Solidigm develops one of the world’s first liquid-cooled enterprise SSDs for AI deployments

Solidigm has unveiled a liquid-cooled enterprise Solid-State Drive (SSD) (eSSD) at the GTC Artificial Intelligence (AI) Conference, intending to facilitate the development of fully fanless Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) servers. This new eSSD design aims to address historical challenges related to cooling efficiency and component compatibility.

Current SSD configurations, particularly those relying on Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC), have limitations in terms of hot-swappability and single-side cooling capabilities. The introduction of a full liquid-cooling approach allows for compact server designs and reduces overall cooling costs, addressing the architectural requirements of all components.

Collaboration with NVIDIA has enabled Solidigm to tackle previous limitations associated with eSSD liquid cooling. At the conference, the company showcased the cold-plate cooled eSSDs featuring the Solidigm D7-PS1010 E1.S 9.5mm form factor.

Kevin Noh, Co-CEO of Solidigm, stated that the combination of the new SSD and cooling solution offers operational benefits in thermal efficiency while ensuring data center-grade serviceability.

The Solidigm E1.S SSD and cold-plate kit are expected to launch for AI server implementations in the latter half of this year. The D7-PS1010 E1.S model will also be available in a 15mm form factor, allowing for additional design flexibility in air-cooled server systems. GTC attendees can view this technology firsthand at Booth #1602.