M.2 SSD vs U.2 SSD
10.12.20
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As we all know, the current common SSD interface types include SATA, mSATA, SATA Express, M.2, PCI-E, and U.2 (The most common hard drive interface is SATA III). A U.2 SSD is namely an SSD with U.2 port.
Then, what is U.2? U.2, formerly known as SFF-8639, is an interface standard defined by SSD Form Factor Work Group. U.2 is developed for the enterprise market and designed to be compatible with PCI-E, SATA, SATA-E, and SAS interface standards.
U.2 connector supports NVMe standard protocol and PCI-E 3.0x4 bus, which makes the U.2 SSD have a theoretical bandwidth up to 32Gbps and have advantages of high speed, low latency, and low power consumption.
How about the popularity of U.2 SSDs? Currently, HGST Ultrastar SN100, OCZ Z-Drive 6000 and other enterprise-class SSDs have a common feature, that is, they provide two form specifications. One is the traditional PCI-E expansion card model, and the other is the 2.5 inch U.2 interface disk style.
However, the U.2 SSD that can be bought by ordinary consumers includes the Intel 750 series, which includes three capacity specifications: 400 GB, 800 GB, and 1.2 TB.
The sequential reading and writing speed of the Intel 750 U.2 SSD of 1.2TB capacity can be up to 2400 MB/s and 1200 MB/s, respectively. As for its random reading and writing speed, this SSD can reach 440000 IOPS and 290,000 IOPS, respectively. In a word, the performance is very strong.
In addition, ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, ASRock, and other vendors have announced support for U.2, and demonstrated the new U.2 data line and U.2-M.2 converter. At present, the ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Extreme motherboard has been equipped with a U.2 interface.
U.2 SSD vs. M.2 SSD
When it comes to U.2 SSD, many people like to make a comparison of U.2 vs. M.2. As mentioned above, the U.2 SSD has a theoretical bandwidth up to 32Gbps, which equals to that of M.2 SSD. Since it is so, why the U.2 SSD comes out? Here are some reasons, which are also the differences between them.
Size and Target Customers
The length of the M.2 SSD ranges from 30 to 110 mm. It is mainly used in portable devices such as notebooks, ultrabooks, etc. due to its small size. However, the length of the U.2 SSD is 2.5 inches. It is mainly used on servers to match with the storage interface of the enterprise data center.
The M.2 SSD is really too small. The common single-sided 2280 M.2 SSD can only accommodate up to 4 flash granules; even the most common enterprise-class M.2 SSD - 22110 - can't accommodate many flash granules.
What's more, enterprise-class disks require complete power-off protection and a large amount of capacitors to store electricity, which is a bit overwhelming for the space of M.2 SSDs. Relatively speaking, the space of the U.2 SSD is definitely much more abundant. At the same time, U.2 SSDs are being slowly popularized in ordinary customers.
Hot Swap and Heat Dissipation Features
Because the hard disks of the server need to be easily plugged and unplugged, they should support hot swap feature. U.2 SSDs also support this feature. However, M.2 SSDs don’t support this feature.
On the other hand, M.2 SSDs have bad heat dissipation. However, U.2 drives have relatively better heat dissipation because its back side has fins made of aluminum alloy, which is suitable for the enterprise-class high-load reading and writing.
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