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CES 2018 | Toshiba unveils RC100 Series M.2 NVMe SSDs and a 96-layer QLC BiCS 3D NAND

Toshiba showed off some of its storage advancements at CES. (Source: Overclock 3D)
Toshiba showed off some of its storage advancements at CES. (Source: Overclock 3D)
At CES 2018, Toshiba showed off a new RC100 Series of M.2 NVMe SSDs along with their 96-layer QLC NAND technology. The RC100 SSDs enable mainstream PC users to upgrade to SSDs in a cost-effective and power-optimized manner.

Toshiba Memory America (TMA) showed off a couple of storage technologies at this year's CES. The first of those is the RC100 — an SSD that sits right between high-end SATA SSDs and top-tier NVMe SSDs, enabling mainstream adoption of the M.2 NVMe standard. The other announcement is a more futuristic flash storage based on a 96-layer quad-level cell (QLC) BiCS 3D NAND.

The RC100 has the potential to bring NVMe technology to the masses and is designed with performance and affordability in mind. It will utilize Toshiba's 64-layer BiCS (Bit Cost Scalable) 3D Flash memory in a 2242 M.2 form factor. BiCS flash memory implements a vertically stacked three-dimensional (3D) flash memory, which leads to higher die density compared to 2D NAND flash.

Toshiba also showcased the industry's first 96-layer 512 GB QLC BiCS 3D NAND. The QLC is advancement over the triple-level cell (TLC) 3D NAND that is used these days and allows for more storage capacity in the same die area. Toshiba first revealed plans for showcasing the 96-layer QLC NAND back in June 2017 with production samples to be ready by 2018. It is not known whether the increased storage due to the denser packaging would come with a performance penalty.

Also being announced is the XS700, which is an external SSD that incorporates BiCS flash technology. Pricing and availability information for the RC100 and XS700 are not yet known.

Toshiba RC100 NVMe SSD. (Source: TechPowerUp)
Toshiba RC100 NVMe SSD. (Source: TechPowerUp)
Toshiba XS700 external SSD. (Source: TechPowerUp)
Toshiba XS700 external SSD. (Source: TechPowerUp)

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2018 01 > Toshiba unveils RC100 Series M.2 NVMe SSDs and a 96-layer QLC BiCS 3D NAND
Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 2018-01- 8 (Update: 2018-01- 8)