"SSDPE2KX080T851" hardware stats missing

[hp18568]

Hi, I recently bought a 8TB Drive, "SSDPE2KX080T851".

I saw that this was once a $5K enterprise drive, and comes with many high performance quality of service claims made as part of its marketing documents.

However, the drives full stats and capabilities seem to be very scarce. I've been looking for info on what the size of the drives DRAM cache is (I don’t think any business class drive that cost as much as this did in recent times would not have one), but it doesn't appear anywhere. There is an older article that states it's 1GB per TB, but the model numbers don't exactly match since this article was written some years ago (here: https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/8618/intel-dc-p4510-2tb-8tb-enterprise-pcie-nvme-ssd-review/index...., and here https://www.anandtech.com/show/13704/enterprise-ssd-roundup-intel-samsung-memblaze/3)

The claims made in the drives documentation state that it contains "enhanced QOS capabilities", "firmware enhancements with new 3D NAND features to prioritize host workload and ensure better service levels", and other claims related to its internal controllers and caching abilities that allow it to provide reliable performance across all queue depths and random operations, “that keeps host and background data read/write at an optimum balance” and provide "End-to-end data protection", and "power loss imminent (PLI) protection"… which would be impossible without caching. However, none of these are exposed by the driver to a Windows host OS or through Solidigms software, and Windows will not allow write caching on it as a result. HWInfo64 states that this drive has fewer capabilities than an average consumer drive, which also seems to be a result of the lack of management and reporting interfaces available to any current Windows software I can find. In total, if all these capabilities are locked away from the user for reasons related to it being a data center device, does the remainder of the documentation of it's hardware exist somewhere? Will these be added back in future drivers?

Thank you!

[hp18568]

Thank you for these details. Unfortunately, I do not see this information in that spot, and write caching is not possible to enable on the policies tab. Your help on is appreciated! Thank you.

[SolidigmGleb · Accepted solution]

Dear hp18568,  

 

Thank you for the information provided.

To resolve your issue please try/check the following steps:

 

Firmware/Driver Updates: Ensure that your drive has the latest firmware installed. Additionally, check for and install the latest drivers for your Solidigm SSD.

 

Windows Policies: Check the Group Policy settings related to disk write caching. Sometimes, certain Group Policies may override individual device settings. Navigate to the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) and check the settings under "Computer Configuration" > "Administrative Templates" > "System" > "Removable Storage Access."

 

Security Software: Some security software may interfere with low-level disk operations. Temporarily disable any security software and try enabling write caching again. Remember to re-enable it afterward.

 

Disk Health: Ensure that your SSD is in good health. Use the Solidigim Storage Tool to check for any issues with the drive.

 

Power Options: In some cases, power management settings can affect the ability to enable write caching. Check your power plan settings and try adjusting them. For example, you might want to set your power plan to "High Performance."

 

Check System Logs: Examine system logs for any error messages related to the SSD or disk operations. This can explain why the write caching feature cannot be enabled.

 

Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns. Remember, that if the options suggested to you above do not help resolve your issue you can always contact us via our Support HUB.

 

 

Kind regards,

Gleb

Solidigm Customer Support

 

 

 

 

[hp18568]

Thank you for the feedback. Here are my group policy settings under that part of the tree. Let me know if you see anything that would be inconsistent with the drives normal operation. I don't see anything that stands out, myself, but I could be misunderstanding the way these are implemented under the hood.

I'm also not sure the driver tools are functioning as expected. Here is what is visible to me in the tools UI in various sections.

Also, last night, for the second time since I purchased the drive... the drive mysteriously disappeared from windows in the OS entirely. It was not even visible as an offline drive in Windows Disk Management tool, and did not come back online and visible again until the machine was restarted. I thought this was very unusual, since this drive is suppose to be far more durable than a conventional drive. Since, as a hobby which supports my work in digital entertainment, this drive is very useful for me to test various new entertainment and productivity software with its large size and consistent performance across a wide variety of IO situations, it's a significant challenge if it has an issue dropping offline. Due to the limited information that's visible, I don't know if there truly is an issue with the drive or if it might be user error of some sort. The first time the drive dropped off, I didn't take note of any event codes. Most recently, I am seeing a new set of error codes, but they can't be specifically attributed to the drive itself or some other software related issue. 

Here, too, is the device being used to connect the drive in it's PCIe slot. Since it is a very low cost non branded item, I wonder if it's possible I should have opted for a better solution from a major manufacturer: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09M8582LN?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

[SolidigmGleb]

Dear hp18568,  

Thank you for the information provided.
To resolve your issue we need more information from you. Please, contact us via our Support HUB and create a ticket.

If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

Kind regards,
Gleb
Solidigm Customer Support