SK Hynix unveils powerful data-center SSD to maintain AI memory lead

South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc. on Wednesday unveiled a new solid-state drive (SSD) for data centers to expand its memory leadership in the AI sphere beyond the high-performance DRAM segment into NAND flash storage devices.

SK Hynix is the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker after Samsung Electronics Co. But it is the dominant producer of the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chip, an AI chip in hot demand. SK is the top supplier of HBM chips to Nvidia Corp., the world’s No. 1 AI chip designer.

SSD, a NAND chip, stores data in flash memory.

SK said the new product, PEB110 E1.S, comes with improved data processing speed and power efficiency by applying the fifth-generation PCIe technology – a high-speed interface used in the mainboards of digital devices.

With PCle Gen5, SK Hynix’s PEB110 has achieved a data transfer rate of up to 32 gigatransfers per second (GT/s), doubling the performance of the previous generation SSD and improving power efficiency by over 30%, it said.

“The new product builds on our best-in-class 238-high 4D NAND, boasting the most competitive standards in the industry in terms of cost, performance and quality,” said Ahn Hyun, head of the SK Hynix N-S Committee, a strategic unit of the chipmaker’s NAND flash and solution business.

MASS PRODUCTION IN Q2 2025

The company said a product validation test of PEB110 with a global data center customer is currently underway.

If successful, SK plans to begin mass production in the second quarter of next year.

The chipmaker said it is already producing its previous generation high-performance SSD, PS1010, in large quantities to meet growing demand.

With the advent of the AI era, customer demand for high-performance NAND solutions such as SSDs for data centers, as well as ultra-fast DRAM chips including HBM, is growing.

SK said it has also applied a security protocol and data model technology, SPDM, to PEB110 – the first time it has done so for data-center SSDs – to enhance data protection.

SPDM, a key security solution specialized in protecting server systems, offers secure authentication and monitoring of servers.

“With the recent increase in cyberattacks on data centers, we expect PEB110 to provide our clients the full data security they need,” SK said.

ENHANCED COMPATIBILITY

The new product will be released in three capacity versions – 2 terabytes (TB), 4 TB and 8 TB – and supports the OCP 2.5 specification version for greater compatibility across global data centers.

“Once we begin volume production, we expect to solidify our position as the global No. 1 AI memory provider in the fast-growing SSD market for data centers,” said Ahn.

The global SSD market is heating up with intensifying competition between industry leader Samsung and SK Hynix, a fast follower.

Write to Chae-Yeon Kim at why29@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.