- Broadband Optic SSDs may be the key to developing urban mega-data centers
- To choose optical SSDs allow distance between calculation and storage to grow far more
- The second benefit of going optically is the energy savings associated with moving the petabytes of data around
A trio of Japanese tech giants, kioxia, Aio Core and Kyocera, has announced the development of a prototype broadband SSD with an optical interface that works with the PCI 5.0 standard.
The optical SSD prototype has reportedly achieved “functional operation” using PCIE 5.0, offering twice as far as the bandwidth of PCIe 4.0.
This was made possible through a combination of AIO CORE’s IOCORE OPPTIC TRANSCEIVER and KYOCERA’S Optinity Optoelectronic Integration module.
Going optically
This optical SSD was created to deal with the requirements for modern applications such as generative AI that depend on moving large amounts of data quickly.
The use of optical compounds in SSDs can help reduce the physical limitations associated with traditional electrical interfaces, especially in large data center environments.
The three companies say they plan to continue to develop the technology and apply it to proof-of-concept tests aimed at future use in the real world.
One of the greatest benefits of going optically is the ability to increase the physical distance between calculation and storage without losing performance or energy efficiency. This is expected to be particularly useful for data centers that span wider areas.
There is also the added benefit of reduced energy consumption when changing petabytes of data, which can help meet growing environmental goals in the tech industry.
The aim of the project is ultimately to create new digital infrastructure technologies that reduce energy consumption in data centers by over 40% compared to current systems.
This work is part of Japan’s project “Next Generation Green Data Center Technology Development” project, JPNP21029, which receives funding from the new Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) through Green Innovation Fund Project.
Each company brings specific expertise to support the shared goal of building more efficient and capable data infrastructure for the future. Kioxia focuses on broadband optic SSD development, AIO CORE works on optoelectronic fusion units, and Kyocera creates optoelectronic packaging.
