At Nvidia’s GTC convention final week, a brand new liquid-cooled solid-state drive (SSD) was launched to assist handle the warmth in in the present day’s high-performance AI information middle infrastructure.
Liquid cooling in information facilities is often used for high-powered chips like GPUs and CPUs. Nevertheless, as a part of its effort to enhance information middle storage efficiency and effectivity, Solidigm has launched a brand new liquid-cooled enterprise SSD (eSSD) for AI deployments.
The D7-PS1010 eliminates the necessity for followers historically wanted for information middle storage gadgets and allows absolutely liquid-cooled AI servers.
Solidigm labored with Nvidia to deal with eSSD liquid-cooling challenges, equivalent to hot-swappability and single-side cooling constraints – two capabilities of the brand new D7 line.
Actual-World Ache Factors
At GTC 2025, Solidigm demonstrated the primary 9.5mm cold-plate-cooled SSDs. They can even are available in a 15mm kind issue so as to add flexibility in design for air-cooled server and storage programs.
“The mix of an modern Solidigm E1.S SSD and liquid cold-plate package – each first-to-market improvements – ship vital advantages in thermal effectivity whereas sustaining information middle grade serviceability,” mentioned Kevin Noh, co-CEO of Solidigm.
Roger Corell, senior director of AI and management advertising at Solidigm, informed DCN that the necessity for full-drive cooling and hot-swap capabilities are “real-world ache factors” for in the present day’s information middle engineering groups.
“Energy and cooling are the highest challenges going through AI information facilities,” Corell mentioned. “That is notably the case as GPUs proceed to run sooner and sooner and energy obtainable to information facilities turns into more difficult.”
He added: “On this atmosphere, liquid cooling of all GPU server elements is crucial. This resolution addresses that by extending liquid cooling to storage whereas sustaining enterprise-grade serviceability within the type of hot-swapability.”
The Rise of Liquid-Cooled SSDs
Discussing the launch, James Zhao, senior principal SSD and HDD storage analyst at Omdia, mentioned that whereas it was maybe too early to inform whether or not Solidigm’s newest product represented a brand new class of information middle cooling, it may turn into a “potential new normal” for cold-plate liquid cooling programs.
“Liquid cooling programs are primarily utilized to high-power chips equivalent to GPUs, CPUs, and DRAMs,” Zhao informed DCN.
“GenAI and accelerated computing name for reminiscence and storage that may present the very best efficiency. Nevertheless, greater efficiency comes together with the drawback of extra warmth and retains creating challenges for the system integrators. A greater cooling resolution for main warmth contributors is a should for compact-designed programs.”
Zhao added: “It’s significant for main gamers equivalent to Solidigm and Nvidia to work collectively to grasp the issues and innovate to take a step forward. Conventional single-side cooling would lose flexibility within the system design when extra eSSDs are wanted within the rack, and the cooling effectivity will drop sharply when extra eSSDs are loaded in. “
“The power to hot-swap is a should for nearly all server storage. Nevertheless, it’s nonetheless dangerous for liquid cooling programs. I can’t wait to see how they resolve the issues.”
Learn extra of the most recent information middle storage information
Cooling AI Storage
Solidigm mentioned the D7-PS10101 E1.S 9.5mm SSD and liquid cooling cold-plate package can be obtainable for AI servers in H2 2025. The preliminary capability factors are 3.84 TB and seven.68 TB, and the capability vary can be expanded later within the yr.
“As GPU capabilities proceed to extend, it’s seemingly that sure future GPU servers would require full liquid cooling,” mentioned Corell. “Moreover, as a result of liquid cooling and our chilly plate resolution allow the elimination of air-cooling followers, this product can allow compact 1U server designs, serving to to extend compute density.”
