World's Largest PCIe Gen5 SSD Tested and Achieves Nearly 13 GB/s Sequential Read; 60TB Micron 6550 Ion is super fast because it replaces QLC with TLC

The Micron 6550 Ion SSD is available in 30.72 TB and 61.44 TB capacities
PCIe Gen5 G8 TLC NAND improves performance and efficiency
Sequential read write speeds are over 12GB and 5GB respectively

Modern data centers require high-capacity, energy-efficient SSD storage solutions to support data-intensive applications such as AI and machine learning.

To meet these needs, Micron introduced the 6550 Ion SSD, available in 30.72 TB and 61.44 TB capacities.

The 6550 Ion SSD, which Micron bills as “the world’s fastest and most power-efficient 60TB data center SSD,” is available in various form factors, including E1.L and U.2, but It’s the E3.S model that really shines, with its 61.44 TB of TLC NAND.

Better performance than expected

Previously, in order to deliver 61.44TB of capacity, manufacturers had to use QLC NAND, but by moving to the Gen5 G8 TLC NAND interface, Micron is able to offer faster write performance, endurance and what data centers are increasingly looking for. desire – energy efficiency.

Storage Review tested the new drive and came away impressed, as reviewer Brian Beeler notes: “The Micron 6550 Ion offers huge performance and capacity advantages over the 6500 Ion, its predecessor. It adheres to PCIe Gen5 standards and includes scalable capabilities via OCP 2.5. Micron has prioritized security in the 6550 Ion, ensuring TAA and FIPS 140-3 L2 certifiability and a comprehensive security suite. »

In terms of performance, Micron claims that the 6550 Ion delivers sequential read speeds of 12 GB/s and write speeds of 5 GB/s while maintaining a maximum power consumption of 20 W. Storage ReviewThe test recorded read speeds of 12.7 GB/s and write speeds of 8.2 GB/s, better than expected.

The review compared the 6550 Ion to the Solidigm P5336, the only 61.44TB SSD widely available today, and while acknowledging that it was not an equal match, it said: “We noted many areas where the Micron 6550 Ion’s new Gen5 interface excelled. the Gen4 interface of the P5336, which is expected. The difference between Gen4 and Gen5 drives concerns the amount of bandwidth each drive can transmit through the. The Gen4 PCIe interface with four lanes of connectivity is capable of around 7 GB/s, while the new PCI Gen5 interface doubles that figure with 14 GB/s. Micron’s use of TLC NAND gives it another design advantage over QLC-based competitors.

Energy efficiency is another key selling point of the 6550 Ion. It consumes up to 20% less power than competing SSDs and supports multiple operational power states. For example, Power State 1 (PS1) limits power consumption to 20W, down from a maximum of 25W. It also consumes ≤5W when idle.

The 6550 Ion’s 61.44 TB capacity is impressive, but it’s expected to be eclipsed when the PCIe Gen5 Phison Pascari D205V (offered in U.2 and E3.L form factors) arrives in Q2 2025. In addition to a 61.44 TB, it will also be one with double capacity, 122.88 TB, and it will be interesting to see how that compares in terms of performance.