TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Form Factors – Why E1.S Will Prevail . . . . . . 4 E1.L Description. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Looking Forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 SUPERMICRO Supermicro (Nasdaq: SMCI), the leading innovator in high-performance, highefficiency server and storage technology is a premier provider of advanced server Building Block Solutions® for Enterprise Data Center, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence, and Edge Computing Systems worldwide. Supermicro is committed to protecting the environment through its “We Keep IT Green®” initiative and provides customers with the most energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly solutions available on the market. Supermicro X13 Petascale Storage System Executive Summary Storage has become a fundamental requirement of modern data centers as the amount of data generated continues to grow1.. An increasing amount of data is constantly being collected at the edge, and a percentage of that data may be moved to larger cloud or enterprise data centers. To effectively manage and store the data from the edge to the cloud, standards need to be developed that create a competitive eco-system that gives IT managers choices depending on their workloads and data access requirements. For example, the SNIA standard-based EDSFF form factors are designed so that airflow can easily reach the CPUs directly compared to earlier storage media like U.2 storage devices where a backplane is needed. The overall design of systems should not be taken lightly, as innovative mechanical designs need to consider the cooling and packaging requirements. The realization that the new storage devices can affect the CPUs' overall physical d

and cooling requirements has led to the creation of this form factor that delivers high capacities while minimizing airflow restrictions. Basics Storage for systems has moved from sizeable rotating disk drives (HDDs) to smaller and faster drives that fit into almost any form factor. Over the past 10-20 years, popular sizes have been the 2.5″ and 3.5″ HDDs, which fit into a wide array of servers and storage appliances. The Solid State Drive (SSD) has become the most popular storage device for high-powered data center servers, workstations, and laptops. With a current storage capacity in the Petabyte...

4. Connectivity: Standard interfaces are necessary for the broad adoption of any technology. Standards have been shown to increase markets and encourage innovation and a range of suppliers. The key to the wide adoption of this technology is using the same connectors and protocols in various form factors from multiple vendors. Therefore, connectors must be standardized, allowing different vendors to supply these SSDs, keeping competition innovative. Current Technologies Today's systems utilize the PCIe 5.0 bus for connecting storage devices to the CPUs. With the new PCIe 5.0 specification, the...

Image 1 - Supermicro Storage System SSG-121E-NES24R Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) SNIA, a non-profit organization comprised of member companies spanning information technology, maintains the specifications for different form factors of storage devices. The latest one becoming widely adopted is the Enterprise and Data Center Standard Form Factor or EDSFF, described below: Form Factors – Why E1.S Will Prevail The current form factor gaining popularity for data center storage is designated the E1.S, which has a technical specification defined by the SNIA through the SNIA SFF Technology...

Image 2 - E1.S – 15mm with cooling fins and 9.5 without cooling fins Form factors for Supermicro’s E1.[S, L] are as follows: EDSFF Form factor E1.S E1.S E1.S E1.S E1.L E1.L Supermicro Server Generation X11 X11, X13 X13 N/A X11 N/A Recommended sustained power 12 watts 20 watts 20+ watts 25+ watts 25 watts 40 watts Table 1 - Form Factor Comparison DATA CENTERS EMBRACE NEW STORAGE TECHNOLOGY © Supermicro, Inc.

There are various reasons why a customer would want an E1.S or an E1.L SSD. The E1.S is obviously shorter, taking up less space in a compact server. The E1.L has a larger cooling surface, allowing higher operating temperatures. Within the E1.S options, there is a tradeoff between the different widths available (which reflects the cooling capacity) and the number of drives that can be installed and easily serviced within a server. A 1U high-end server will contain up to 32 of the 5.9mm or 9.5 mm E1.S SSDs. Similarly, 24 of the 15mm E1.S SSDs can be installed in a 1U server. DATA CENTERS EMBRACE...

E1.L Description The E1.L is a form factor optimized for data center storage systems, such as storage arrays. Longer than the E1.S at 318.75 mm length, the E1.L can store more data than an E1.S, but at a tradeoff of space in the server. In addition, the E1.L is specified at two different thicknesses, of 9.5mm and 18mm, which allow for more cooling (heat sinks) and thus increase storage capacity and activity. Related to the E1.S and E3.L is the E3 specification. The E3 form factor is designed to replace, over time, the U.2 2.5” form factor SSD. Looking Forward A balanced system for a given workload...

Table 2 - PCIe Generational Comparison The general requirements for future systems will include the following: • CPUs need to be kept busy Memory needs to be fast enough to feed the CPUs Bus speed needs to be fast enough to feed data to the memory system Storage needs to be fast enough so as not to be a bottleneck Mechanical designs that allow airflow throughout the entire system References and Further Reading 1.https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS46286020 https://www.servethehome.com/e1-and-e3-edsff-to-take-over-from-m-2-and-2-5-in-ssds-kioxia/ https://www.storagereview.com/news/ruler-is-finally-going-mainstream-why-e1-s-ssds-are-taking-over/...