KIOXIA CD9P-R 7.68TB E3.S Review - The Best-In-Class Data Center SSD

TweakTown Rating: 100%

Our Verdict

KIOXIA's CD9P-R 7.68TB E3.S is the sequential read leader and mixed workload champ of the 1-DWPD PCIe Gen5 SSDs.

Pros

• Highest sequential read
• Best-in-class mixed workloads
• Superior consistency

Cons

• None

Should you buy it?

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Introduction and Drive Details

KIOXIA currently makes what we are inclined to believe is the best-performing flash in the industry. Based on our vast experience with BiCS 8 flash in the consumer space, where it has proven to deliver more performance than anything else, and by a decent margin, we expect that the same likely holds true in the enterprise realm as well.

KIOXIA's newest mainstream PCIe Gen5 Data Center Series SSD, the CD9P, at capacities of 6.4TB and up, comes arrayed with its cutting-edge BiCS 8 NAND, so we are definitely excited to see what this mainstream enterprise SSD can deliver, and how it compares with others in its class that are arrayed with Micron, Hynix, and YMTC flash.

As stated, the CD9P is a mainstream offering and as such, isn't sporting crazy high specs of 3.4 million IOPS and 11 GB/s sequential write capabilities. The CD9P is rated at a much lower 2.6 million IOPS and 7 GB/s sequential write capabilities. However, when it comes to real-world performance or performance where it matters most, the highest specs don't always deliver the best performance curve, where it typically matters most, being sequential read throughput and mixed workloads at low queue depths.

As stated previously, we are of the opinion that BiCS 8 flash is likely the highest performing of all the various flash currently in circulation, and because the CD9P at capacities of 6.4TB and higher comes arrayed with it, we are inclined to believe that our 7.68TB test subject will more than hold its own even against others sporting flashier factory specs.

The subject of today's review is KIOXIA's CD9P-R read-intensive 1-DWPD SSD in the E3.S form factor. The E3 form factor is becoming increasingly popular in the datacenter because it is more efficient than conventional U.2 in terms of footprint/density and has a more modern interface designed specifically for NVMe SSDs. However, cooling can be a bit more challenging at a slim 7.5mm thickness, so we always like to take a quick look at temperatures when testing E3 or E1 SSDs.

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Pictured above are temperatures taken nearing the end of 2-loops of 128K sequential write preconditioning, where we feel temperatures are likely their highest. Typically, we could see temperatures near 70°C here with standard air cooling, but not with our test subject. Here we find our CD9P-R 7.68TB running at a relatively cool 53°C with conventional air cooling. Outstanding.

Specs/Comparison Products

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KIOXIA CD9P-R 7.68TB E3.S 7.68TB PCIe Gen5 x4 SSD

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The drive we have in hand is a 1-DWPD design, E3.S form factor, 7.68TB in capacity, KIOXIA BiCS 8 TLC arrayed, and 16-channel controlled. This configuration is rated for up to 2.6 million IOPS and up to 14.8 GB/s sequential throughput. KIOXIA's CD9P Series SSDs are compatible with major operating systems such as RHEL, SLES, CentOS, Ubuntu, Windows Server, and VMware ESXi.

Test System Specs & Enterprise Testing Methodology

Enterprise SSD Test System

A special thank you goes to Allyn Malventano, without whose help we wouldn't be where we are with our Linux-based Enterprise SSD testing platform.

Testing Methodology

TweakTown strictly adheres to industry-accepted Enterprise Solid State Storage testing procedures. Each test we perform repeats the same sequence of the following steps:

1. Secure Erase SSD
2. Write the entire capacity of SSD 2x (2 loops) with 128KB sequential write data, seamlessly transition to the next step (sequential testing skips step 3)
3. Precondition SSD by filling the drive twice with random 4K, 8K, or IU of SSD writes
4. Run test-specific workload with a 30-second ramp up for 5 minutes at each measured Queue Depth, and record average result

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Benchmarks - Sequential

128K Sequential Write/Read

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We precondition the drive with 100 percent sequential 128K writes at QD256 using 1-thread for 2-drive fills, receiving performance data every second. We plot this data to observe the test subject's descent into steady-state and to verify that steady-state is in effect as we seamlessly transition into testing at queue depth. A steady-state is achieved after a 1-drive fill. Average steady-state 128K sequential write performance at QD256 is approximately 7,200 MB/s.

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KIOXIA specs its CD9P Series SSDs as capable of delivering up to 7,000 MB/s 128K sequential write throughput. We are getting up to 7,200 MB/s, so pretty much exactly as advertised. We love what we see at QD1, where our test subject is delivering the second most throughput of any of the SSDs appearing on this chart and doing so where it arguably matters most. Excellent.

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Here, the drive is factory spec'd for up to 14,800 MB/s 128K sequential read throughput. We are hitting up to a lab record-breaking 15,044 MB/s, so it is better than advertised and at a place where throughput matters most for read-intensive applications. Not only is it the fastest of its kind that we've ever encountered, but just look at that superior performance curve where it is dominating at the mid-range and then edging out the rest from there on up. Impressive.

Benchmarks - Random

4K Random Write/Read

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We precondition the drive using 100 percent random 4K writes at QD256 for 2-drive fills, receiving performance data every second. We plot this data to observe the test subject's descent into steady-state and to verify that steady-state is in effect as we seamlessly transition into testing at queue depth. A steady-state is achieved after a 1-drive fill. Average steady-state 4K random write performance at QD256 is approximately 500K IOPS.

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Our 7.68TB model is rated at up to 450K 4K random write IOPS. We are getting up to 518K, so we are doing a bit better than advertised. Again, we will point out that at QD1, where programming performance matters most, our test subject exceeds expectations massively by delivering another lab record, and this time an all-time lab record for any flash-based SSD we've ever tested. Wow.

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Factory spec here is up to 2,600K IOPS. We are getting 2,758K with our configuration. At first glance, it appears as if our test subject is underperforming compared with the up to 3.5 million IOPS-capable competition. However, at practical queue depths of up to 64, where performance matters most, our test subject is right in there with the best we've ever seen. Excellent.

4K 7030

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The performance curve at queue depths of up to 64 here is the best we've ever seen coming from a non-compressed 1-DWPD SSD. This is what dominant real-world performance looks like. Amazing.

4K 5050

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As we add more programming into the mix, our test subject again responds better than we've ever seen coming from a 1-DWPD SSD. Again, delivering the best performance curve we've ever encountered for its type, and yet another lab record for the most IOPS of its kind. Impressive.

8K Random Write/Read

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We precondition the drive using 100 percent random 8K writes at QD256 for 2-drive fills, receiving performance data every second. We plot this data to observe the test subject's descent into steady-state and to verify that steady-state is in effect as we seamlessly transition into testing at queue depth. A steady-state is achieved after a 1-drive fill. Average steady-state 8K random write performance at QD256 is approximately 270K IOPS.

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We expect 8K random to track pretty much the same as 4K random here, just at a lower IOPS rate because it's moving twice the amount of data. Our test subject delivers better than half of what we saw at 4K. And again, as we saw at 4K, its QD1 performance is among the best we've ever encountered.

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Nice performance curve here, especially at queue depths of up to 64.

8K 7030

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8K 7030 is representative of a common database workload. We note especially compelling low queue depth performance where our test subject delivers better than any competing conventional 1-DWPD SSD we've tested to date. As we see it, because database workloads typically execute at low queue depths, this is yet again the best performance curve for any SSD of its type that we've come across. Incredible.

8K 5050

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And finishing strong, our test subject delivers the best performance curve here that we've ever encountered from a 1-DWPD SSD. Outstanding.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we are blown away by what we would have to characterize as this wolf in sheep's clothing SSD. Looking at its factory up to specs, one would assume that this mainstream Data Center SSD could easily be bested on the performance front by much of its competition. However, this SSD has what those SSDs don't have, and that's BiCS 8 flash.

Again, it's all about the flash as we see it, and our assertion that BiCS 8 is likely the most powerful of its kind currently in circulation is certainly bolstered by what KIOXIA's CD9P-R 7.68TB delivered today. At every point where we feel performance matters most, this lower spec'd SSD absolutely dominated everything in its class.

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In our opinion, it's the best of its kind ever made. Editor's Choice.