KIOXIA has introduced the NX1 Series, a new family of PCIe 5.0 NVMe data center SSDs built around the E1.S form factor. Capacities range from 1.92 TB to 15.36 TB, with read-intensive endurance rated at 1 DWPD, while cooling options include both air and direct liquid cooling. The drives succeed the XD Series and are designed for GPU-enabled AI servers and hyperscale infrastructure where dense storage configurations require more attention to heat removal.
KIOXIA NX1 Series Specifications
Specification | Details | |---|---| | Form factor and cooling | Available in E1.S 9.5 mm (supports direct liquid cooling and air cooling) and E1.S 15 mm form factor (supports air cooling) | | Capacity and endurance | Capacities ranging from 1.92 TB to 15.36 TB with read-intensive endurance (1 DWPD) | | Standards and features | Compliant with PCIe 5.0, NVMe 2.0, and Open Compute Project (OCP) Datacenter NVMe SSD 2.6 specifications, as well as NVMe Flexible Data Placement (FDP) support | | Flash memory | Built with KIOXIA BiCS FLASH™ generation 8 TLC memory technology utilizing CMOS directly Bonded to Array (CBA) architecture | | Security | Optional TCG Opal-compliant Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) security model |
Direct liquid cooling is available on the 9.5 mm E1.S model, which can also use air cooling, while the thicker 15 mm version supports air cooling only. The NX1 is KIOXIA’s first SSD with direct liquid cooling support and can be used in cold-plate-compatible configurations, allowing heat to be removed from the drive in dense, accelerator-rich server designs.
KIOXIA built the NX1 around a new in-house controller architecture and BiCS FLASH generation 8 TLC memory using its CMOS directly Bonded to Array (CBA) technology. Platform support includes PCIe 5.0, NVMe 2.0, the Open Compute Project Datacenter NVMe SSD 2.6 specification, and NVMe Flexible Data Placement.
Compared with the previous-generation KIOXIA XD8 Series, the NX1 delivers up to 38% higher sequential write performance and up to 20% higher random write performance. As always, those figures can vary depending on the host system, drivers, operating system, software, and read/write conditions.
Security is available through an optional TCG Opal-compliant Self-Encrypting Drive model. This version does not support every TCG Opal SSC feature and will not be offered in every country due to local regulations.
The KIOXIA NX1 Series is currently being sampled by select hyperscale customers. KIOXIA will also exhibit the drives at FMS: the Future of Memory and Storage in Santa Clara, California, from August 4 through August 6.