SSD storage capacities continues to grow thanks to innovations made in the NAND cell technology, and IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) expects the trend to continue, with mainstream drive capacity to quadruple by 2029.
SSDs With 8Tb NAND On The Roadmap
There are multiple ways in increasing the density of a SSD (specifically, the NAND flash that actually stores the data): increase the bits stored per cell, or add more layers per NAND chip. This two-pronged approach has contributed to the emergence of 4TB SSDs today, most of which feature QLC (quad-level cell) and 200+ layers that packs significant data density in the same M.2 form factor.
Looking into the future, IEEE projects that we will be seeing NAND packages with 300+ layers next year, and by 2027, improved production process will raise the number to 500+ layers. Semiconductor makers like Samsung and SK Hynix has even predicted 1000+ layers far into the future as well. On the other hand, PLC (penta-level cell) may be another avenue of squeezing more data into the same chip, though this have significant performance and endurance tradeoffs.
Eventually, there will be a physical limit for how much data can be stored in a single package, though “it will be some time before that limit is reached,” IEEE noted. If that does happen, we may have to look for alternative materials – several of them has shown promising signs in the research setting, but the real test would be scaling it up to mass production.
Source: Tom’s Hardware
Pokdepinion: Let’s hope games don’t grow too large until then.