Samsung Smart SSD

Samsung Electronics has developed a new SmartSSD, that is enterprise-focused drive capable of much more than just data storage.

The new SSD is classified as a computational storage device (CSD) that handles data processing on-board, hence minimizing bottlenecks created by the need to pass data between storage and the CPU, GPU and RAM.

Powered by a Xilinx SoC from AMD, the second-generation SmartSSD will cut processing time for heavy database queries by 50% and energy consumption by up to 70% as compared with traditional non-CSD configurations.

There are two types of such systems: those that incorporate processors into the storage device itself (as with Samsung’s SmartSSD) and those that pass compute operations to a storage accelerator located close to the storage drive.