Consumer versus Enterprise SSDs

Solid-State Drives (SSDs) are available in two variants: Client SSDs for the consumer sector and Enterprise SSDs for the server sector. While client SSDs are designed for eight hours of operation per day and optimized costs, enterprise SSDs are optimized for 24/7 operation and the highest levels of data reliability, availability and integrity. These and other differences between the two model variants are shown in the table in this article.

Consumer SSDs compared to Enterprise SSDs

Enterprise SSDs like Intel DC S4600 Series SSDs contain capacitors for Power Loss Protection. Data in the cache of the SSD is thus protected in the event of a power failure.

The following table shows the most important differences between client and enterprise SSDs.


		Consumer/Client SSD	Enterprise SSD
Application area		PCs	Server
Optimized for^[1]		8/7 operation (8h/day) Local access in a restricted LBA area Optimized costs	24/7 operation Random accesses over the entire LBA area Highest Data Reliability, Availability and Integrity
JEDEC SSD Requirements & Endurance Test Method^[2]	Workload / Application Class^[1]	Client Workload: Based on actual client trace Contains Trim commands Does not access every user LBA	Enterprise Workload: Synthetically generated by script Does not contain TRIM or UNMAP commands Access to each user LBA (100% full capacity)
	Active Use (Power on)	8h/day at 40°C	24h/day at 55°C
	Data Retention	1 year at 30°C	3 months at 40°C
	UBER (Unrecoverable Bit Error Ratio)	≤ 10^-15	≤ 10^-16
	TBW (Terabytes written) resp. DWPD specification	according to Client Workload	according to Enterprise Workload
	Comparability TBW/DWPD Client/Enterprise	The TBW or DWPD values of client SSDs cannot be compared to the values of enterprise SSDs. The enterprise workload is more intensive than the client workload. Measurements with the Enterprise Workload therefore result in lower TBW or DWPD values than measurements with the Client Workload.
SSD Power Loss Protection^[3]		-	✔
Operation on Hot-Swap Backplane^[4]		Not recommended by Thomas-Krenn	✔
Typical manufacturer warranty		3 years	5 years

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 JEDEC SSD Endurance Workloads (Flash Memory Summit 2011)
↑ Solid State Drive (SSD) Requirements and Endurance Test Method (www.jedec.org)
↑ Typically, client SSDs are not equipped with power loss protection, mainly for cost reasons. Enterprise SSDs usually have power loss protection. Individual exceptions are possible in both areas.
↑ The use of a hot-swap backplane results in an additional plug connection in the data path. Client SSDs, which are designed for operation on a direct cable connection, generally tolerate reflections caused by this less than Enterprise SSDs.

Author: Werner Fischer

Werner Fischer, working in the Knowledge Transfer team at Thomas-Krenn, completed his studies of Computer and Media Security at FH Hagenberg in Austria. He is a regular speaker at many conferences like LinuxTag, OSMC, OSDC, LinuxCon, and author for various IT magazines. In his spare time he enjoys playing the piano and training for a good result at the annual Linz marathon relay.

[fms-1] 1.0 ^1.1 JEDEC SSD Endurance Workloads (Flash Memory Summit 2011)

[2] Solid State Drive (SSD) Requirements and Endurance Test Method (www.jedec.org)

[3] Typically, client SSDs are not equipped with power loss protection, mainly for cost reasons. Enterprise SSDs usually have power loss protection. Individual exceptions are possible in both areas.

[4] The use of a hot-swap backplane results in an additional plug connection in the data path. Client SSDs, which are designed for operation on a direct cable connection, generally tolerate reflections caused by this less than Enterprise SSDs.

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Consumer versus Enterprise SSDs

Consumer SSDs compared to Enterprise SSDs

References

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