SANBlaze Adds Zoned Namespaces Support for SBExpress Test Platform

SANBlaze Technology, Inc. announced a NVMe PCIe Gen4 ZNS capable validation and test platform for early adopters – system and NVMe device OEMs – to enable the timely release and support of this NVMe technology.

SBExpress RM4 NVMe Gen4 PCIe test platform

The company support for ZNS includes a customized NVMe driver to support the ZNS spec, which is being kept current as the ZNS spec approaches ratification. The firm’s SBExpress qualification suite includes a set of pre-built ZNS focused tests added to the Certified by SANBlaze qualification tools.

Data demands for storage are growing with the demands of video, AI, and IoT. In order to keep pace with this growth, storage devices must be more efficient in the handling of data as well as keeping that data around longer. NVMe SSD devices with ZNS offer a method of recording that resolves these storage industry problems. Industry sponsors include Western Digital Corp., Microsoft Corp., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., and NetApp, Inc., all interested in and supporting large hyper-scaling storage applications.

“Western Digital’s ZNS SSDs will provide an innovative approach to delivering efficient storage capacity without sacrificing performance, allowing data center architects to manage the exponential growth of data in the zettabyte age,” said Matias Bjørling, director, emerging system architectures, Western Digital. “Products like the SANBlaze SBExpress NVMe end-to-end validation and testing solution allow customers to test and validate the implementation of their ZNS SSDs quickly and effectively and have the potential to accelerate the adoption of ZNS SSDs in the market.“

Zoned Namespaces (ZNS) was established by the NVMe Technical Work Group to improve the performance of SSDs in applications around and for hyper-scalers, AFA vendors, and large storage system vendors.

“The addition of state-of-the-art ZNS technology to the Certified by SANBlaze qualification suite will accelerate NVMe device manufacturer’s development cycle,” said Vince Asbridge, founder and president, SANBlaze. “Our engineering team is working in partnership with key industry leaders to incorporate ZNS testing into our platform so our customers can ensure they are first to introduce their solutions and with confidence that they will be functional and spec compliant.“

The company’s application support for ZNS includes Certified by SANBlaze pre-developed test cases that allow users to start validating ZNS support and capability right out of the box.

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