Lenovo ThinkSystem PM9A3 Read Intensive NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSDs User Guide

: June 3, 2024
: Lenovo

Table of Contents

Product Guide
Part number information
Features
Technical specifications
Server support
Warranty
Physical specifications
Agency approvals
Notices
Trademarks
Documents / Resources

ThinkSystem PM9A3 Read Intensive NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSDs

Product Guide

The ThinkSystem PM9A3 Read Intensive NVMe Solid-State Drives (SSDs) are general-purpose yet highperformance family of NVMe SSDs. They are engineered for greater performance and endurance in a costeffective design, and to support a broader set of workloads. Lenovo ThinkSystem PM9A3 Read Intensive
NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSDs

Figure 1. ThinkSystem PM9A3 Read Intensive NVMe SSDs
Did you know?
The PM9A3 SSDs are follow-ons to the PM983 drives. The PM9A3 SSDs offer improved performance, both in terms of random read/write performance (IOPS) and sequential read/write bandwidth (MB/s). Sequential write latency has also been improved.
Lenovo Read Intensive (Entry) SSDs are suitable for read-intensive and general-purpose data center workloads, however their NVMe PCIe interface means the drives also offer high performance. Overall, these SSDs provide outstanding IOPS/watt and cost/IOPS for enterprise solutions. Click here to check for updates
ThinkSystem PM9A3 Read Intensive NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSDs

Part number information

The following table lists the part numbers and feature codes for the PM9A3 SSDs.
Table 1. Ordering information

Part number	Feature code	Description
4XB7A79697	BNM6	ThinkSystem 2.5″ U.2 PM9A3 3.84TB Read Intensive NVMe PCIe

4.0 x4 HS SSD

The part numbers include the following items:

One solid-state drive
Documentation flyer

Features

Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) is PCIe high performance SSD technology that provides high I/O throughput and low latency. NVMe interfaces remove SAS/SATA bottlenecks and unleash all of the capabilities of contemporary NAND flash memory. Each NVMe PCI SSD has direct PCIe x4 connection, which provides at least 2x more bandwidth and 2x less latency than SATA/SAS-based SSD solutions. NVMe drives are also optimized for heavy multi-threaded workloads by using internal parallelism and many other improvements, such as enlarged I/O queues.
The ThinkSystem PM9A3 Read Intensive NVMe SSDs have the following features:

Available in a 2.5-inch factor
Low cost, read-intensive SSD from Samsung
Direct PCIe 4.0 x4 connection for each NVMe drive, resulting in up to 8 GBps overall throughput.
Advanced ECC Engine and End-to-End Data Protection
Samsung 32 layer V-NAND stacks the vertical NAND layers in three dimensions, solving the cell-tocell interference that causes data corruption in planar NAND.
Protect data integrity from unexpected power loss with Samsung’s advanced power-loss protection architecture
Supports Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T).

Read Intensive SSDs and Write Intensive SSDs have similar read IOPS performance, but the key difference between them is their endurance — how long they can reliably perform write operations. Read Intensive SSDs have a better cost/IOPS ratio but lower endurance compared to Write Intensive SSDs. SSD write endurance is typically measured by the number of program/erase (P/E) write cycles that the drive incurs over its lifetime, listed as the total bytes of written data (TBW) in the device specification. The TBW value assigned to a solid-state device is the total bytes of written data (based on the number of P/E cycles) that a drive can be guaranteed to complete (% of remaining P/E cycles = % of remaining TBW). Reaching this limit does not cause the drive to immediately fail. It simply denotes the maximum number of writes that can be guaranteed. A solid-state device will not fail upon reaching the specified TBW. At some point based on manufacturing variance margin, after surpassing the TBW value, the drive will reach the end-of-life point, at which the drive will go into a read-only mode.
Because of such behavior by Read Intensive solid-state drives, careful planning must be done to use them only in read-intensive or mixed use (70% read/30% write) environments to ensure that the TBW of the drive will not be exceeded before the required life expectancy.
For example, the 3.84TB PM9A3 drive has an endurance of 7,008 TB of total bytes written (TBW). This means that for full operation over five years, write workload must be limited to no more than 3,840 GB of writes per day, which is equivalent to 1.0 full drive writes per day (DWPD). For the device to last three years, the drive write workload must be limited to no more than 6,400 GB of writes per day, which is equivalent to 1.7 full drive writes per day.

Technical specifications

The following tables present technical specifications for the ThinkSystem PM9A3 Read Intensive NVMe SSDs.
Table 2. Technical specifications

Feature	3.84 TB drive
Interface	PCIe 4.0 x4
Capacity	3.84 TB
SED encryption	None
Endurance (total bytes written)	7008 TB
Endurance (drive writes per day for 5 years)	1.0 DWPD
Data reliability (UBER)	< 1 in 1017 bits read
MTBF	2,000,000 hours
IOPS reads (4 KB blocks)	1,000,000
IOPS writes (4 KB blocks)	190,000
Sequential read rate (128 KB blocks)	6900 MBps
Sequential write rate (128 KB blocks)	4100 MBps
Latency (random R/W)	80 µs / 30 µs
Latency (sequential R/W)	20 µs / 20 µs
Typical power (R/W)	11.0 W / 13.5 W

Server support

The following tables list the ThinkSystem servers that are compatible.
Table 3. Server support (Part 1 of 2)

Storage controller support
NVMe PCIe SSDs require a NVMe drive backplane and some form of PCIe connection to processors. PCIe connections can take the form of either an adapter (PCIe Interposer or PCIe extender) or simply a cable that connects to an onboard NVMe connector.
Consult the relevant server product guide for details about required components for NVMe drive support.
Operating system support
The following tables list the supported operating systems.
Tip: These tables are automatically generated based on data from Lenovo ServerProven.
Table 5. Operating system support for ThinkSystem 2.5″ U.2 PM9A3 3.84TB Read Intensive NVMe PCIe 4.0 x4 HS SSD, 4XB7A79697

RHEL7.6 Not support with EPYC 7003 processors
RHEL7.7 Not support with EPYC 7003 processors
RHEL7.8 Not support with EPYC 7003 processors
RHEL7.9 Not support with EPYC 7003 processors
RHEL8.1 Not support with EPYC 7003 processors
RHEL8.2 Not support with EPYC 7003 processors
SLES15 SP1 Not support with EPYC 7003 processors
SLES15 SP1 Xen Not support with EPYC 7003 processors
VMware 7.0 Not support with EPYC 7003 processors
RHEL7.6 Not support with EPYC 7003 processors.

Warranty

The ThinkSystem PM9A3 Read Intensive NVMe SSDs carry a one-year, customer- replaceable unit (CRU) limited warranty. When the SSDs are installed in a supported server, these drives assume the system’s base warranty and any warranty upgrades.
Solid State Memory cells have an intrinsic, finite number of program/erase cycles that each cell can incur. As a result, each solid state device has a maximum amount of program/erase cycles to which it can be subjected. The warranty for Lenovo solid state drives (SSDs) is limited to drives that have not reached the maximum guaranteed number of program/erase cycles, as documented in the Official Published Specifications for the SSD product. A drive that reaches this limit may fail to operate according to its Specifications.

Physical specifications

The ThinkSystem PM9A3 Read Intensive NVMe SSDs have the following physical specifications:
Dimensions and weight (approximate, without the drive tray):

Height: 7 mm (0.3 in.)
Width: 70 mm (2.8 in.)
Depth: 100 mm (4.0 in.)
Weight: 70 g (2.5 oz)

Shipping dimensions and weight for the 2.5-inch drives (approximate):

Height: 63 mm (2.5 in.)
Width: 133 mm (5.2 in.)
Depth: 174 mm (6.9 in.)
Weight (with drive tray): 433 g (1.0 lb)

Operating environment
The ThinkSystem PM9A3 Read Intensive NVMe SSDs are supported in the following environment:

Temperature:
Operating: 0 to 70 °C (32 to 158 °F)
Non-operating: -40 to 85 °C (-40 to 185 °F)
Relative humidity, Non-operating: 5 to 95% (noncondensing)
Maximum altitude: 3,050 m (10,000 ft)
Shock, non-operating: 1,500 G (Max) at 0.5 ms
Vibration, non-operating: 20 G (10-2000 Hz)

Agency approvals

The ThinkSystem PM9A3 Read Intensive NVMe SSDs conform to the following regulations:

c-UL-us
CE
TUV
CB
CE (EU)
BSMI (Taiwan)
KC (South Korea)
VCCI (Japan)
RCM (Australia)
FCC (USA)
IC (CANADA)

Related publications and links
For more information, see the following documents:

Lenovo ThinkSystem storage options product web page
https://lenovopress.com/lp0761-storage-options-for-thinksystem-servers
Samsung product page for Enterprise SSDs
http://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/products/flash-storage/enterprise-ssd/

Related product families
Product families related to this document are the following:

Drives

Notices

Lenovo may not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this document in all countries. Consult your local Lenovo representative for information on the products and services currently available in your area. Any reference to a Lenovo product, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only that Lenovo product, program, or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product, program, or service that does not infringe any Lenovo intellectual property right may be used instead. However, it is the user’s responsibility to evaluate and verify the operation of any other product, program, or service. Lenovo may have patents or pending patent applications
covering subject matter described in this document. The furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents. You can send license inquiries, in writing, to: Lenovo (United States), Inc.
8001 Development Drive
Morrisville, NC 27560
U.S.A.
Attention: Lenovo Director of Licensing
LENOVO PROVIDES THIS PUBLICATION ”AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some jurisdictions do not allow disclaimer of express or implied warranties in certain transactions, therefore, this statement may not apply to you.
This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the information herein; these changes will be incorporated in new editions of the publication. Lenovo may make improvements and/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this publication at any time without notice.
The products described in this document are not intended for use in implantation or other life support applications where malfunction may result in injury or death to persons. The information contained in this document does not affect or change Lenovo product specifications or warranties. Nothing in this document shall operate as an express or implied license or indemnity under the intellectual property rights of Lenovo or third parties. All information contained in this document was obtained in specific environments and is presented as an illustration. The result obtained in other operating environments may vary. Lenovo may use or distribute any of the information you supply in any way it believes appropriate without incurring any obligation to you.
Any references in this publication to non-Lenovo Web sites are provided for convenience only and do not in any manner serve as an endorsement of those Web sites. The materials at those Web sites are not part of the materials for this Lenovo product, and use of those Web sites is at your own risk. Any performance data contained herein was
determined in a controlled environment. Therefore, the result obtained in other operating environments may vary significantly. Some measurements may have been made on development-level systems and there is no guarantee that these measurements will be the same on generally available systems. Furthermore, some measurements may
have been estimated through extrapolation. Actual results may vary. Users of this document should verify the applicable data for their specific environment.
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Trademarks

Lenovo and the Lenovo logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other countries, or both. A current list of Lenovo trademarks is available on the Web at https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/legal/copytrade/.
The following terms are trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other countries, or both:
Lenovo®
ServerProven®
ThinkSystem®
The following terms are trademarks of other companies:
Intel® is a trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries.
Linux® is the trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.
Microsoft®, Windows Server®, and Windows® are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.
Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

ThinkSystem PM9A3 Read Intensive NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSDs

Documents / Resources

| Lenovo ThinkSystem PM9A3 Read Intensive NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSDs [pdf] User Guide
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