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Kioxia CM7

Overview

The Kioxia CM7 is a PCIe 5.0 NVMe enterprise SSD designed for data centers, hyperscale deployments, and enterprise servers that demand the highest levels of performance and reliability. As a successor to the CM6, the CM7 leverages PCIe Gen5 bandwidth to double throughput, making it one of the fastest enterprise-class SSDs available.

It is optimized for mixed workloads, virtualization, AI/ML, and cloud storage, offering both high endurance and large capacities.

Key Specifications

  • Interface: PCIe 5.0 x4 / NVMe 2.0
  • Form Factors:
  • 2.5-inch (U.3)
  • E3.S (EDSFF)
  • Capacities: Up to 30.72TB
  • Sequential Read: Up to 14,000 MB/s
  • Sequential Write: Up to 7,000 MB/s
  • Random Read IOPS: Up to 2.7 million
  • Random Write IOPS: Up to 600,000
  • NAND: 112-layer BiCS FLASH™ 3D TLC
  • Endurance: Options for 1 DWPD and 3 DWPD models
  • Power Efficiency: Optimized for reduced IOPS per watt

Features

  • PCIe 5.0 Performance: Doubles throughput compared to PCIe 4.0, ideal for data-intensive workloads.
  • Multiple Endurance Options: Available in both read-intensive and mixed-use models.
  • High Capacities: Supports up to 30.72TB per drive, reducing rack footprint.
  • Form Factor Flexibility: Available in U.3 for backward compatibility and E3.S for next-gen servers.
  • Data Protection: Includes end-to-end data path protection, power-loss protection, and advanced error correction.
  • QoS Consistency: Delivers predictable latency for enterprise and cloud workloads.

Use Cases

  • Hyperscale Data Centers: Reduces storage footprint while maximizing IOPS and throughput.
  • AI & Machine Learning: Accelerates training and inference with high sequential and random performance.
  • High-Performance Computing (HPC): Provides fast and consistent storage for simulation and modeling.
  • Enterprise Virtualization & Databases: Ensures low-latency performance under heavy multi-tenant workloads.
  • Content Delivery & Cloud Storage: Scales efficiently for CDN and object storage backends.

Pros & Cons

Pros
✔ PCIe 5.0 speeds up to 14 GB/s
✔ Very high random IOPS performance
✔ Large capacities (up to 30TB)
✔ Enterprise-grade endurance and reliability features
✔ Available in both U.3 and E3.S form factors

Cons
✖ Requires PCIe 5.0 platform for full performance
✖ Higher cost than PCIe 4.0 enterprise SSDs
✖ Limited availability outside enterprise procurement channels

Conclusion

The Kioxia CM7 is a next-generation enterprise SSD that delivers unmatched PCIe 5.0 performance, endurance, and scalability. It is ideal for AI/ML, hyperscale cloud, HPC, and enterprise storage arrays where speed and reliability are paramount. While it comes at a premium and requires modern infrastructure, it stands as one of the fastest and most capable enterprise SSDs currently available.