Kioxia and Dell pack 10 PB into 2RU server with high-density ssds

Kioxia and Dell have packed 10 petabytes of storage into a 2RU server, using Kioxia’s high-density SSDs to achieve what few commercial configurations can match [Blocks and Files]. The setup targets data centers where space and storage density are critical, offering a compact alternative to larger, less efficient racks.

The server relies on Kioxia’s XL-Flash and CM7 SSDs, which support high areal density and low-latency access. Each 2RU chassis holds 120 drive bays, populated with 84.8 TB SSDs—the current maximum capacity per drive from Kioxia. That math gets to 10 PB with minimal overhead, bypassing the need for external JBODs or expansion units.

This matters because physical rack space remains a hard constraint in cloud infrastructure. A single 42U rack could theoretically hold 210 PB using these 2RU units, outpacing traditional 5U 84-drive HDD servers by a factor of five in raw density. Power efficiency also improves: SSDs draw less idle power than spinning disks, though sustained throughput workloads may still challenge thermal design.

Dell gains a differentiation edge in a crowded server market, while Kioxia proves its SSDs can anchor full-stack solutions—not just replace drives. The configuration is shipping now to select cloud providers and HPC sites, not as a general SKU but as a validated design [Blocks and Files].

No pricing is public, but deployments of this scale typically require multi-year commitments. The real barrier isn’t technical—it’s cost per terabyte. Kioxia’s 84.8 TB drives likely cost significantly more than 20 TB HDDs, limiting adoption to performance-sensitive or space-constrained workloads.