 EVO. Users can streamline the data migration process for SSD upgrades effortlessly and securely. In addition, Samsung Magician protects valuable data, monitors drive health and notifies timely firmware updates.

Currently available to consumers worldwide, the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) for 990 EVO is $124.99 for the 1TB model and $209.99 for the 2TB model. For more information — including warranty details — please visit samsung.com/SSD or semiconductor.samsung.com/internal-ssd/.

Samsung SSD 990 EVO Specifications

¹ For detailed information about Modern Standby, please visit the Microsoft website (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/device-experiences/part-selection#ssd-storage).
² The NVM Express® design mark is a registered trademark of NVM Express, Inc.
³ 1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes by IDEMA. A certain portion of capacity may be used for system file and maintenance use, so the actual capacity may differ from what is indicated on the product label.
^4,5 Sequential and random performance measurements are based on IOmeter1.1.0. Performance may vary based on an SSD’s firmware version, system hardware & configuration.
Test system configuration: AMD Ryzen9 7950x 16-Core Processor CPU@4.5GHz, DDR5 4800MHz 16GBx2 (PC5-38400), OS-Windows 11 Pro 64bit, Chipset – ASRock X670E Taichi
⁶ Samsung Electronics shall not be liable for any loss, including but not limited to loss of data or other information contained on Samsung Electronics’ products or loss of profit or revenue which may be incurred by the user. For more information on the warranty, please visit samsung.com/SSD or semiconductor.samsung.com/internal-ssd/
⁷ Five years or total bytes written (TBW), whichever comes first. For more information on the warranty, please refer to the enclosed warranty document in the package.

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, and Red Hat, Inc., the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced a broad collaboration on software technologies for next-generation memory solutions. The partnership will focus on the development and validation of open source software for existing and emerging memory and storage products, including NVMe SSDs; CXL memory; computational memory/storage (HBM-PIM, Smart SSDs) and fabrics — in building an expansive ecosystem for closely integrated memory hardware and software.

The exponential growth of data driven by AI, AR and the fast-approaching metaverse is bringing disruptive changes to memory designs, requiring more sophisticated software technologies that better link with the latest hardware advancements.

“Samsung and Red Hat will make a concerted effort to define and standardize memory software solutions that embrace evolving server and memory hardware, while building a more robust memory ecosystem,” said Yongcheol Bae, Executive Vice President and Head of the Memory Application Engineering Team at Samsung Electronics. “We will invite partners from across the IT industry to join us in expanding the software-hardware memory ecosystem to create greater customer value.”

“In the upcoming data-centric era, the integration of memory-centric hardware and software architectures will become increasingly essential, and for this purpose, Red Hat is happy to participate in the joint undertaking with Samsung,” added Marjet Andriesse, Senior Vice President and Head of Red Hat Asia Pacific.

The new partnership marks the first time that Samsung has joined forces with an open source software company to foster engagements across the IT marketplace. As an extension to this strategic collaboration, Samsung will launch the Samsung Memory Research Cloud (SMRC), where the two companies will develop and verify software solutions on diverse server environments.

Serving as an open collaboration hub, the SMRC will enable customers and partners to evaluate new software products in configuring optimal combinations with memory hardware.

The companies will also participate in open source communities such as the Linux Foundation, to ensure that their software technology has full support in Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and with other open source software stacks.

Samsung plans to open its SMRC platform in the second half of this year and expects it to act as an ongoing catalyst for innovation in future IT systems.

To provide greater storage efficiencies and value for customers managing data at scale, Samsung Electronics and Western Digital, two of the world’s largest storage providers, have recently partnered to help usher in the standardization of next-generation data placement, processing and fabrics storage technologies (D2PF), including Zoned Storage.

The two companies believe the adoption of next-generation storage standards is the most effective way to ensure that hardware and software can be effectively combined within the system stack to maximize performance and functionality while reducing costs. In bringing this vision to fruition, Samsung and Western Digital are encouraging a wide-ranging industry collaboration among storage stakeholders. Through collaboration, the companies can help assure customers that storage ecosystem vendors support the new technology standards and system architectures for efficiently handling today’s data workloads as well as tomorrow’s.

The Reality of Today’s Data Infrastructures

We are well into the zettabyte (ZB) era, a period characterized by quantities of data so vast that understanding it has become trickier than ever. The mind-numbing amounts of data being produced today emphasizes the urgency of rethinking how data centers and cloud infrastructures are designed and operated.   

Amid this backdrop of hypergrowth looms the potential for fragmentation around standards and systems that could delay the ecosystem’s efforts to meet growing storage demands.

“We have entered into a golden era for data consumption, analytics and storage. One of the surest ways to undo all that good would be if the industry were to implement conflicting systems and standards,” said Cheolmin Park, Vice President of Memory Global Sales & Marketing at Samsung Electronics. “From AC versus DC in the old electric wars to Betamax versus VHS, history teaches us that industries which lack clear standards and formats see periods of missed opportunities and wasteful spending. The adoption of effective standards will minimize complexity, drive out inefficiency and reduce the cost of products and services, which benefits vendors and end-users alike. If data storage is to meet the future needs of end-users, what the industry needs now is broad consensus on Zoned Storage.”

Focusing on the Future of Zoned Storage

As part of Samsung and Western Digital’s agreement, the companies are focusing their initial efforts on creating a healthy ecosystem and solid application support around Zoned Storage.

Currently, large-scale data infrastructure relies on tens of thousands of solid-state drives (SSDs) and hard-disk drives (HDDs). With such massive scale and the vast amounts of data that these systems manage, even the smallest data placement inefficiencies in system architecture or storage devices can result in burdensome costs.

Zoned Storage is an open-source, standards-based initiative that enables data center storage infrastructure to scale efficiently and effectively. For hyperscale cloud and enterprise vendors, some of which possess ZB-scale storage needs, Zoned Storage will help to improve asset utilization, lower latency and reduce costs.

Zoned Storage is comprised of two technologies: Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) in HDDs and Zoned Namespaces (ZNS) in SSDs. At the core of Zoned Storage are devices such as ZNS SSDs. These drives divide their address space into distinct zones, streamlining the drive architecture by equipping the host with the ability to place data in the appropriate zone.

Future-Forward Technology for a Data-First World

As an innovative storage solution, Zoned Storage has unconventional data-writing rules. Zones can be written sequentially starting from the beginning of a zone, and the data within a zone cannot be arbitrarily overwritten. Therefore, it is highly important that the industry aligns around the host software stack that enables storage systems to optimally leverage the power of Zoned Storage. This host-device model alignment is a crucial theme of the overall initiative. Samsung, Western Digital and other ecosystem partners are committed to contributing required software components that will enable Zoned Storage to thrive via the open-source community.

Implementing Zoned Storage on the host allows system software and hardware to work in unison with much greater efficiency. ZNS reduces the need for over-provisioning and can eliminate difficulties connected with Quality of Service (QoS) variability and write amplification. As a result, the solution can increase capacity thanks to a higher device density and provide sustained performance even when a device is close to full capacity. Furthermore, ZNS boasts greater endurance than traditional storage methods as the data does not need to be constantly rewritten.

Whether a device is SAS-SATA (HDD or SSD) or NVMe SSD, Zoned Storage can be highly effective, and will enable more efficient system-wide performance management for everyone’s benefit.

“The implementation and continued development of Zoned Storage will empower the storage industry to strike a balance between cost, latency and performance through the use of intelligent architectures,” said Wim De Wispelaere, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives at Western Digital. “As an industry, we are at a point where we must align around the technologies and systems that will drive data storage in the near future and for decades to come — in the most intelligent and efficient way possible.”

For the Benefit of All

This collaboration between Samsung and Western Digital reflects both companies’ belief that critical new standards are needed for the storage sector to keep pace with data demand. 

The two companies have already launched an initiative involving Zoned Storage devices including ZNS SSDs. As part of an effort to enable open and scalable data center architectures, they founded the Zoned Storage Technical Work Group, which SNIA approved in December 2021, and are working with the Linux Foundation to set up a similar project workgroup. Within these industry organizations, Samsung and Western Digital will help to define high-level models and frameworks for any innovative Zoned Storage technology.

ZNS is the first of numerous D2PF collaborations designed to pave the way for innovative new data centers and cloud services. Samsung and Western Digital are committed to enabling a high degree of cooperation among key stakeholders in generating storage solutions that nicely suit a data-first world, along with everyone in it.

Samsung Electronics today introduced the Samsung 970 EVO Plus, the newest enhancement in its Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) SSD portfolio. With industry-leading performance and up to two terabytes in capacity, Samsung’s 970 EVO Plus sets a new bar for high-performance storage, enabling IT professionals, tech enthusiasts and gamers to handle intensive workloads on PCs and workstations with more ease.

“Since introducing the first NVMe SSDs to the consumer market in 2015, Samsung has continued to challenge technical barriers in SSD design and performance,” said Dr. Mike Mang, vice president of Brand Product Marketing, Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “The new 970 EVO Plus powered by Samsung’s latest fifth-generation V-NAND technology will now offer unrivaled performance in its class when taking on demanding tasks like 4K content editing, 3D modeling and simulation as well as heavy gaming.”

By integrating the company’s most advanced V-NAND chips with optimized firmware, the 970 EVO Plus achieves significant performance improvements – up to 57 percent in write speed¹ – as well as increased power efficiency over its predecessor, the 970 EVO. The new drive delivers sequential read and write speeds of up to 3,500 megabytes per second (MB/s) and up to 3,300 MB/s, respectively, while random speeds come in at up to 620,000 IOPS for read and up to 560,000 IOPS for write operations².

Users can easily upgrade their devices as the 970 EVO Plus comes in a compact M.2 form factor using the PCIe Gen3 x4 interface found in most modern computers. The 970 EVO Plus also offers a five-year limited warranty³ or up to 1,200 terabytes written⁴.

The 970 EVO Plus comes in a variety of capacity options; the 250GB, 500GB and 1TB capacity versions are now available for purchase worldwide, and the 2TB capacity will become available in April. Manufacturer’s suggested retail prices start at $89.99. For more information, including warranty details, please visit samsung.com/SSD or samsungssd.com.

Key Specifications

¹ Up to a 57-percent performance increase in random write speed for 250GB version.

² Performances may vary depending on SSD’s firmware version and system hardware & configuration. Performance measurements based on IOmeter 1.1.0. The write performances were measured with Intelligent TurboWrite technology being activated. The sequential write performances after Intelligent TurboWrite region are: 400 MB/s (250GB), 900 MB/s (500GB), 1,700 MB/s (1TB) and 1,750 MB/s (2TB). The random write performances after Intelligent TurboWrite region are: 100,000 IOPS (250GB), 200,000 IOPS (500GB), 400,000 IOPS (1TB) and 420,000 IOPS (2TB).

* Test system configuration: Intel Core i7-7700K CPU @4.2GHz, DDR4 2400MHz 32GB, OS-Windows 10 Built 10240, Chipset–ASUS PRIME Z270-A.

³ Five years or TBW, whichever comes first. For more information on the warranty, please find the enclosed warranty document in the package.

⁴ Warrantied TBW (Total bytes written) for 970 EVO Plus: 150TB for 250GB model, 300TB for 500GB model, 600TB for 1TB model, 1,200TB for 2TB.

⁵ 1GB=1,000,000,000 bytes by IDEMA. A certain portion of capacity may be used for system file and maintenance use, so the actual capacity may differ from what is indicated on the product label.

⁶ Samsung Electronics shall not be liable for any loss, including but not limited to loss of data or other information contained on Samsung Electronics product or loss of profit or revenue which may be incurred by user. For more information on the warranty, please visit samsung.com/ssd.

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has launched the industry’s highest capacity NVMe solid state drive (SSD) based on the incredibly small Next-generation Small Form Factor (NGSFF)* – an eight-terabyte (TB) NF1** SSD. The new 8TB NVMe NF1 SSD has been optimized for data-intensive analytics and virtualization applications in next-generation data centers and enterprise server systems.

“By introducing the first NF1 NVMe SSD, Samsung is taking the investment efficiency in data centers to new heights,” said Sewon Chun, senior vice president of Memory Marketing at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue to lead the trend toward enabling ultra-high density data centers and enterprise systems by delivering storage solutions with unparalleled performance and density levels.”

The new SSD is built with 16 of Samsung’s 512-gigabyte (GB) NAND packages, each stacked in 16 layers of 256 gigabit (Gb) 3-bit V-NAND chips, achieving an 8TB density in an ultra-small footprint of 11cm x 3.05cm. This is twice the capacity offered by the M.2 NVMe SSD (11cm x 2.2cm) commonly used in hyper-scale server designs and ultra-slim laptops. The NF1 SSD is expected to quickly and easily replace conventional 2.5-inch NVMe SSDs by enabling up to three times the system density in existing server infrastructure, allowing for an unprecedented 576TB of storage space in the latest 2U rack servers.

The NF1 SSD features a brand new, high-performance controller that supports the NVMe 1.3 protocol and PCIe 4.0 interface, delivering sequential read speeds of 3,100 megabytes per second (MB/s) and write speeds of 2,000MB/s. These speeds are more than five times and three times that of a typical SATA SSD, respectively. Random speeds come in at 500,000 IOPS for read operations and 50,000 IOPS for writes. Utilizing the new NF1 storage solution, an enterprise server system can perform over one million IOPS in a 2U rack space, significantly enhancing the return on investment for next-generation large-scale data centers. The SSD also includes a 12GB LPDDR4 DRAM to enable faster and more energy-efficient data processing.

To ensure long-term data reliability, the NF1 NVMe SSD has been designed with an endurance level of 1.3 drive write per day (DWPD), which guarantees writing an entire 8TB of data 1.3 times a day over its three-year warranty period.

Samsung plans to accompany its 256Gb 3-bit V-NAND-based SSD with a 512Gb version in the second half of this year to accommodate even faster processing for big data applications, while also accelerating the growth in next-generation enterprise and mid-market data centers.

* Next-generation Small Form Factor (NGSFF) is the latest SSD standard which is expected to be standardized by JEDEC in October. It succeeds the M.2 standard and can more than double the space utilization within server systems.

** NGSFF is also referred to as NF1.

Samsung Electronics, today introduced the Samsung 970 PRO and EVO, the third generation of its industry-leading consumer solid state drive (SSD) lineup. Having led the market with the first consumer-focused NVMe SSD in 2015, Samsung continues to push the performance barriers with this latest generation of SSDs that are built for tech enthusiasts and professionals so that they can enjoy higher bandwidth for intensive workloads on PCs and workstations.

“Samsung has led the NVMe SSD industry since its inception, and the company continues to define the latest standards of consumer storage with unprecedented performance of the 970 PRO and EVO SSDs,” said Un-Soo Kim, senior vice president of Brand Product Marketing, Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “The 970 series sets a new bar in all aspects for the NVMe SSD market with groundbreaking performance, superior reliability and best-in-class capacity.”

The Samsung 970 PRO and EVO are designed based on the M.2 form factor standard and with the latest PCIe Gen 3×4 lane interface. The 970 series maximizes the potential of NVMe bandwidth, delivering unparalleled performance for processing large volumes of data, including 3D, 4K graphics work, high-end games and data analytics.

The 970 PRO enables sequential read speed of up to 3,500 MB/s and sequential write speed of up to 2,700 MB/s¹, while the EVO features sequential read speed of up to 3,500 MB/s and sequential write speed of up to 2,500 MB/s². The sequential write speeds represent an enhancement of up to 30 percent over the previous generation³, thanks to Samsung’s latest V-NAND technology and the newly designed Phoenix controller. The 970 EVO, in particular, utilizes the Intelligent TurboWrite technology, which uses a large buffer size of up to 78GB⁴ to enable faster write speeds.

In addition to the advancements in performance levels, the 970 PRO and EVO deliver exceptional endurance and reliability. Featuring a five-year warranty⁵, or up to 1,200 terabytes written⁶ – 50 percent higher than those provided for the previous generation⁷ – the 970 PRO and EVO are built to last. The Dynamic Thermal Guard technology safeguards against overheating by automatically monitoring and maintaining optimal operating temperatures, while a heat spreader and new nickel-coated controller further lower the SSD temperatures.

The 970 PRO and EVO also provide greater system design flexibility for the high-performance computing systems. Offering a variety of high capacity options in a compact M.2 form factor – including the single-sided 2TB EVO model – the 970 series enables convenient storage expansion across a wide range of computing devices.

The 970 EVO will be offered in 250GB, 500GB, 1TB and 2TB⁸ capacities, and the 970 PRO in 512GB and 1TB capacities. The 970 PRO and EVO will be available for purchase worldwide starting May 7, 2018, with manufacturer’s suggested retail prices starting at $329.99 and $119.99 USD, respectively. For more information, including warranty details, please visit www.samsung.com/SSD, www.samsungssd.com.

Key Specifications

* Five years or TBW, whichever comes first

¹ 970 PRO and EVO performance may vary based on SSD’s firmware version, system hardware and configuration. Performance measurements based on IOmeter 1.1.0. *Test system configuration: Intel Core i7-7700K CPU @4.2GHz, DDR4 2400MHz 32GB, OS-Windows 10 Built 10240, Chipset–ASUS PRIME Z270-A.

² Performance may vary based on SSD’s firmware version, system hardware and configuration. Performance measurements based on IOmeter 1.1.0.
Write performance measurements are based on Intelligent TurboWrite technology.
The sequential write performances after TurboWrite region are: 300 MB/s(250GB), 600 MB/s(500GB), 1,200 MB/s(1TB) and 1,250 MB/s(2TB).
The random write performances after TurboWrite region are: 80,000 IOPS(250GB), 160,000 IOPS(500GB) and 300,000 IOPS(1TB/2TB).
* Test system configuration: Intel Core i7-7700K CPU @4.2GHz, DDR4 2400MHz 32GB, OS-Windows 10 Built 10240, Chipset–ASUS PRIME Z270-A.

³ Up to 29% and 32% in sequential write speeds, respectively, have increased when compared to Samsung 960 PRO and EVO.

⁴ 970 EVO Intelligent TurboWrite buffer size varies based on the capacity of the SSD: 13GB for 250GB model, 22GB for 500GB model, 42GB for 1TB model and 78GB for 2TB model. For more information on the TurboWrite, please visit www.samsungssd.com.

⁵ Five years or TBW, whichever comes first. For more information on the warranty, please find the enclosed warranty document in the package.

⁶ Warrantied TBW(Total byte written) for 970 PRO: 600TB for 512GB model, 1,200TB for 1TB model; Warrantied TBW(Total byte written) for 970 EVO: 150TB for 250GB model, 300TB for 500GB model, 600TB for 1TB model, 1,200TB for 2TB.

⁷ 50% increase when compared to Samsung 960 PRO and EVO.

⁸ 1GB=1,000,000,000 bytes by IDEMA. A certain portion of capacity may be used for system file and maintenance use, so the actual capacity may differ from what is indicated on the product label.

The speed of the Samsung 970 PRO and EVO SSD that unlocks a new level of computing performance is unveiled in the video. The new line of SSDs can completely transform how tech enthusiasts and professionals think about computing, forming a vital piece of the puzzle to making the best of high-performance computing system.

For high performance PC users looking to process large volumes of data for 3D and 4K graphics work, high end games, or data analytics, the 970 series sets a new standard. The new SSDs have improved write speeds that are up to 30 percent in sequential write speeds, 50 percent in random write speeds better than the previous generation, thanks to Samsung’s latest V-NAND technology and the newly designed Phoenix controller. The NVMe interface allows for industry-leading performance and sequential read/write speeds up to 3500MB/s, 2700MB/s . With the new 970 PRO and EVO, Samsung has once again set a precedent for consumer-focused NVMe SSDs – a market the company has led since its inception in 2015.

Check out how the 970 PRO and EVO make all the difference in this video below.

This NVMe SSD 970 video is a continuation of the previous generation’s launch video, which portrayed the SSD 960 pioneering new possibilities in outer space. Check out the Samsung NVMe SSD 960 video here.