Highlights:

  • The fundamental component of the Micron 3500 and all other flash drives is a circuit known as a cell.
  • The cells within the Micron 3500 adhere to a memory circuit design known as TLC.

Recently, Micron Technology Inc. debuted the Micron 3500, a new solid-state drive with its newest 232-layer flash architecture designed for workstations and high-end personal computers.

The company asserts that the device establishes two industry records. The Micron 3500, with a maximum speed of 2.4 billion data transfers per second, is the first SSD for client devices, including PCs and mobile phones. It is also the first SSD in this class to have the so-called six-plane design, which enhances performance by enabling applications to read up to six pieces of data simultaneously.

A circuit known as a cell serves as the fundamental component of the Micron 3500 and all other flash drives. A control gate transistor and a floating gate transistor are the two main parts of a cell. The control gate transistor imparts an electric charge to the floating gate transistor to symbolize a 1 and removes the charge to signify a 0.

The Micron 3500’s cells are built using a memory circuit design known as TLC. This design enables cells to store three bits of data, surpassing most other flash types except a technology termed QLC. While excelling in capacity, TLC-based SSDs compromise performance and reliability to provide additional storage space.

Memory manufacturers, including Micron, layer cells on top of each other to augment the data capacity of their SSDs. The latest Micron 3500 drive utilizes the company’s advanced 232-layer NAND flash technology. The technology incorporates what is known as CMOS under Array architecture, which means most of the circuits handling data flow into and out of the SSD are positioned beneath the flash cells.

SSD’s cells are arranged into clusters called planes, each performing data read operations independently. The Micron 3500 stands out with its six planes, a groundbreaking feature in its product category. This allows applications to read six pieces of data simultaneously. Fetching records in large batches is quicker than doing so one by one, accelerating applications.

In addition, the Micron 3500 has other performance enhancements. It is compatible with Windows’ DirectStorage feature, which lowers the amount of processing power an application requires while transferring data to and from flash. More compute resources are available for application use when processor use linked to storage is reduced.

The Micron 3500 is set to be available in the industry-standard M.2 form factor, offering capacities ranging from 512 gigabytes to two terabytes. Micron claims that the device empowers applications to attain data read speeds of up to seven gigabits per second from storage. The commitment includes surpassing competing SSDs and showcasing performance enhancements of up to 71% in product development applications and 132% in scientific programs.