KIOXIA has released a solid-state drive that sounds like something out of a science fiction novel: the LC9 Series, with a whopping 245.76TB of storage—enough to hold around 12,500 4K movies at 20GB each.
Available in capacities from 30.72TB to 245.76TB, the LC9 comes in 2.5-inch U.2, E3.S, and E3.L form factors. These aren’t for consumer PCs but are built for enterprise where space efficiency and data density matter. Kioxia achieves this with its eighth-generation BiCS FLASH QLC NAND, stacking 32 memory dies—each with 2 terabits—into an 8TB package. This is thanks to CMOS Bonded to Array (CBA) technology, which bonds the NAND’s control circuitry to the memory array at the wafer level. The result is an 11.5 by 13.5 millimeter package that maximizes data density while keeping signal paths short for performance.
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The LC9 has sequential read speeds of up to 12GB/s and write speeds of 3GB/s, with random read performance of 1.3 million IOPS. Consumer SSDs like the Samsung 990 Pro top out at around 7.5GB/s for reads, so the LC9 is a beast for demanding environments. Its write endurance is rated at 0.3 drive writes per day (DWPD), which is about 67,000TB written over five years for the 245TB model—perfect for read-intensive workloads like AI training or data lakes. Dual-port connectivity adds redundancy for critical systems.
Security and durability are key to the LC9’s design for industries where data integrity is paramount. It has power loss protection and end-to-end data protection to protect against data corruption during transfers or sudden shutdowns. For sensitive data, KIOXIA includes Sanitize Instant Erase (SIE), Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) and plans for FIPS 140-3 compliance with AES-256 encryption. The drive also supports the Leighton-Micali Signature algorithm, meeting government and enterprise security standards.
The LC9’s magic is in its massive capacity and practical engineering. It uses a PCIe 5.0 x4 interface with NVMe 2.0 compliance so it works with modern data center hardware. It’s also aligned with the Open Compute Project’s Datacenter NVMe SSD specification, version 2.5, for easy integration into standardized, scalable systems. Kioxia’s custom controller and firmware is optimized for hyperscale environments.
Pricing is not disclosed as KIOXIA is working with data center customers on custom quotes based on volume. Sampling is underway with select partners and a showcase is planned for the Future of Memory and Storage conference in August 2025.
