Mini storage for mini PC: Raspberry Pi gets its own series of SSDs 73 comments
Image: Raspberry Pi Foundation
After SD cards, the Raspberry Pi Foundation now also sells SSDs under its own logo. The Raspberry Pi SSD is offered with 256 GB or 512 GB of storage volume. In the short M.2-2230 form factor, it supports PCIe 3.0, but requires an adapter for the small PC.
A Raspberry Pi SSD seemed logical
When introducing the Raspberry Pi SSD, it is said that the PCIe port of the Raspberry Pi 5 is most often used to connect an NVMe SSD. Therefore a suitable SSD is now provided. However, the Raspberry Pi 5 itself does not have a suitable connection. An adapter card like the M.2 HAT shown in the title image is also required.
512GB Raspberry Pi SSD (Image: Raspberry Pi Foundation)
Compared to SD cards, SSDs provide significant acceleration of program starts. Only a few technical details are revealed about the SSD. At least it should support PCIe 3.0 and NVMe 1.4 and achieve the following IOPS for random read and write.
256 GB 512 GB 4 KB Random Read 40,000 IOPS 50,000 IOPS 4 KB Random Write 70,000 IOPS 90,000 IOPS
No information is provided regarding sequential throughput. However, the maximum performance of the SSD will hardly be available because the adapter connection is limited to PCIe 3.0 x1 for just under 1 GB/s (raw). On the Raspberry Pi 5 side, connectivity (via FPC connector) is officially limited to PCIe 2.0 x1 with 0.5 GB/s (500 MB/s). It is however possible to force PCIe 3.0 x1 mode.
According to the data sheet (PDF), the 22 mm wide and 30 mm long M.2 SSD is a maximum of 1.35 mm high. As a result, it is equipped with chips on one side. Information about the controller and the NAND flash is completely missing. However, there is usually no space for a separate DRAM cache in this format; the NVMe Host Memory Buffer function should come into play here.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation wants to offer the SSDs at prices of $30 (256 GB) and $45 (512 GB) and as a kit including an adapter for $40 and $55 respectively. In this country, sales are handled by Reichelt Elektronik, but the retailer has not yet given a delivery date or price in euros.
Guaranteed availability until at least 2032
What distinguishes the Raspberry Pi SSD from alternatives from other manufacturers is the promise of long-term availability. Raspberry Pi SSD is expected to be manufactured at least by January 2032.
Topics: Flash Memory Manufacturer Mini PC NVMe PC Systems Storage SSD Raspberry Pi Source: Raspberry Pi Foundation
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