Micron Technology, Inc. announced a groundbreaking addition to its data center storage portfolio with the unveiling of the Micron 9650 SSD, the world’s first PCIe Gen6 NVMe solid-state drive. Alongside it, Micron introduced the 6600 ION SSD, boasting an industry-leading 122TB capacity in an E3.S form factor, and the 7600 SSD, optimized for low-latency PCIe Gen5 performance. Built on Micron’s cutting-edge 9th-generation (G9) 3D NAND technology, this trio of drives is designed to meet the escalating demands of AI-driven workloads and modern data centers, delivering unmatched speed, capacity, and efficiency.
Source : Micron
The Micron 9650 SSD stands out as the industry’s first PCIe Gen6 SSD, engineered for high-performance AI inference and training tasks. With sequential read speeds of up to 28 GB/s and random read performance of 5.5 million IOPS, it delivers over twice the performance of competing PCIe Gen5 drives. This makes it ideal for feeding data-hungry GPUs, minimizing idle cycles, and maximizing system efficiency in AI pipelines. The drive also boasts up to 67% better energy efficiency for reads and 25% for writes compared to Gen5 SSDs, helping data centers meet sustainability goals without compromising performance. Available in E1.S (9.5mm and 15mm) and E3.S form factors, the 9650 offers both air- and liquid-cooled variants to ensure consistent performance under high loads. Capacities scale up to 30.72TB, with Pro and Max variants catering to diverse workload needs.
Micron’s vertical integration—combining its proprietary controller, G9 TLC NAND, DRAM, and firmware—ensures exceptional quality and reliability. The 9650 also incorporates robust security features, including FIPS 140-3 Level 2 compliance, a hardware root of trust, and self-encrypting drive (SED) capabilities, making it suitable for sensitive applications. Interoperability with major ecosystem partners like NVIDIA, Dell, Astera Labs, and Broadcom has already been validated, with demonstrations at events like Computex showcasing peer-to-peer PCIe 6.0 communication at 64 GT/s with NVIDIA’s Blackwell GPUs.
Source : Micron
The Micron 6600 ION SSD redefines storage density, offering up to 122.88TB in an E3.S form factor and U.2 (15mm) options, with a 245TB version slated for release in the first half of 2026. Built on a PCIe Gen5 x4 interface and Micron’s 276-layer G9 QLC NAND, it achieves sequential read speeds of up to 14 GB/s and 2 million random read IOPS. Designed for capacity-centric workloads in AI and hyperscale data centers, the 6600 ION delivers 4.9TB per watt, making it 37% more power-efficient than traditional HDDs. A single 1U server equipped with 36x 6600 ION SSDs can provide up to 4.42 petabytes of storage, significantly reducing physical rack space compared to HDD arrays. The drive supports OCP 2.6 standards and is optimized for replacing large HDD setups, with samples expected to ship in Q3 2025.
Source : Micron
Micron’s new SSD lineup underscores its leadership in storage innovation, addressing the exponential data growth driven by AI and cloud computing. The 9650’s PCIe Gen6 interface sets a new benchmark for performance, while the 6600 ION’s massive capacity and the 7600’s low-latency design cater to diverse data center needs. Jeremy Werner, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Micron’s Core Data Center Business Unit, emphasized, “With the industry’s first PCIe Gen6 SSD, industry-leading capacities, and the lowest latency mainstream SSD—all powered by our first-to-market G9 NAND—Micron is redefining the frontier of data center innovation.
Samples of the 9650 and 7600 SSDs are already available to customers, with the 122TB 6600 ION expected to ship in Q3 2025. While pricing details remain undisclosed, Micron’s focus on energy efficiency, interoperability, and vertical integration positions these drives as game-changers for AI infrastructure and beyond. As data centers continue to evolve, Micron’s latest offerings are poised to accelerate the adoption of next-generation storage solutions, paving the way for more efficient and powerful computing environments.
Source : Micron