Enmotus MiDrive: An SSD using SLC / QLC NAND Differently To Offer Better Endurance

It's a bit of a weird press-release, but you might remember Enmotus, the company behind the AMD FuzeDrive. They have a new SSD concept SSD and are working with controller manufacturer Phison. The MiDrive combines durable and fast SLC-NAND memory with inexpensive QLC-NAND. 

Now, I hear you thinking, that's nothing new as in the past SSD always have had an SLC cache (one bot writes per cell = expensive) and then store at TLC (three bits written per cell is 3x cheaper). Nope, the weird thing here is that SLC will not only serve as a small cache but also as "primary data storage ". At least that's how they describe it. Products with QLC-NAND (Quadruple-Level Cell) with four bits per memory cell potentially have the lowest durability and its complexity makes QLC write much slower.

With the MiDrive, Enmotus takes a different approach. No pseudo-SLC cache is used there, instead "real" SLC NAND flash is used as the primary data storage for actively used data, according to the company in the announcement of the CES.

Basically, data that is not written over much will be stored at the QLC partition, and the SLC partition is used for data that writes often, bringing in better endurance. Since you need some soft of intelligence making a decision on what goes where the SSD might need an active software suite (we're not sure though).

We'll have to wait and see how things pan out, they know and understand caching alright.  according to the MiDrive website, an M.2 SSD with 1 TB storage capacity and PCIe / NVMe support is planned under the model number P200HEQM.

Phison and Enmotus Demonstrate QLC Enhancing Technology

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Enmotus and Phison Electronics are jointly demonstrating Enmotus’ performance enhancing MiDrive™ SSD technology. By blending static SLC for primary storage, with cost effective QLC NAND on the same consumer NVMe device, MiDrive SSDs deliver the performance of high end SSDs while allowing OEMs to meet the price points and capacities demanded by users. Unlike current QLC implementations that utilize a portion of the QLC to mimic an SLC cache, Enmotus’ Machine Intelligence technology keeps your active data/games in the true SLC and stores infrequently used data on the QLC - automatically. In addition to performance and cost benefits, MiDrive increases SSD endurance by minimizing the write amplification associated with caching, which allows cost effective QLC to be deployed in volume notebook applications. MiDrive NVMe SSDs are currently sampling to OEMs.

“Phison worked closely with Enmotus integrating Enmotus’ technology with our controllers,” said K.S Pua, CEO of Phison Electronics. “Positioning MiDrive between the niche high performance consumer SSD market and cost conscious users presents a tremendous market opportunity for Phison and Enmotus,” added K.S.

“MiDrive addresses not only the performance and endurance challenges of QLC, but future technologies as well. As flash manufacturers race to achieve price parity with hard drives, the endurance of next generation flash technology such as Penta or five layer flash is expected to get worse,” said Andy Mills, CEO of Enmotus. “The Machine Intelligence behind MiDrive solves this problem by enabling QLC and beyond to be deployed in applications without compromising warranty or longevity specs,” continued Mills.

MiDrive is on display in Phison’s Suite at the Bellagio and Enmotus’ Suite at the Mirage at the CES technology show in Las Vegas January 7-9.