Enterprise SSDs have many use cases in different commercial environments. They can be used in servers, high/performance computing, storage arrays, virtualization environments, and various other specific applications like big data and analytics. Enterprise SSDs are built differently because they are employed in demanding environments with heavy requirements.
You might think of some use cases like hosting servers and industrial backups, but enterprise SSDs have a big role in many industries and tasks, which we are going to cover in this article. Enterprise SSDs are designed to give higher endurance as compared to consumer drives and have better hardware and software components. Features like Power-Loss protection, which are not commonly available with the consumer drives, will be available with the enterprise drives. They are designed to work 24/7, and this is what makes them different from the normal client SSDs.
Enterprise SSDs are highly expensive and not readily available, as we buy our drives for personal computers. They are often ordered in bulk by companies like cloud providers, database managers, and other small to medium business owners. Big companies that are working in the IT industry have their own data centers running on thousands and thousands of enterprise SSDs. The scale can be huge because inside the servers, storage is the primary element enabling the users to store and access the data.
With their unique offerings, enterprise SSDs are mainly used to serve companies that are somehow related to data or require heavy data storage. Another big thing about these SSDs is that they are more expensive than consumer SSDs. The type of NAND flash is generally SLC and MLC, which are obsolete in consumer drives. In this article, enterprise SSDs are designed for different purposes, and we will talk about the main use cases. So, let’s get started.
Difference between enterprise and consumer SSDs
One of the key differences between consumer and enterprise SSDs is endurance. Consumer SSDs come with very low TBW ratings as compared to enterprise SSDs. As an example, if you look at OSCOO’s OE200 U.2 NVME Enterprise SSD, its 1.6TB variant comes with a massive 8760 TBW. All the enterprise SSDs will have this unique characteristic of very high TBW and DWPD. Another key difference is very high sustained read/write performance. At these ranges, the normal consumer drives will start to throttle and lose their performance. Better overprovisioning is provided, and that is why you get only around 876 GB of usage space out of 1TB and 1.6 TB in 2TB variants. This may vary in different drives, but the enterprise SSDs generally have very high over-provisioning for wear-leveling and error-correction to work properly.
The cost of enterprise SSDs is way higher than that of consumer SSDs, and they come with better firmware support and upgrades. Because of the use of high-end NAND flash such as SLC, MLC, and eMLC, the raw performance is automatically higher in the enterprise drives. There is a difference in the drive form factors as well. The enterprise NVMe SSDs come mainly in the U.2 form factor, which is different from the M.2 form factor. Other common form factors in the enterprise drives are M.2, SATA, SAS, AIC, and EDSFF. While in consumer drives, AIC, M.2, M.2 SATA, and SATA 2.5″ are common form factors.
As we discussed earlier, these drives are designed to work 24×7. This is because of the higher endurance rating of all the components, including the NAND Flash and Controller. However, proper cooling is necessary, which most server environments will have.
Enterprise SSDs and Data Security
One of the biggest benefits of enterprise SSDs is the level of data security they offer. Power loss protection is the biggest pro that you get with the enterprise SSD. With this feature, in case of a sudden power loss, the data is safely sent from the DRAM to the NAND chips without the need for any power. This is done with the help of a capacitor-based backup power. In terms of data integrity, the enterprise SSDs offer end-to-end data path protection. It helps with detecting and preventing silent data corruption. The Error Correction Code is much more refined in the enterprise SSDs as compared to the consumer drives. Other features like secure erase, encryption, firmware validation, and higher over-provisioning make the enterprise SSDs much more secure and prevent data from any unwanted losses.
8 Key use cases of enterprise SSDs
Now, let’s get started with the 8 most common use cases of enterprise SSDs. But who should know these use cases? Well, this guide is not just for the SSD wholesalers. For any storage enthusiast, network engineers, students, this list can be really helpful. So, let’s get started.
1. Servers
A server is a computer or system used to provide services like data storage and computation to users over a network. These are generally always-ON systems using different hardware components from the home systems. For example, a server will run on a server CPU/GPU, ECC RAM, and enterprise SSDs. On the servers, operating systems and software are run solely to serve the client’s queries. There are different types of servers, like web servers, database servers, file servers, application servers, and email servers. You can say that technically, servers and computers as the same thing, but servers don’t look like ordinary computers. They will be mounted on the server racks. Different backup strategies, like RAID, are utilized for data protection. Special cooling solutions are also there to protect the systems from overheating.
Enterprise SSDs are pretty helpful in running these servers effectively because of their higher endurance, power-loss protection, better over-provisioning, and the fact that they are designed to work on servers 24×7. Consumer drives generally can’t survive those environments because of the excessive workloads and higher I/O demands. They generally have lower throughput and bandwidth, which are not suitable for handling the high number of incoming commands and queries. So, in terms of reliability, only the enterprise SSDs can be beneficial for running the servers. Because servers are backed by big businesses and they earn money through it, various backup and redundancy techniques are employed to make sure the end service stays uninterrupted.
How do enterprise SSDs help in running servers?
Enterprise SSDs ensure consistent performance and longevity under the constant heavy load of server environments. In the servers, the data is read and written frequently, and that too in heavy volumes. So, only the enterprise drives with higher bandwidth and lower latency can handle that. Some enterprise-only features like Advanced error correction and LDPC (Low-Density Parity-Check) codes, are useful in data integrity and widely used where no room for error is allowed, like the financial data storage. In simple words, because the enterprise SSDs are designed for higher performance and high endurance, they help a lot in running different types of servers smoothly.
Which types of SSDs are used in server environments?
The main types of enterprise SSDs that are used in servers are:
Enterprise SATA SSDs (Serial ATA) Up to 6 Gbps: Used in entry-level servers with moderate or low I/O demands and smaller budgets.
SAS SSDs (Serial-Attached SCSI) Up to 12Gbps: Offers higher durability, better performance, dual-port connectivity, but are expensive than the SATA SSDs.
Enterprise NVMe SSDs: Gen 4.0 and Gen 5.0 Enterprise NVMe SSDs are widely used in cloud infrastructure and other high-speed solutions. They are expensive but much faster.
U.2 SSDs: These SSDs come with a dedicated U.2 connector and are used in high-performance servers and enterprise data centers. They are hot-swappable but highly expensive.
Add-In Cards: These are again used in high-performance environments such as databases, virtualization, and other data-intensive applications. They have larger form factors and bigger price tags.
2. Big data
Big data refers to the processing, storing, and collection of a large amount of data that can’t be processed using traditional methods. This data is then utilized to gather meaningful insights with techniques like machine learning, data mining, and predictive analysis. Because, very huge sets of data are there in big data, the need for faster and reliable storage media is also there. The data must be retrieved at a very fast pace, which can only be done if the primary storage medium is fast enough. Not only is high data read/write speed critical, but the need for higher reliability and bigger storage variants is required. So, only the high-end enterprise drives can fulfil those needs.
Generally, special storage solutions are utilized for storing big data like HDFS (Hadoop Distributed File System) or cloud storage like AWS, Google Cloud Storage. Scalable systems are preferred for big data, which can easily grow and accommodate the data if it needs to be increased. High-scale is usually required with a high level of redundancy. These environments also have high-speed networking infrastructure to support large-scale data transfers. But if we look at the storage devices utilized in big data, they are always the high-end enterprise SSDs. Some people work with big volumes of data on their personal computers, like data analysts and data scientists, but they also use the dedicated service providers because the consumer hardware components are not able to handle that volume of data.
How do enterprise SSDs help with big data?
The first thing is obvious that because of the faster speed of the enterprise SSDs, they are helpful in reading and writing big volumes of data. Lower latency is another big benefit that offers lower access time in important applications like transaction processing, cloud-based services, and real-time data analytics. Durability and reliability and other important factors playing an important role. Along with that, enterprise SSDs allow for easier and faster scalability in case you want a jump in performance or storage capacity. In big data processing and retrieval, higher random IOPS are really important. Only enterprise SSDs can provide that level of random performance. Now, because the volume of data is very high in these applications, more energy is required, and enterprise SSDs serve well with their efficient storage mediums.
Which types of SSDs are used in big data management?
All types of enterprise SSDs can be utilized in big data applications, but let’s rank them here.
NVMe SSDs (Non-Volatile Memory Express): These SSDs are preferred where high-speed data transmission is required. They have low latency and high IOPS, suitable for big data processing.
SAS (Serial-Attached SCSI) SSDs: SAS SSDs generally come in dual-port architecture to handle failures effectively. They are much more reliable and faster and thus become the best options for data warehousing, transactional databases, and other big data applications.
Enterprise SATA SSDs: SATA SSDs aren’t as fast as the NVMe drives, but offer a better cost efficiency. So, for large raw file storage and backup solutions, they are utilized.
U.2 SSDs: One of the biggest benefits of the U.2 SSDs is that they are hot-swappable. Because the U.2 drives support NVMe over PCIe, they are great for servers and workstations.
Optane SSDs: Based on Intel’s 3D XPoint technology, Optane SSDs offer ultra-low latency and high endurance, which most other types of SSDs can’t offer.
3. Virtualization
Virtualization is the process of running multiple operating systems, applications, or servers on a single physical hardware system. We allocate the physical resources to different software elements and try to get the most out of them. Virtualization is pretty helpful in sharing resources, utilizing hardware, and increasing the number of operating systems while reducing the number of physical computers. There are three types of virtualization.
Server Virtualization: It includes running multiple servers on a single physical server.
Storage Virtualization: In this, multiple storage devices are combined or pooled to show a single storage resources to the end user.
Network Virtualization: It includes abstracting, running, and managing network resources to create virtual networks for the end users.
How do enterprise SSDs help with virtualization?
Virtual machines and networks demand very high I/O because multiple services or tasks are in need of heavy data consistently. Slower SSDs and traditional HDDs can never provide that level of throughput and low latency that the virtual machines demand. Especially when these virtual machines are under load, like in industrial environments, the demand for more data and faster access speed increases. For VM migrations from one host to another, the fastest enterprise SSDs make things quicker. Again, features like advanced error correction, wear leveling, and power-loss protection are helpful here as well.
Which types of SSDs are used to run virtual machines effectively?
Enterprise NVMe SSDs: NVMe enterprise SSDs are widely used in HPC (High-performance computing), cloud environments, databases, and servers running multiple VMs because of their high throughput.
SAS SSDs: SAS SSDs are widely utilized in virtualized data centers, servers, where higher redundancy and high uptime are required.
U.2 SSDs: Again, because U.2 SSDs are hot-swappable and have high performance, they are widely used in server-based virtualization environments and systems requiring high availability.
4. High-performance databases
High-performance databases are different from normal databases in terms of handling and storage of data. These databases handle large volumes of data and offer rapid queuing, real-time analytics, transaction processing, and maximum throughput. The main characteristics of these databases are high scalability and high availability. Higher scalability because the user load and the associated data can increase rapidly, and the storage needs to be upgraded quickly. Higher availability because they are generally used in mission-critical systems. The examples of high-performance databases are SQL databases, In-Memory databases, NoSQL databases, and graph databases. SSDs with higher throughputs, lower latency, and higher endurance are generally preferred when deploying these databases.
High-performance databases are the ones requiring real-time access, fast transactions, and higher concurrency. They need to have a very high data storage and retrieval speed because their deployment demands the same. These databases are widely used in financial applications like banking, trading, E-Commerce, online gaming, telecommunication, etc. All these things require very fast databases for everything they do. Generally, these databases are equipped with best of the best enterprise SSDs.
How do enterprise SSDs help in running high-performance databases?
Enterprise SSDs help these high-performance databases run smoothly, mainly because of their lower latency. Tasks such as Online Transaction processing and other continuous workloads gets the most benefits from these high-performance databases running on the enterprise SSDs. Now, the stored data is generally very confidential and needs to have higher levels of redundancy. In general, the storage devices must be reliable and with endurance on their own. So, that level of security is only possible with the enterprise SSDs.
Which types of SSDs are used in databases?
Enterprise SATA SSDs: With these SSDs, performance isn’t the first and top priority, but reliability and endurance are.
Enterprise NVMe SSDs: These drives are highly preferred because of their high IOPS, low latency, and top-notch performance.
U.2 SSDs: In most workstations that support the U.2 SSDs, they are preferred because of high speed and endurance. These drives are made to work under load, and hence they become the best option for high-end databases.
QLC SSDs: QLC SSDs have the least endurance and raw performance of other types of NAND flash. But, in some cases, where huge data volumes are required with lower requirements for reliability and endurance, QLC SSDs are utilized.
5. Mission-critical systems
Mission-critical systems are important for the core working of an organization. For example, if a web-hosting company is building a server, having good-quality storage drives is the most important thing for them. The same goes for financial databases, transaction servers, medical networks, and defense services. Some other areas are telecommunication, banking, Aerospace, and government. The systems or the servers used in these critical environments are called the mission-critical systems. We try to mitigate the risks of data loss and outages as much as possible.
We would never want our transactions to be stuck or our defense systems not to work. The same goes for order management in E-Commerce, production lines, and patient monitoring systems. Now, enterprise SSDs are made by keeping these things in mind. Also, their environment and how they are working under a system are well-optimized and maintained.
How do enterprise SSDs help with mission-critical systems?
Enterprise SSDs help mission-critical systems by offering very low latencies, high endurance, and easy scalability. The speed of data storage and retrieval matters the most in these systems and enterprise SSDs serve their purpose pretty effectively. Generally, the best of the best drives are used in these environments. Because uptime is very important, the enterprise SSDs give the highest levels of reliability compared to any other drive, like consumer SSDs or hard drives. Now, the brand of the drive and its endurance numbers will also matter a lot, but that is the topic for another day. All in all, enterprise SSDs help these mission-critical systems work effectively by serving as fast and reliable data storage mediums.
Which types of SSDs are the best in mission-critical environments?
Enterprise NVMe SSDs: These drives are the most suitable for mission-critical systems because of their best performance and reliability. However, they are expensive and only a big organization can handle those costs.
U.2 NVMe SSDs: These drives combine the performance of NVMe and the flexibility of the U.2 form-factor. In big data arrays and real-time databases, they can be helpful because of their hot-swappable features.
Enterprise SATA SSDs: Again, these drives are great where the best performance isn’t that important, but the reliability and storage capacity is prioritized.
6. AI training and Machine Learning
Data is the most important element in training AI models and machine learning in general. In order to feed the algorithms with the required amount of data, very high I/O is demanded by the computers. Enterprise SSDs like the NVMe drives are most suitable for this type of task. A little difference in the time taken to read or write the data can have a serious impact on the training. Also, on the live models where data demands are very high, enterprise SSDs serve their purpose by handling the workloads at very high read/write speeds. Especially, in deep learning, frequent data read and write operations are done. For this, a very low latency and high raw read/write performance is required.
The models are constantly adjusted with the new training and the incoming data. Now, this becomes are very write-heavy environment where only the drives with high TBW and DWPD can survive. So, the enterprise SSDs come into play with their high levels of endurance and reliability. In fields like Natural Language processing, massive datasets are required. So, enterprise SSDs server the purpose with their high storage capacities, high endurance, and overall better reliability than consumer SSDs.
How do enterprise SSDs help with AI/ML training?
The biggest benefits of enterprise SSDs are not only because of faster data reading and writing, but also in data augmentation and preprocessing. With the enterprise SSDs, the speed of data processing is increased, which then allows for more iterations over time. In this way, the overall efficiency of the training steps is improved. In real-time processing applications, the enterprise SSDs are really helpful with their low latency. Enterprise SSDs are designed specifically for very high I/O operations, so the storage bottlenecks are eliminated and the systems are able to work more effectively.
Which types of SSDs are the best for AI?
Enterprise NVMe SSDs: These SSDs make the most out of the PCIe interface and enable higher throughput and very low latency.
U.2 NVMe SSDs: Again, because these drives are designed specifically for enterprise servers and workstations, they are the most suitable for running AI and ML training systems.
SLC SSDs: Because of their impressive raw read/write performance and higher endurance, they are employed by big organizations working in the field of AI. However, these are the most expensive type of enterprise SSDs out there.
QLC SSDs: Sometimes, QLC SSDs are also preferred because of their higher storage capacities at cheaper prices. Now, because they are the least reliable, they are employed where data protection is the least important concern or there is some kind of special backup mechanism running in the background.
7. Enterprise Servers
Enterprise servers are a reliable, high-performance, and scalable computing solution developed to fulfill the computational demands of large organizations. They are designed to handle critical workloads and are optimized for data throughput, uptime, and best resource management. You will find these servers in the data centers, cloud databases, and other mission-critical systems. They are built using very fast CPUs like Intel Xeon and AMD EPYC. All other components are also enterprise-grade so that the heavy demands of the corporations can be fulfilled.
Generally, the enterprise servers are designed to offer high redundancy, scalability, and availability. Virtualization is another major characteristic of these servers. With this, they run different applications for businesses like web hosting and email servers. They are designed to be highly manageable and easily upgradable. Energy efficiency and storage flexibility, and some other important elements of these servers.
How do enterprise SSDs help in running enterprise servers smoothly?
One of the biggest goals of enterprise SSDs is to load the applications and operating systems as quickly as possible. With their high random read/write performance, the enterprise SSDs present their first benefit. Then the next goal is to reduce the delay between data requests and responses. This is done with the help of the low latency of the SSDs. To reduce the risk of failure and loss of important organizational data, enterprise SSDs come with their another benefits of high endurance and reliability. To improve multi-tasking and handle high-throughput workloads, SSDs help with their high IOPS. There are many other things, like energy efficiency, scalability, and virtualization support, by which enterprise SSDs benefit the enterprise servers.
Which types of SSDs are the best for enterprise servers?
Enterprise NVME SSDs: These drives enable the systems to run smoothly by eliminating the chances of any type of storage bottlenecks.
U.2 NVMe SSDs: These drives are easy to integrate inside the server platforms because of the wider acceptance and hot-swapping features.
Enterprise SATA SSDs: Used only where higher data capacity is required by compromising on performance.
SLC/MLC SSDs: In terms of NAND Flash used, SLC and MLC SSDs are generally preferred in enterprise servers.
8. Small businesses
Small businesses generally don’t need enterprise SSDs for any purpose, but sometimes, they can set up their own small-scale servers to run CRM or ERP software like QuickBooks or Xero. These software can benefit heavily from the fast data storage and retrieval speed that the enterprise SSDs can offer. Other small businesses, like E-Commerce platforms, can also benefit from the servers running on the enterprise SSDs. These drives can be implemented to set up pretty big storage volumes that are fast in speed and have high reliability.
Many small businesses depend on their own NAS setups, and enterprise-grade SSDs or Hard drives can be installed there if the form factor and interface are supported. In this way, the businesses just have to invest in the storage drive, and the traditional storage setups like NAS and RAID will work like normal.
How do enterprise SSDs help small businesses?
Enterprise SSDs can easily replace the consumer drives in small business environments. This will enhance the performance and reliability of the whole storage setup. Small businesses whose core objective is related to storage and data management can also benefit from small in-house servers. They can keep running 24 hours, and the storage capacity can be increased easily to a pretty good scale. So, instead of paying hefty amounts for cloud storage providers, small businesses with limited storage requirements can benefit from the enterprise SSDs.
Which types of SSDs are mostly used in small businesses?
MLC Enterprise SSDs: Most small businesses would try to save their investments for storage drives if storage isn’t their core working area. They generally ignore the more expensive SLC SSDs and just pick the MLC drives.
U.2 SSDs: If a business has set up a small server, U.2 drives can be helpful in enhancing the upgradability and flexibility of the system.
Enterprise SATA SSDs: These SSDs can also help in saving investments due to their lower price tags.
How to choose the right enterprise SSD?
Enterprise SSDs can be a little complex to choose compared to consumer SSDs because of their higher prices and more confusion around the interfaces and form factors. However, these days, it is easy to get in touch with a good SSD manufacturer and talk directly about their products in the enterprise SSD category. However, if you want to do your own research, just make sure to give your special attention to the type of NAND flash, DRAM, controller, interface, and form-factor. Depending on your requirements, choose the type of drive that fits your requirements well. For example, if a big storage volume is your requirement and not the best performance, you are good to go with the Enterprise-grade SATA SSDs and sometimes the enterprise hard drives as well. However, if performance and endurance are your main priorities, you should try to spend on PCIe-based drives like Enterprise NVMe drives or U.2 SSDs. Also, if you are going to buy drives in bulk, try to get in touch with multiple suppliers to get the best available offers.
Conclusion
We hope you are now aware of the main areas where enterprise SSDs are used. There are many other places where you’ll find many applications of the enterprise SSDs. But these were the top categories. Enterprise drives, as the name suggests, come into play where businesses expect some kind of output from these drives. So, for storing important data of any business, the businesses that focus on cloud storage have benefited majorly from the enterprise SSDs. Due to the increase in demand for data due to the AI and machine learning trends, the enterprise SSDs are seeing huge demand in orders. However, we are now aware of these 8 broad applications of the enterprise SSDs, and this should help you as a supplier, wholesaler, student, engineer to expand your knowledge and business both.
